Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Men's Water Polo Opens 2008 Season Saturday Against No. 1 California
9/4/2008 8:00:00 AM | Men's Water Polo
Sept. 4, 2008
LEWISBURG, Pa. - The Bucknell men's water polo team, which faced 17 nationally ranked teams in 2007, will waste no time in getting to the difficult part of its schedule this year. It opens its season this weekend at the Navy Open with its first game being Saturday at 2 p.m. against defending national champion and preseason No. 1 California.
After taking on the Bears, the Bison, who are in the "also receiving votes" category in the preseason poll, will play Fordham, Queens (N.Y.) and Iona the rest of the weekend.
Bucknell's Navy Open Schedule - Annapolis, Md.
Saturday, Sept. 6
Bucknell vs. No. 1 California, 2 p.m. (Series: California leads, 8-0)
Bucknell vs. Fordham, 7 p.m. (Series: Bucknell leads 30-2)
Sunday, Sept. 7
Bucknell vs. Queens (N.Y.), 9:50 a.m. (Series: Bucknell leads 14-13)
Bucknell vs. Iona, 3:40 p.m. (Series: Bucknell leads 18-16)
Bucknell Men's Water Polo Season Outlook
New head coach John Abdou may be in his first season at the helm of the Bucknell men's water polo team, but he has been around the program longer than anyone on the roster other than senior co-captains Gabriel Heiber and Alex Lampley. That's because Abdou spent the last three seasons as an assistant to longtime mentor John Zeigler, who left the coaching profession following the 2007 campaign.
Abdou's office move is not the only change that happened during the offseason as a talented senior class that helped the Bison pile up 66 wins over the last four years and made the team a threat to be in the national rankings on a yearly basis graduated. It is now up to a handful of veterans and seven newcomers to carry the load as Bucknell tries to improve upon its first 20-win season since 2000.
"Graduating a seven-person group as talented as the Class of 2008 opens a huge amount of change in our program," described Abdou, who handled much of the recruiting duties as an assistant. "This is a time to redefine our goals, redefine our team and redefine our culture and level of achievement. The thing we will miss most about the graduated seniors is not only their ability to play the game, but their ability to lead and their positive attitudes."
Two players Abdou will count on this season to ease the transition will be Heiber and Lampley.
"Gabriel and Alex were freshmen my first year here," mentioned Abdou. "We have now had over three years to develop a relationship and we share the same goal and vision for the program."
Heiber has been a solid contributor to the team's success over the last three years, tallying 54 goals in 92 games. He holds three of the top 10 single-season ejections drawn totals in program history and ranks second on the career list in that category with 119. A three-time all-academic team member, the Venezuela native has shared time at the center forward position with Lampley throughout their careers.
Lampley has improved every year of his career. As a freshman he saw action in 11 games and registered a pair of goals. The next year he predominantly came off the bench and accounted for 10 goals and five assists to go along with 22 ejections drawn. Last year he started nearly half of the team's 33 games and scored a career-high 30 goals and was second on the team to Heiber with a career-high 36 ejections drawn.
"Both Gabriel and Alex dominate the center position," commented Abdou, who played that position at UC Irvine. "It is easy to say we have the best center tandem in the CWPA this year, and that is something that could have been argued over the last three years too. They both command double teams, which causes our opponents to change their defensive schemes. We are going to experiment playing both of them at the same time, which is something we haven't done in the past."
With the program in such transition, Abdou cited the improved leadership of both Heiber and Lampley as one of the keys to the team's success in 2008.
While Heiber and Lampley will be counted on for leadership and production, sophomore Richie Hyden, who was the CWPA Southern Division Rookie of the Year last fall, should shoulder much of the offensive load. He is the top returning scorer after piling up 40 goals, 31 assists and 71 points in 29 games as a freshman. All three of those totals were the most by a Bison rookie since Brad Roslyn had the exact same stat line in 2002.
"Richie is the quarterback of our offense," described Abdou, who was the CWPA Southern Division Coach of the Year last spring when he guided the Bison women's program to an impressive 26-10 record. "He's a deadly shooter on the left side of the pool and an overall offensive threat."
Hyden's classmate Miles Gilhuly also had an outstanding freshman campaign in 2007. He won the goalkeeper job in the latter part of the year and led the team with 123 saves, while his .515 save percentage was among the best on the squad. Gilhuly helped Bucknell to a 10-6 record in his team-high 16 starts in the cage.
"The goalkeeper position is a very competitive position for us," said Abdou. "Miles won the job last year and he trained in Northern California a lot this past summer. I expect him to be a vocal leader and defensive stopper or us."
Due to the graduation of such a large senior class, many upperclassmen on the roster had been relegated to certain roles. In 2008, Abdou expects many of those veterans to shine now that there is playing time available.
It is the time to shine for juniors Randy Ang, Nick Donahue, Andrew Nelson and Johnny Stupp, who have combined for just eight starts in their first two seasons as Bison.
Ang and Stupp have the most experience of that quartet, having played in 50 and 45 career games, respectively. Ang drew three starts and was fifth on the squad with 15 assists last fall, while Stupp has 18 career goals and 27 career points.
"Johnny is someone whose speed and athleticism and ability to get up and down the pool will help dramatically this year," predicted Abdou about the St. Louis, Mo., native. He is someone who is hungry for a bigger role."
After seeing action in just six games as a freshman in 2006, Nelson appeared in 22 last year. A valuable reserve, he has accounted for six goals and five assists in his career.
"Randy and Andrew are also hungry to have a bigger impact," lauded Abdou. "They'll see some minutes. They'll miss the guys who graduated, but they are excited about the opportunity to step into bigger roles."
While Gilhuly appears to have won the starting goalie job heading into the season, Donahue, the final member of the junior class, will not let him rest easy. Armed with a long wingspan, Donahue has saved nearly 53 percent of the shots he has faced in his 14 career contests. Last year he led the team with a .547 save percentage in 152 minutes of playing time.
Sophomores Howie Kalter and Sean Coghlan should see increased time in the pool as well, especially Coghlan, thanks to the graduation of a number of other drivers who played ahead of him last year.
New to the team once again in 2008 is Alex Lovell. The senior did not play as a freshman or a junior, but appeared in seven games off the bench as a sophomore in 2006.
Completely new to the program are seven freshmen who will be counted on to produce with only 10 letterwinners back from the 2007 team that posted its fourth consecutive top-five finish at the Eastern Championship.
"Our freshman class is going to have a lot of opportunity to contribute right away," predicted Abdou. "I am excited to see what they can do and what they bring to the table."
With so many new faces on the roster, Abdou is gearing the Bison up for the championship portion of their schedule.
"One of our goals for this season is to continue to raise our level of play as the season goes on," commented Abdou. "In the past we have peaked too early. The key this year will be to develop, train and peak at the end."
