(11-05-16) Navy

The Basics
? Score: Navy-14, Johns Hopkins-13
? Records: JHU (4-16, 4-5 MAWPC) ? USNA (7-16, 2-8 MAWPC)
? Location: Annapolis, MD ? Scott Natatorium
? The Short Story: Host Navy held off the Johns Hopkins water polo team in a close 14-13 Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference match Saturday afternoon.

How it Happened
? The teams traded six-on-five goals to open the scoring before the Mids got back-to-back goals from Taylor Peterson and Jared Castillo to go up 3-1. Freshman Finn Banks cut the deficit in half with his second goal of the game at 2:49. But it was answered with a Matt Skowronski five-meter goal 51 seconds later. Castillo followed with his second to push Navy on top 5-2. Hopkins battled back and made it a one-goal game at the break with goals from Banks and sophomore Ryan Masi.
? Peterson opened the second-quarter scoring with a man-up goal and Navy led 6-4 just 90 seconds in. Sophomores Andreas Katsis and Giorgio Cico notched consecutive goals to tie the game midway through the second. Jack Robinson put the Mids back on top with a six-on-five goal at 1:39, but that was short-lived. Senior Matt Fraser and freshman Andres White scored a pair of goals just 21 seconds apart to stake Hopkins to an 8-7 lead at the half.
? Cico scored on six-on-five to open the third quarter and push the Jays' lead to 9-7. The Mids responded with goals from Alex Piecuch and David Huber to knot the score at 9-9. That score held for more than five minutes before Fraser scored to give Hopkins a 10-9 lead heading into the final quarter.
? Navy came out firing in the fourth, scoring back-to-back goals just 29 seconds apart to go up 11-10. Fraser answered, notching his third of the game, to tie the game at 4:45. Tyler Zimmerman put the Mids back on top 13 seconds later however. Senior Giovanni Cragnotti and sophomore Josh Kurtz sandwiched goals around one from Huber in a 21-second span and the game was tied at 13-all. Peterson had the final say of the game, scoring with 1:37 to play to put Navy up.

What it Means
? Johns Hopkins is now 6-50 all-time against Navy and the two split the season series.
? Hopkins sits in a tie for third in the Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference with Fordham. The Blue Jays can grab sole possession of third place with a win on Sunday at Bucknell. Though the Bison are 8-1 in conference play and have already secured the regular season title.

Inside the Box Score
? Senior Matt Fraser and freshman Finn Banks led the Blue Jay with three goals each.
? Sophomore Giorgio Cico had a team-best three assists to go with his two goals. Cico now ranks 19th in program history with 171 career points. Sophomore Josh Kurtz handed out a pair of assists to move into 12th in school history with 64 assists in his career.
? Freshman Andres White drew six ejections and also had three steals and a block.
? Junior John Wilson made 10 saves and grabbed four steals in the loss.

Up Next
? Johns Hopkins closes out the regular season on Sunday, November 6 at 13th-ranked Bucknell. The game is slated for a Noon start at Kinney Natatorium.