Nov. 17, 2007

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - The 10th-ranked Navy water polo team advanced to the CWPA Eastern Division Championship game on Saturday night with a convincing 15-3 victory over George Washington. The Midshipmen will take on St. Francis tomorrow at 12 noon in hopes of earning their second-straight berth in the NCAA Tournament.

The top-seeded Midshipmen improved to 28-5 on the year, matching the school record for wins in a season with the 1986 squad that advanced to the NCAA Tournament. The Mids have been on a white-hot tear, as they have come away victorious in each of their last 18 contests, one game off the longest streak in school history set by the 1986 team. George Washington, the tournament's fourth seed, fell to 12-18 on the campaign.

Navy wasted little time in taking a lead it would never relinquish, as attacker Aaron Recko (Sr./San Antonio, Texas) delivered with a lob shot into the cage 63 seconds into the match. The Mids made it 2-0 with 1:05 remaining in the opening stanza on a Zack Anderson (So./Cockeysville, Md.) goal from a John Connors (Jr./Greenwich, Conn.) pass.

The Midshipmen held the Colonials off the board in the first half, while extending their lead to 5-0 before the break. Recko scored on a counter with 6:43 remaining and buried an advantage goal two minutes later to make the score 4-0. Tyler Hill (Sr./Houston, Texas) delivered the final goal of the half with 2:37 left on the clock to give Navy a five-goal cushion.

Navy continued to attack with the three-straight goals to open the third quarter before George Washington broke the scoring drought with three-consecutive goals to pull back within five at 8-3.

However, the Midshipmen quelled the Colonials' rally with a Kevin Bell (So./Naperville, Ill.) tally with 39 seconds left in the quarter and six more unanswered goals to close out the contest.

Recko led the Navy offense with four goals, while Bell, Chuck Baker (Jr./Greenwich, Conn.) and Andrew Bingham (Sr./Huntington Beach, Calif.) each delivered a pair of goals. Hill, Anderson, Nick Mansfield (So./Rockford, Mich.), Bram Arnold (Sr./Lemoore, Calif.) and Mike Mulvey (Jr./Carlsbad, Calif.) each found the back of the net once for the Midshipmen on Saturday night.

Goalkeepers George Naughton (Sr./Deerfield Beach, Calif.) and Steve Craney (La Crescenta, Calif.) combined to hold the opposition to three goals for the second-straight tournament contest. Naughton made 10 stops, pushing his career total 758 to move past Joe Alton (1993-96) for the program record. Craney also contributed one save in reserve action.

The Midshipmen come into Sunday's championship having won eight CWPA Eastern Division titles in school history. Two of those championship victories have come against Sunday's foe St. Francis, as Navy defeated the Terriers, 13-12, in sudden death overtime in 2000 and again by a 10-9 final in 2005.