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Sept. 28, 2007

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Fresh off a two-week break, the No. 13-ranked Navy water polo looks to claim its first tournament title of the season, competing this weekend at the ECAC Tournament held in Lewisburg, Pa., on the campus of Bucknell University. The Mids are 8-4 overall and have won two games in a row after dropping three straight to teams ranked in the top 15. So far this year, nine of Navy's 12 games have come against the top 17 teams in the country, a trend that will likely continue this weekend.

The Mids, the top seed among the eight teams in the tournament, open with a 9:00 am matchup against eighth-seeded George Washington. Navy's next game will be at either 4:00 pm (if Navy loses) or 7:00 pm (if Navy wins) against either fourth-seeded Bucknell or fifth-seeded Brown. The Bison are ranked No. 2 in the Eastern Division poll, but are actually the highest-ranked Eastern team in the national poll, holding down the No. 11 spot. Brown is 20th in the national poll. The title game will be played Sunday at 1:30 pm and other nationally-ranked teams in the field include No. 14 St. Francis (N.Y.) (3rd seed), 17th-ranked Johns Hopkins (6th seed) and 18th-ranked Princeton (2nd seed).

Navy enters the contest averaging 11.1 goals per game, good for 10th in the country. Defensively, the Mids have allowed 104 goals for an average of 8.7 goals per game, which is 11th nationally.

Individually, the Mids are paced by junior Mike Mulvey, who leads Navy in goals (28), assists (8) and points (36). His 28 goals rank eighth in the country, and he needs just four more for 100 in his career at Navy. Bram Arnold has contributed 22 points (21 g, 1 a) and Andrew Bingham has chipped in with 17 points (13 g, 4 a). Seven players in all have scored at least 10 points this year.

Defensively, George Naughton has seen the majority of time in the goal, stopping 82 shots while allowing 80 goals. He has recorded 549 career saves to rank third on the Navy career saves list. Steve Craney has seen extended play, mostly in a reserve role, stopping 43 shots for a save percentage of .642.

Navy has had much success against the other seven teams in the field, compiling a 214-53 combined record. Against George Washington, Saturday's first opponent, the Mids are 30-2, while they are 60-9 against Bucknell and 22-16 against Brown, Saturday's possible second-round opponents.

Following this weekend's action, Navy will kick off its league slate with three games next weekend. On Saturday, Oct. 6, Navy heads to Princeton, before traveling west to Lewisburg, Pa., to take on Bucknell and St. Francis (N.Y.) on Sunday, Oct. 7.

# GO NAVY #