Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Men's Water Polo Closes Regular-Season Road Slate this Weekend
10/23/2008 8:00:00 AM | Men's Water Polo
Oct. 23, 2008
LEWISBURG, Pa. – One week after winning four of five home games, the Bucknell men's water polo team hits the road for the final time during the 2008 regular season this weekend. The Bison will play at No. 15 Princeton Friday night in their final league contest and then face No. 18 Brown Saturday morning at Princeton's DeNunzio Pool, the host pool for the 2009 NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship.
Bucknell was originally slated to play No. 13 St. Francis (N.Y.) Saturday afternoon at Princeton, but that contest will now be played Nov. 2 at Kinney Natatorium, a facility the Bison own a 30-16 record in.
Bucknell Men's Water Polo Notebook (13-11, 4-3 CWPA)
Bucknell Notes
• Bucknell entered the national rankings for the first time in more than a month this week. The Bison are ranked No. 19.
• Junior goalie Nick Donahue was named the Damon's Bison Athlete of the Week and the CWPA Southern Division Player of the Week after totaling 47 saves in five games last weekend. His career-high 14-save performance against nationally ranked Princeton was the most saves by a Bison goalie in more than three years. Additionally, freshman Beau Caillouette was named the CWPA Southern Division Rookie of the week after a two-goal, two-assist weekend.
• Bucknell, which is 4-3 in league play, can still finish as high as second in the CWPA Southern Division, East Region standings. Navy currently sits first in the five-team division with a 6-1 record, while Princeton is second at 4-1. If the Bison defeat the Tigers and Princeton loses to either Navy or George Washington in its final two league games, Bucknell will tie the Tigers for second in the standings.
• Bucknell has won five of its last six games, its best stretch of the season.
• Bucknell is 3-0 on Fridays this year, outscoring MIT, Johns Hopkins and Princeton by a combined 36-21 margin in those contests.
• Richie Hyden continues to rank near the top of the nation in scoring. His team-high 65 goals place him second nationally, while his 100 points are just two shy of Jason Rechel's team-leading total of 102 last year. Before Rechel, Kevin Permisohn was the last Bucknell player to eclipse 100 points in a season in 2000.
• Bucknell has scored 232 goals this season, many of those in six-on-five situations thanks to a program-record 213 ejections drawn. The previous record for ejections drawn was 198, which the 2007 squad set. Gabriel Heiber leads the team with 50 ejections drawn, breaking his own program single-season record.
• Junior Johnny Stupp is the only Bison to start all 24 games this year. First-year head coach John Abdou has used 11 different players in the starting lineup this season.
• Bucknell has faced 12 ranked opponents this season with two more on the schedule for this weekend. The Bison, who matched up with a ranked opponent 17 times in 2007, are 3-9 in those games.
• Bucknell's win over then-No. 12 Princeton last Friday marked the highest-ranked opponent Bucknell had defeated since downing No. 12 Princeton in 2005.
Bucknell vs. Weekend Opponents
• Bucknell vs. Princeton: 28-32 (Bucknell is 5-1 in last six meetings dating to September 2007)
• Bucknell vs. Brown: 17-27-1 (Bucknell has won seven in a row, including 11-9 win at last month's ECAC Championship)
Up Next
• Instead of an idle weekend, Bucknell will now host St. Francis (N.Y.) Sunday, Nov. 2, at Kinney Natatorium. Game time is slated for 12 p.m. The Bison will also have an exhibition contest later that afternoon.
