Bucknell University
#3 Stanford
Bucknell Men's Water Polo Bows to Pair of Teams on Final Day of Princeton Invitational
9/14/2008 8:00:00 AM | Men's Water Polo
Sept. 14, 2008
PRINCETON, N.J. – The Bucknell men's water polo team was faced with a challenging schedule Sunday at the Princeton Invitational and narrowly missed coming away with a split against a pair of ranked foes. The No. 18 Bison opened the day with an 18-5 loss to No. 3 Stanford and later dropped a tight 11-9 decision to No. 15 Santa Clara.
What was already a challenging slate of games was made harder when the nightcap against the Broncos, which was originally scheduled for 3 p.m., was moved to 1:50 p.m. That start time was slightly more than two hours after the completion of the morning matchup with Stanford.
While Bucknell (4-4) did not have much rest in between contests, it had a solid outing against Santa Clara. The Bison were within one goal (8-7) in the third quarter when they earned a five-meter penalty shot. However, Richie Hyden's (Melbourne, Australia/Greenwich (Conn.)) attempt did not find the back of the net and the Broncos scored on the ensuing possession to take a two-goal lead, which was the eventual winning margin.
Bucknell's high-scoring offense managed just five goals against Stanford as Hyden failed to score a goal in a game for the first time this season. The sophomore bounced back against Santa Clara as he registered two goals and two assists to bring his season point total to 40. Hyden was joined atop the Bison goal scoring list by Andrew Nelson (Palos Verdes, Calif./Palos Verdes) and Randy Ang (Hillsborough, Calif./Sacred Heart Prep), while Johnny Stupp (St. Louis, Mo./Mary Institute) led the team with a career-high four assists and totaled a team-high five points.
The Bison defense was unable to cause havoc in the pool in either game on Sunday as it posted just three steals in the two games. Senior co-captain Gabriel Heiber (Caracas, Venezuela/Aventura (Fla.)) had the team's lone steal against Stanford, while Hyden and Ang each recorded one opposite the Broncos.
Goalies Miles Gilhuly (Orinda, Calif./Miramonte) and Nick Donahue (Brooklyn, N.Y./Lawrenceville) split time in goal once again with each player getting a start in net. Gilhuly totaled eight saves on the day, while Donahue posted six.
With the two losses, Bucknell fell to 4-4 this season. Three of those losses have come to ranked teams (No. 1 Cal, No. 3 Stanford, No. 15 Santa Clara), while the fourth is to a team that will likely break into the rankings this week.
By suffering back-to-back losses, the Bison have dropped consecutive games for the first time in nearly 11 months. The last time Bucknell posted consecutive losses was last Oct. 16 and Oct. 19 when it was on the wrong side of decisions against Concordia and Navy.
The Bison will now be idle until Friday night when it plays at MIT. That contest takes place the night before the ECAC Championship commences in Cambridge, Mass. Bucknell's first game at that event is 10:30 Saturday morning against Brown.
Game 1
BUCKNELL 1 0 1 3 -5
STANFORD 6 5 5 2 -18
Goals: Coghlan, Richley, Kalter, Stupp, Barnett.
Assists: Coghlan, Hyden, Ang, Stupp, Fiske.
Ejections Drawn: Heiber (4), Hyden (3), Coghlan (2), Schwartz, Stupp.
Saves: Gilhuly (4 svs., 11 ga., 16:00 min.).
Steals: Heiber. Sprints: Stupp (0-2), Hyden (0-1), Kalter (0-1).
Record: 4-3
Game 2
BUCKNELL 3 2 3 1 -9
SANTA CLARA 2 4 3 2 -11
Goals: Nelson (2), Hyden (2), Ang (2), Heiber, Kalter, Stupp.
Assists: Stupp (4), Hyden (2), Kalter (2), Coghlan.
Ejections Drawn: Heiber (4), Hyden (3), Nelson (2), Stupp, Barnett.
Saves: Donahue (4 svs., 6 ga., 16:00 min.), Gilhuly (4 svs., 5 ga., 16:00 min.).
Steals: Hyden, Ang. Sprints: Hyden (0-2), Coghlan (0-1), Stupp (0-1).
Record: 4-4
