Ronan Williams Named NAAA Athlete of the Week
Ronan Williams, Navy Water Polo (Image: NavySports.com)
Ronan Williams, junior goalie for Navy’s water polo team, has been named the NAAA Athlete of the Week. The honor presented by Northrup Grumman is selected weekly by the Naval Academy Athletics Association.
Williams played a key role in the Midshipmen posting a 2-1 record in this weekend’s 2018 Navy Open.
The Severna Park, Maryland native made 41 saves with a 58.6 save percentage during the season-opening tournament. Coming into 2018 with 287 career saves and .446 save percentage through 40 games, Williams improved his numbers in each contest over the Labor Day holiday.
In the 9-7 win over the Iona Gaels, Williams made 17 saves and allowed just seven goals.
Although Princeton took the game 15-9, Williams posted nine saves (four on fast breaks) against the nationally ranked Tigers.
Finally, the junior goalie had 15 saves versus just seven goals allowed against conference foe Fordham. The Mids would win the game 8-7, the first victory versus the Rams since 2015.
Luis Nicolao’s first tournament as the Navy water polo head coach was special in several ways. Along with Williams’ Athlete of the Week selection, freshman attacker Isaac Salinas was named the CWPA Rookie of the Week. Salinas scored nine points on six goals and three assists in the Navy Open.
Up next for the Midshipmen water polo team is the two-day Princeton Invitational this weekend. Navy will face No. 20 Air Force, No. 11 Harvard and No. 4 Stanford this weekend in New Jersey.
