Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Men's Water Polo Faces No. 11 St. Francis (N.Y.) Friday in First Game at Eastern Championship
11/15/2007 7:00:00 AM | Men's Water Polo
Nov. 15, 2007
2007 Eastern Championship Schedule
LEWISBURG, Pa. - For the eighth consecutive year, the Bucknell men's water polo team will be competing in the Eastern Championship, which takes place this weekend at Harvard. The Bison open up their three-game weekend with a 2 p.m. game Friday against No. 11 St. Francis (N.Y.). Bucknell is seeded seventh in the eight-team field, while the Terriers are the second seed. The Bison will play one game Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The winner of the Eastern Championship will earn a berth into the NCAA Championship, which will be held Dec. 1-2 at Stanford.
Bucknell Men's Water Polo Notebook
Bucknell Recently (18-12, 5-3 CWPA)
Southern Championships:
- Nov. 3: W, 17-3 vs. Washington & Jefferson
- Nov. 3: L, 6-4 vs. George Washington
- Nov. 4: W, 15-7 vs. Mercyhurst
- Nov. 4: W, 9-8 vs. Princeton
2007 Bucknell Men's Water Polo Statistics
Bucknell Notes
- The Eastern Championship is an eight-team field that was decided based on the team finishes at the CWPA Southern Division and Northern Division Championships. Bucknell finished fourth two weeks ago at the Southern Division Championships, thus giving them the seventh seed as Southern Division teams are the odd seeds.
- This is the eighth consecutive season the Bison have qualified for the Eastern Championship. They finished fourth each of the last two years. The last time Bucknell finished higher than fourth was when it had a runner-up showing in 1993. The Bison won the title four straight years (1977-80), but have advanced to the championship game just twice since.
- Bucknell has posted an 18-12 record this year, marking the second-most victories in head coach John Zeigler's nine-year tenure. The Bison were 21-21 in 2000, the first year of Zeigler's second tour of duty as the Bison head coach. Bucknell has also clinched a record of at least .500 for the second straight year, and for the third time in four years. The last time the Bison posted back-to-back winning seasons was 1998 and 1999.
- Bucknell has posted a solid 5-9 record against ranked teams this year, an improvement from last year's 3-11. The Bison have had great success against unranked foes, going 13-3.
- Bucknell recently fell out of the national rankings for the first time this year, but it will still have plenty of possible ranked opponents this weekend. No. 10 Navy, No. 11 St. Francis (N.Y.), No. 17 Brown and No. 20 Johns Hopkins are all competing at the Eastern Championship.
- Bucknell's offense has been balanced this season with four players tallying at least 60 points. It is the first time since 2002 that at least four Bison players have racked up at least 60 points.
- As has been the case all season, Jason Rechel leads Bucknell in scoring with a career-high 92 points, one shy of equaling Mark Masterson's team-leading total from 2006. The last person to tally more than 93 points in a season was Kevin Permisohn (112) and Tate Greditzer (98), who both eclipsed that figure in 2000. Rechel's career-high 63 goals this year are the most by a Bison since Ryan McCarty (72) and Greditzer (65) had more in 2000.
- While Rechel has excelled on the single-season level, he will also wrap up his career closing in on a number of Bison career lists. He enters the weekend 22 goals, 32 assists and 57 points shy of 10th place on the Bison career lists. No one new has joined any of those lists since Permisohn in 2000.
- Masterson, Richie Hyden and Roslyn have helped Rechel shoulder the offensive load this year. Each has at least 34 goals and 60 points. The top four scorers on the Bison have accounted for 180 goals and 100 assists. As a team, Bucknell has 295 goals and 168 assists.
- Bucknell has been strong on the defensive end this year, totaling 341 steals, 36 more than it had in 2006. The top six Bison scorers have at least 30 steals, including a team-high 40 from Masterson, who ranks seventh in Bucknell history with 125 career steals. Roslyn is just ahead in sixth with 127.
- In recent weeks, freshman Miles Gilhuly has taken over the starting goalkeeper job. He has started the last eight games and now leads the team with 106 saves and a .530 save percentage.
Bucknell vs. St. Francis (N.Y.)
- Bucknell is 0-1 against St. Francis (N.Y.) this season, falling by a 12-9 score at Kinney Natatorium in October. The Bison have lost 15 straight to the Terriers, with their last victory coming in 1998. Overall, Bucknell is 4-16 all-time against St. Francis (N.Y.).
Up Next
- The winner of Friday's Bucknell-St. Francis (N.Y.) contest will play the winner of the Johns Hopkins-Harvard game in the semifinals Saturday at 8 p.m. The losers of those two matchups will play Saturday at 5 p.m. Sunday's championship game is slated for 12 p.m.
