Bucknell University
Johns Hopkins
Bucknell Men's Water Polo Captures Fifth Place at Eastern Championship with 12-6 Victory Over Johns Hopkins
11/23/2008 7:00:00 AM | Men's Water Polo
Nov. 23, 2008
ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Richie Hyden (Melbourne, Australia/Greenwich (Conn.)) and Howie Kalter (Durham N.H./Phillips Academy Andover) tallied five points apiece and Bucknell outscored Johns Hopkins 4-1 in the fourth quarter as the Bison men's water polo squad ended its 2008 season on a high note with a 12-6 victory over the Blue Jays. The win helped Bucknell capture fifth place at the Eastern Championship, marking its fifth consecutive top-five showing at the event, which was hosted by Navy this weekend.
Bucknell (17-16) avenged a loss to Johns Hopkins (17-17) at the Southern Championships two weeks ago with strong defense early and a big second half. The Bison jumped out to a 2-0 lead and held the Blue Jays without a goal in the first quarter. They held a 5-2 lead at halftime and then outscored Johns Hopkins by three in the final period en route to the six-goal victory, its largest over a Southern Division rival since defeating the Blue Jays 10-3 in mid-October.
Bucknell lost its first game at the Eastern Championship to St. Francis (N.Y.) on Friday, meaning it could finish only as high as fifth and that is what the Bison did by defeating Iona Saturday and Johns Hopkins Sunday. Hyden and Kalter led the way the entire weekend as Hyden totaled nine goals and seven assists over the course of the tournament, while Kalter contributed nine goals and three assists.
Against the Blue Jays, Hyden netted a team-high three goals to pace four Bison that posted multiple-goal games. Kalter added two goals and a team-high three assists to help Bucknell end the season on a two-game winning streak and finish above .500 for the third consecutive year.
Alex Lampley (Reading, Pa./Governor Mifflin) and Andrew Nelson (Palos Verdes, Calif./Palos Verdes) each added a pair of goals as four players combined for nine of Bucknell's 12 scores.
Nick Donahue (Brooklyn, N.Y./Lawrenceville) stopped six shots in goal to finish the season with 213 saves, more than four times as many as he had his first two years as a Bison.
First-year head coach John Abdou made it a point to start all three seniors (Lampley, Gabriel Heiber and Alex Lovell) in their final career game. That class helped Bucknell to 66 victories over the last four years, equaling the most by a class since the Class of 2002. Every field player appeared in the game for the Bison, who went 3-1 against Johns Hopkins this year and are 9-1 against the Blue Jays over their last 10 meetings.
Fellow Southern Division teams Navy and Princeton are scheduled to square off Sunday afternoon for the Eastern Championship title. The winner of that contest earns a berth to the NCAA Championship, which will be held Dec. 6-7 at Stanford.
JOHNS HOPKINS 0 2 3 1 -6
BUCKNELL 2 3 3 4 -12
Goals: Hyden (3), Kalter (2), Nelson (2), Lampley (2), Coghlan, Heiber, Ang.
Assists: Kalter (3), Hyden (2), Nelson, Heiber, Ang, Donahue.
Ejections Drawn: Heiber (2), Hyden (2), Coghlan, Ang, Stupp, Lampley.
Saves: Donahue (6 svs., 6 ga., 32:00 min.).
Steals: Coghlan (3), Hyden (3), Lampley (2), Heiber, Stupp.
Sprints: Stupp (1-2), Hyden (0-2).
Record: 17-16
