Oct. 14, 2011

• Bucknell Video (All-Access / $9.95) | Princeton Video ($9.95)

ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- The 17th-ranked Navy water polo team returns to action on Sunday, when it travels to two different locations for contests against CWPA Southern Division rivals Princeton and Bucknell. Both games will be streamed online via links on NavySports.com(.)

Navy will take on 15th-ranked Bucknell in Lewisburg, Pa., at 11:30 am, then will travel to Princeton, N.J., to face 16th-ranked Princeton at 7:00 pm. Navy enters the contest with a 15-5 overall record and is 2-2 in the CWPA Southern Division, while Bucknell is 8-2 overall and 3-1 in league play. Princeton is 11-7 overall and 2-2 in the league standings.

Navy is coming off a pair of victories on Wednesday in a 13-11 come-from-behind win over Johns Hopkins and a 16-7 rout of George Washington. The Midshipmen have won seven of their last nine games, but the two losses during that span came at home against Princeton (11-9; ot) and Bucknell (10-9). At 2-2 in the league standings, Navy trails Bucknell by a game (3-1) and is tied with Princeton and Johns Hopkins in the league standings. A sweep on Sunday could go a long way towards earning the No. 1 seed for the CWPA Southern Division Tournament held Nov. 4-6 in Princeton, N.J.

Junior Paul Pedrotty leads the team with 36 goals, while Stevie Ray has added 31. Kyle Wertz has tallied 23, Arny Warren has 22 and Conor Handley has 21 to give Navy a balanced offensive attack. Anthony Gutierrez has made 103 saves in goal against 111 goals allowed for a .481 save percentage.

Bucknell, the highest-ranked Eastern team in the national poll, enters the weekend on a three-game winning streak and will play Princeton tonight, Johns Hopkins and George Washington on Saturday and Navy on Sunday. The Bison will face a pair of ranked teams in Princeton and Navy and are 3-0 against ranked teams this year already.

Princeton, meanwhile, has played seven straight games against ranked teams and that trend will continue this weekend. The Tigers are 1-6 during that stretch with the lone win coming against 13th-ranked Long Beach State. The Tigers started the year 8-0, but are just 3-7 in their last 10 games with wins over Navy, George Washington and Long Beach State.

The Mids are 73-12 all-time against Bucknell, including 30-4 since the 1999 season. However, Bucknell won each of the last two meetings, a matchup in the CWPA Southern Division semifinals and the Sept. 24 contest in Annapolis. Both of the games have been decided by one goal. Its Bucknell's first two-game winning streak against Navy since 1985.

Navy owns a 52-22 series lead against Princeton, but is just 7-6 against the Tigers since the start of the 2008 season. Just three times in the last 13 meetings has Navy scored double-digit goals against the Tigers.

Navy will take next weekend off before hosting Johns Hopkins and George Washington on Oct. 29 in Scott Natatorium in Macdonough Hall to close out the regular season. Navy will face Johns Hopkins at 11:00 am and George Washington at 2:00 pm.

# GO NAVY #