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Navy Wraps Up Successful Spring Season
SAN JUAN,
P.R. -- The Navy water polo team recently wrapped up its
spring season with a four-day trip to Puerto Rico to take on a pair
of teams from the area. The Mids went 6-0 against both the
University of Puerto Rico and the Puerto Rico National Team during
the four days of competition.
“It was a fantastic trip for us. We learned a lot about the
team and what we need to work on, but it was a very positive
experience for all of us,” said Navy head coach Mike
Schofield, who will enter his 25th year in charge of the Navy water
polo team next fall.
“We obviously want to thank
the local hosts for their hospitality and dedication to making our
trip enjoyable. We played in perhaps the most beatiful pool that we
have seen (the same venue that will be used for the 2010 Central
American games for swimming and diving) and stayed at Ft. Buchanan,
an Army base in San Juan. It was just an outstanding trip for our
team.”
The Mids opened play against the University of Puerto Rico on
Thursday, defeating the host school, 9-6. Johnny Meiners led the
way with four goals, while Kevin Bell had three. Brett Rajchel
stopped eight shots in goal. On Friday morning, Navy defeated UPR,
18-2. Neil Sullivan paced Navy with four goals, while Meiners and
Conor Handley had three each. Rajchel made eight saves and Chase
Hansen recorded three.
“UPR was missing a couple of key players on Friday
and we were able to get some transition goals that were easier to
come by than the previous game. We have lots of room for
improvement in all areas,” said Schofield.
On Friday night, Navy defeated the Puerto Rico National Team,
11-7, at the state-of-the-art Puerto Rico Natatorium. Navy led 3-2
after one quarter, then outscored Puerto Rico, 5-2, in the second
stanza to break the game open. Sullivan continued his impressive
day with four goals and Luke Baldwin, Zack Anderson and Robert
Newman had two each. Hansen stopped seven shots in goal.
“We played pretty poorly at the start of the game, falling
behind 2-0, but we had a pretty good second quarter after
that,” said Schofield. “We are learning the hard way
how to play better team defense and we also continue to struggle
finishing many of the great transition chances we are
creating.”
Saturday brought a pair of victories as the Mids defeated the
national team, 12-6, in the morning and 10-6 in the afternoon. In
the first game, All-America selection Kyle Wertz scored six goals
and Baldwin had two. Rajchel stopped seven shots. In the second
game, Wertz added four more and Darren McKay recorded two goals.
Rajchel recorded 12 saves.
Sunday’s final game brought an 18-10 victory over UPR.
Sullivan and McKay each recorded three goals, Baldwin and Conor
Handley had two, and eight players tallied one goal each. Rajchel
had 11 saves and four steals in goal.
Navy is the three-time defending Eastern champion and has played
in three straight NCAA Tournaments. The Mids went 20-11 last
year and will return 10 letterwinners.
Release courtesy Navy Athletic Communications
