Bucknell University Athletics
No. 11 Bucknell Men's Water Polo Among Six Ranked Teams at Kinney Natatorium for this Weekend's ECAC Championship
9/27/2007 8:00:00 AM | Men's Water Polo
Sept. 27, 2007
LEWISBURG, Pa. - For the first time in its five years of hosting men's water polo games, Bucknell's Kinney Natatorium will serve as the home venue for the ECAC Championship this weekend. The No. 11 Bison squad will be one of six ranked teams in the eight-team field and will open the weekend Saturday with a 10:30 a.m. contest against No. 20 Brown.
Despite being the top ranked team in the field, Bucknell is seeded fourth because the seeding is based on the order of finish at last year's Eastern Championship. If the Bison win, they will play Saturday evening at 7 p.m. against either No. 13 Navy or George Washington. With a loss, Bucknell will play at 4 p.m. against the loser of the Navy-George Washington matchup. A total of eight games will be played on Saturday, while four more will be contested Sunday. The championship game is slated for Sunday at 1:30 p.m.
Bucknell Men's Water Polo Notebook
Bucknell Recently
- Sept. 14: W, 13-12 (OT) vs. Princeton
- Sept. 15: W, 11-8 vs. Johns Hopkins
- Sept. 16: W, 7-6 vs. George Washington
Bucknell Notes
- Bucknell stands No. 11 in the national rankings for the second consecutive week. That ranking is the best in-season ranking in program history. The highest the Bison have ever been in a national poll was No. 9 in the 1994 preseason poll.
- With its No. 11 national ranking, Bucknell is the highest ranked non-California team.
- In the CWPA Top-10 Poll, Bucknell is tied for first with Navy and St. Francis (N.Y.), the CWPA's representatives in the last two NCAA Championships.
- Bucknell has posted eight consecutive victories, its longest streak since posting nine in a row in 1985, the last time the team advanced to the NCAA Championship. With a win against Brown on Saturday, the Bison will equal the sixth-best winning streak in program history.
Longest Winning Streaks
1978: 21
1979: 20
1980: 19
1977: 15
1983: 12
1977, 1984, 1985: 9
- Bucknell has opened the season with an 8-1 record, its best start to a season since going 10-1 in 1984. The Bison last started better than 10-1 when they began 1980 with a 20-1 mark on their way to a 31-4-2 record.
- After advancing to the title game of the ECAC Championship in 2004, Bucknell has placed fourth at the event each of the last two years.
- After going 3-12 against ranked foes in 2006, Bucknell is 3-1 this year with the possibility of facing up to three ranked opponents this weekend. The Bison defeated Pacific at the season-opening Navy Labor Day Open to snap a seven-game losing streak to ranked teams and have since tacked on wins against nationally ranked Princeton and Johns Hopkins.
- Senior co-captain Jason Rechel is in the midst of a stellar final season at Bucknell. He has posted team highs in goals (27) and points (37) and is tied for the team lead with fellow co-captain Kyle Roslyn with 10 assists. With 126 career goals, Rechel has passed classmate Mark Masterson for the most among current Bison. Masterson has tallied 125 goals in his three-year Bison career, including 15 this season.
- Following Bucknell's three home league games two weeks ago, Josh Sunday was named the CWPA Southern Division Player of the Week. The senior had six goals, four steals and three ejections drawn in the three contests, including a career-high three goals in back-to-back games. He has 10 goals, 10 steals and one assist this season. He is just 12 points shy of reaching 100 for his career and is one of just three Bison to start all nine games this year, joining Rechel and Roslyn.
- Bucknell has used its depth to its advantage this season. The Bison have outscored opponents 57-26 in the second half this year. Overall, Bucknell owns a 105-59 scoring advantage.
- Bucknell has had a balanced offensive attack this season with three players already registering at least 20 points, and four more with more than 10. Rechel leads the way with 37, but freshman Richie Hyden is second with 13 goals and 22 points, while Roslyn has 20 points and is just 10 goals away from joining Rechel and Masterson with 100 in his career.
- Bucknell head coach John Zeigler has used all three of his goalies this year, with senior Luke Belenky earning the most time in net with five starts. He leads the squad with 32 saves and has a .525 save percentage. Freshman Miles Gilhuly and sophomore Nick Donahue have each earned two starts and made 15 saves apiece.
Bucknell vs. Brown
- Bucknell's first opponent this weekend, Brown, is ranked 20th in the nation and owns a 5-1 record. The Bison are 14-27-1 all-time against the Bears, but have won the last four meetings. The last time Bucknell lost to Brown was at the ECAC Championship in 2003.
Upcoming Live Internet Video Game
- On Sunday, Oct. 7, Bucknell will host its last two home games of the 2007 season. The Bison will take on league rival Navy at 10 a.m. and then play St. Francis (N.Y.) at 5 p.m. The evening contest with the Terriers will be broadcast live online for a small fee via BucknellBison.com and SportsJuice.com.
Up Next
- Bucknell is slated for four games next weekend. It will play on Saturday, Oct. 6, against Queens (N.Y.) and Princeton in Princeton, N.J. Then, on Sunday, Oct. 7, the Bison will host Navy and St. Francis (N.Y.), meaning they will face three ranked teams within a two-day span.
