Dec. 2, 2007

Tournament Central

PALO ALTO, Calif. -- Navy regrouped from Saturday's NCAA Tournament semifinal loss to edge 10th-ranked Loyola Marymount, 7-6, placing third at the NCAA Tournament held this weekend at Stanford University. The win caps the most-successful season in school history for the Navy water polo program, which ended the season with a 30-6 record.

The win was the first for an East coast team in the NCAA Tournament since 2002, and the first for the Navy program since 1994. Navy hadn't defeated a California team in the NCAA Tournament, since winning the seventh-place match against UC San Diego, 20-17, in 1993.

It was Navy's first win in the NCAA Tournament since the tournament field was reduced to four teams in 1995.

"This was not big enough," said Navy head coach Mike Schofield, referring to the fact an East Coast team defeated a West Coast team in the NCAA Tournament. "It's still been however many years the tournament has been held that we haven't had an East Coast team win on the first day. Until that happens, its still all conjecture and speculation, and close but no cigar.

"But I told our guys last night after our loss that we had one more goal to accomplish this year. They had done everything possible, but win an NCAA Tournament game," added Schofield. "It wasn't an artistic success today, but we got the job done. I am so proud of this group. This is probably he best senior class we have ever had and the best team we've ever had, with all due respect to all who played before them."

The Mids and Lions waged a see-saw affair for the majority of the contest. The two teams were tied at one after one quarter and Navy took a 4-3 lead into the halftime break. After holding a slim 5-4 lead after three quarters, Navy senior Bram Arnold scored the first two goals of the fourth quarter and the Navy defense shut the door in several key moments to give Navy a 7-6 victory.

"I hadn't been shooting very well the three quarters before that, so I was glad that coach let me stay in to have those opportunities," said Arnold. "I was just in the right place at the right time, I guess."

Arnold was one of three Mids who scored two goals each, as Mike Mulvey and Aaron Recko also contributed a pair of goals each. Andrew Bingham scored the other goal for Navy, while George Naughton stopped seven shots in goal.

This year's squad became the first Navy team in school history to record 30 wins in a season, and the eight seniors on the team ended with a 95-32 record.

One of the seniors, Aaron Recko, ended the year with 76 goals, third for the seventh most in school history.

"We may not have been the pick of the litter or the best players, but we all came to practice, and ready to work. It's very fulfilling to get to this level and win a game," said Recko. "We met all the goals we set at this time last year, so its great for our team to meet them and to work hard even though we may not be the most gifted players."

Junior Mike Mulvey, who ended the season with 75 goals for ninth on the Navy single-season list, will be one of several key players back next year, as the Mids try to repeat this year's success. Mulvey will likely be considered one of the top players in the East next year.

"It doesn't really matter unless there's a good team around me," said Mulvey. "If that's the case, then its up to me to help elevate the team's play next season."

Mulvey will enter next season with 143 career goals, needing just 37 more goals to enter the school's career top 10.

No. 2-seed California defeated top-seeded USC, 8-6, to wins its second straight NCAA title. It marked the second straight year the Bears topped the Trojans for the title.

# GO NAVY #