Nov. 21, 2009
Box Score
CAMBRIDGE, MA - The 12th-ranked Navy Midshipmen used a four-goal first period and a five-goal third period to defeat Johns Hopkins, 12-7, Saturday afternoon in the semifinals of the CWPA Eastern Championships. The Blue Jays slip to 17-16 on the year and will face Bucknell in the third place match on Sunday at MIT.
Navy wasted no time in taking the lead and running out to a commanding lead as Kevin Bell pumped twice and buried a man-up goal into the cage 51 seconds into the game to put the Midshipmen on the board. Johnny Meiners added to the lead with a natural goal at 5:31 before Stevie Ray added a man-up tally at 3:05 to make it 3-0. Luke Baldwin closed out the Mids four-goal spurt with 35 seconds left in the period with his only marker of the day.
Hopkins broke-up the shutout attempt in the second period with a man-up goal by senior M.G. Gonzalez (Calabasas, CA/Oaks Christian) with 5:48 left in the first half, but Navy launched another barrage as Bell rung up his second tally of the day at 3:43 and Ray scored on an advantage chance at 2:41 to make it 6-1. The Blue Jays moved back to within four goals prior to halftime on a man-up rip by junior John Barrett (Clarendon Hills, IL/Fenwick) as Hopkins went to its bench trailing 6-2 at the break.
The lead never went below three goals the rest of the way as Navy pushed the margin to five and Hopkins responded to make the score 8-5 with 3:57 left in the third period. Facing a potential Hopkins comeback bid over the final eleven minutes of play, the Midshipmen doused the Blue Jays' hopes as Meiners scored a man-up goal (3:27), Wertz put home an even strength score (2:40) and Bell cashed in on a man-up chance (:12) to make it 11-5 after three periods of play.
JHU attempted to mount a heroic comeback in the final eight minutes with a natural goal by Barrett at 6:12 and a man-up tally by freshman Kielan Crow (Portola Valley, CA/Lick-Wilmerding) with 5:03 left on the clock, but Navy's defense and a score by Jordan Carter at 4:29 iced the win as the Midshipmen advance to face 18th-ranked Princeton for another berth to the NCAA Championship at Princeton University in early December.
Aguilera and Barrett each had a pair to lead the Blue Jays. Bell led the Mids with four goals, while Wertz, Ray and Meiners all had a pair. In cage, Brett Rajchel picked up the win for the Mids with three saves, while junior Jeremy Selbst (Old Greenwich, CT/Greenwich) made seven saves for the Blue Jays.
Hopkins will next be in action at 1:00 pm on Sunday, November 22 against Bucknell as the top four teams at the 2009 Eastern Championship will all be from the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Southern Division.
