Navy Prepares for 2008 Southern Championship at Princeton University

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- The 14th-ranked Navy water polo team will begin its quest for its third straight NCAA Tournament appearance this weekend as it heads to Princeton for the CWPA Southern Division Championship. The Mids enter the tournament as the top seed with a 15-8 overall record and finished the year with a 7-1 league mark.

Navy will open the tournament on Saturday at 11:30 am against the winner of the Penn State-Behrend vs. Washington & Jefferson contest. Should the Mids win that contest, Navy would battle the winner between fourth-seeded Mercyhurst and fifth-seeded Johns Hopkins. The title game will be played on Sunday at 3:30 pm and the top four finishers will advance to the CWPA Eastern Championship in Annapolis on Nov. 21-23.

“We are really looking forward to a good weekend against pretty good competition. Fortunately, we have the advantage of having a good seed,” said Navy head coach Mike Schofield. “We are going to go up there and play to our capabilities, and hopefully we can feel good about effort in every game. We are rested and ready to play and have had good practices. The most important thing is to obviously win the first game, which will guarantee us a spot in the Eastern Championship.”

Navy enters the tournament on a bit of a hot streak, winning five of its last six games and eight of the last 10. The Mids clinched the top seed for the Southern Division Tournament with an 8-6 victory at Princeton on Oct. 26, avenging a 7-3 loss to the Tigers in Annapolis on Sept. 27. Against teams competing in the tournament, Navy is 7-2, with the other loss coming to Johns Hopkins, 9-8, on Sept. 13. Navy has also since avenged the loss to Johns Hopkins twice. Navy will need to win its first game to guarantee itself of a trip to the CWPA Eastern Championship.

Senior Michael Mulvey continues to lead Navy’s offense, accounting for 73 points (46 g, 27 a). He ranks eighth on the school’s all-time scoring list with 282 points, is eighth on the career goals scored list with 190 and is eighth on the career assists list with 92. Freshman Kyle Wertz is having a sensational season, ranking tied second on the team with junior Johnny Meiners, both with 41 points. Kevin Bell has added 30 points, and Chuck Baker and Marek Malik each have 28 points. As a team, Navy is outscoring its foes, 222-176.

Brett Rajchel has started every game in goal, registering 179 saves, while giving up 164 goals. Rajchel needs 21 saves to become the sixth player in school history with 200 saves in a season.

Navy owns a 46-4 all-time record in 15 Southern Division Tournaments, winning 11 titles. Navy has won three straight Southern Tournaments and 10 straight Southern Tournament games. The last time to beat Navy in the CWPA Southern Tournament was Princeton by a 10-9 score on Oct. 31, 2004. During Navy’s 10-game win streak in the tourney, the Mids have outscored their foes by an average of 4.3 goals per game. The only team to ever beat Navy in the Southern Division Tournament is Princeton.

Navy is 2-0 against all four possible opponents in the first two rounds during the CWPA Southern Division Tournament, and is a combined 42-1 against the four teams (Penn State-Behrend, Washington & Jefferson, Johns Hopkins and Mercyhurst), with the lone loss coming earlier this year against Johns Hopkins.

The CWPA Eastern Championship will be held in Annapolis on Nov. 21-23, in Lejeune Hall. The winner of the Eastern Championship will advance to the NCAA Tournament on Dec. 6-7 in Palo Alto, Calif.

Release courtesy Navy Athletic Communications