BOX SCORE
LOS ANGELES – Loyola Marymount men's water polo erased a three-goal halftime deficit to complete the comeback win over the U.S. Naval Academy. The Lions (6-6, 2-1 WWPA) outscored Navy (12-8, 4-2 CWPA), 9-4, after intermission to win 12-10.
Navy opened the scoring, but
Dayne Jagga was quick to equalize at the 5:24 mark of the first quarter. The Midshipmen closed out the period with the next two goals, taking a 3-1 lead into the quarter break.
Blazo Mitrovic cut it to a one-goal game on LMU's first possession of the second quarter, but back-to-back Navy goals extended the visitor's lead to 5-2. With LMU on the man advantage,
Daniel Arellano found
Dayne Jagga for his second of the day sigh 5:44 remaining until halftime. Navy added one more before the break to double up LMU, 6-3, at the half.
The third quarter opened with a quick strike by
Scott Thomas, just 22 seconds into the new half. After a Navy goal, the Lions cut it back to a one-goal game in less than a minute's time with back-to-back goals by
Daniel Roth. Following a Navy response,
Alex Davis fired in a goal to make it 8-7 with 3:40 to play. Mitrovic brought LMU back to even with a powerplay goal at the 2:37 mark of the third. Each team benefited from the man advantage to push it to a 9-9 tie game. The Lions took their first lead of the game after successfully defending a powerplay and coming the other way for another Mitrovic goal with five seconds remaining in the quarter.
Mitrovic extended it to a 11-9 lead after converting a penalty shot less than a minute into the fourth, which he followed with an even strength goal at the 4:15 mark. Navy got one back, but LMU held on for the 12-10 victory.
Mitrovic finished with a game-high six goals and three steals.
Robert Halligan played the entire game as LMU's goalkeeper, recording 15 saves over his 32 minutes.
The Lions head north next weekend for the three-day MPSF Nor Cal Tournament. LMU know their first opponent with be Cal Berkeley at 4:10 p.m. on Friday at Belardi Pool in Palo Alto, Calif.
