Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Harvard (Bucknell Invitational)
Voeltz's Sudden-Victory Goal Gives Bucknell 10-9 Win Over Harvard
2/28/2004 7:00:00 AM | Women's Water Polo
Feb. 28, 2004
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Bucknell freshman Taylor Voeltz scored the biggest goal of her young career in sudden-victory overtime, leading the Bison women's water polo team past Harvard, 10-9, in the final game of the first day of the Bucknell Invitational on Saturday, February 28. In what is quickly becoming an exciting rivalry, BU defeated the Crimson for just the second time in the five game history of the series.
Harvard jumped out to a 2-1 lead after one quarter, but the Orange and Blue outscored the team 4-1 in the second for a 5-3 halftime advantage. Trailing 3-2 late in the second, Bucknell rattled off three unanswered to enter the intermission with the advantage. Junior Cody Keffer had two of those scores, while junior Meg Blitzer scored once and assisted on one of Keffer's in the period.
Melissa McHugh cut it to 5-4 with her goal at the 4:25 mark of the third, but junior Katie Hartigan and Voeltz responded with two more goals to push it back to a 7-4 game. A score by Teresa Codini with just 13 seconds left in the third got Harvard within two, 7-5, and Sarah Kennifer tallied just 1:16 into the fourth to pull the Crimson to within one, 7-6.
Blitzer broke a 5:58 scoring drought for the Bison that extended back to the third quarter with her goal with 3:06 left in regulation to give BU an 8-6 cushion. Harvard refused to quit however, scoring two extra-man goals in the final 1:21, including one with 27 seconds left to tie the game and send it to overtime.
The Crimson continued their three-goal explosion with a confusing goal with just 10 seconds remaining in the first overtime session. Kennifer shot the ball, and Bucknell freshman Mandy Bynum made the save, but there appeared to be a whistle on the play. While Bynum looked to the official, Kennifer grabbed the ball and drove it home for the 9-8 lead.
The Orange and Blue made things interesting in the second overtime, continually coming up with defensive stops only to have their ensuing shots sail wide or bounce off of the goal post. Freshman Elizabeth Jensen finally found the back of the net, taking a pass from Hartigan in an extra-man situation to tie the game 9-9 with 20 seconds left.
Time expired with no real threat from Harvard, and the two teams headed to sudden-victory. The Crimson got the first opportunity in the frame, but came up empty and Bucknell quickly started a break the other way. The Bison used three passes to get down the pool, the last one coming from Jensen to a wide open Voeltz, who delivered the game winner just 1:18 into the sudden-victory period.
In addition to her game-high three goals, Voeltz also handed out two assists, grabbed two steals and had an ejection drawn. Blitzer had a solid game with one goal, two assists and four steals. Bynum made seven saves in goal for Bucknell.
The Bison improve to 4-2 overall and will face #18 Hartwick at 12 noon tomorrow in their only game of the day at the Bucknell Invitational. Harvard falls to 6-3 overall.
HARVARD 2 1 2 3 1 0 0 -- 9 BUCKNELL 1 4 2 1 0 1 1 -- 10Goal (Assist) B-H First Quarter H - Codini (Dewey), 6:17 0-1 H - Keyser (Codini), 2:30 0-2 B - Jensen (Voeltz), 1:51 1-2 Second Quarter B - Hofstetter (Voeltz), 4:24 2-2 H - Keyser (Dewey), 3:21 2-3 B - Keffer (Blitzer), 2:50 3-3 B - Blitzer (Jensen), 1:52 4-3 B - Keffer (Hofstetter), 0:25 5-3 Third Quarter H - McHugh (unassisted), 4:25 5-4 B - Hartigan (Hofstetter), 3:24 6-4 B - Voeltz (Blitzer), 2:04 7-4 H - Codini (Keyser), 0:13 7-5 Fourth Quarter H - Kennifer (Keyser), 5:44 7-6 B - Blitzer (Jensen), 3:06 8-6 H - Kennifer (Keyser), 1:21 8-7 H - Codini (unassisted), 0:47 8-8 First Overtime H - Kennifer (unassisted), 0:10 8-9 Second Overtime B - Jensen (Hartigan), 0:20 9-9 Sudden Victory B - Voeltz (Jensen), 3:42 10-9
HARVARD BREAKDOWN: Goals - Codini 3, Kennifer 3, Keyser 2, McHugh. Assists - Keyser 3, Codini, Dewey.
BUCKNELL BREAKDOWN: Goals - Voeltz 3, Jensen 2, Keffer 2, Blitzer, Hartigan, Hofstetter. Assists - Blitzer 2, Jensen 2, Hofstetter 2, Voeltz 2, Hartigan.
Shots: Harvard 27. Bucknell 29.
Ejections Drawn: Harvard 8. Bucknell 5.
Steals: Harvard 14. Bucknell 12.
Saves: Harvard ((Gardner [21:00], 8 svs., 7 GA), (Miller [14:18], 3 svs., 3 GA). Bucknell (Bynum) 7 svs., 9 GA.
Team Records: Harvard 6-3. Bucknell 4-2.
