Bucknell University Athletics
Saturday's Bucknell-Princeton Women's Water Polo Game to be Televised on ESPNU
3/25/2009 8:00:00 AM | Women's Water Polo
March 25, 2009
LEWISBURG, Pa. – For the first time in the history of the program, a Bucknell women's water polo game will appear on television Saturday (March 28) when the Bison take on league rival Princeton on ESPNU. The game is slated for 11 a.m. at Princeton's DeNunzio Pool, the home of the 2009 NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship.
Bucknell, which is in the middle of a two-week hiatus after completing its Spring Break trip to California, will bring a 14-11 record into the contest, while Princeton stands at 12-7 going into the weekend. Eamon McAnaney and former U.S. National Team goalie Chris Dorst will call the action live on ESPNU. The game is expected to be replayed Sunday, March 29, at 2:30 p.m. on ESPNU.
Bucknell Women's Water Polo Notebook (14-11, 1-1 CWPA)
Bucknell Notes
• Bucknell has not played since March 14, the conclusion of its Spring Break trip to California. The Bison posted a 7-3 record during their 10 games in the Golden State. They ended the trip on a four-game winning streak, their longest of the season.
• Saturday's contest marks the final road game of the regular season for Bucknell. The Bison are 2-3 in true road games this year.
• Bucknell has won 38 consecutive games when netting at least 10 goals. The Bison last lost a game when tallying double-figure goals March 9, 2007 at Princeton. The Tigers won that game 15-12.
• Bucknell's four-game winning streak is its longest since it posted eight straight victories last March. That streak came to an end with a 7-6 loss at Princeton.
• Bucknell, which returns home next weekend for its final four regular-season contests, is 0-3 at Kinney Natatorium this year. The Bison still own a 37-14 (.725) all-time record at Kinney Natatorium.
• Bucknell has faced nine nationally ranked teams this year and is 0-9 in those contests. Last year, the Bison were 2-7 opposite ranked foes.
• Second-year Bison head coach John Abdou now has a career record of 40-21 at the helm of the women's program. He led the Bucknell men's squad to a 17-16 record during the fall.
• Bucknell has registered 205 assists this season, a figure that ranks third in program history. Last year's squad piled up 259 assists, while the 2001 team had 222. Kandis Canonica leads this year's team with 49 assists, the third-most in program history. Aubrey Rowe is second with 40. It is just the second time two Bison have had at least 40 assists in the same season.
• Bucknell is six wins shy of its fourth 20-win season in the last five years. The Bison will be playing their 347th all-time game on Saturday. They own an all-time mark of 190-156 and are in their 11th year as a varsity program.
• In a 14-7 win over Occidental earlier this month, junior All-American Valentina Rozas tied the Bucknell record with seven goals in a game. Her nine points were one shy of the program standard, last achieved by Rowe in 2006.
• Canonica equaled her own program single-game record three weeks ago against Cal Baptist when she dished out six assists. The sophomore also had six assists last March vs. Wagner.
• Freshman Amanda Skonezney has won 56 of 97 sprints this year. She is second on Bucknell's single-season sprints won list. Only two other Bison have taken a sprint this year. Last year six different players attempted a sprint and Canonica won a team-high 17.
• Rozas and Canonica are both likely to break Bucknell's scoring records this year. Rozas, who is the third Bison to register two 60-goal seasons, is just nine goals shy of Meagan Gins' single-season record for goals (70), while Canonica is on pace to break her own point (112) and assist (61) records. Canonica has a team-high 94 points and 49 assists and has registered at least one point in 16 consecutive games.
• Junior Shana Palencia, who has battled a shoulder injury much of the season, has improved each year of her career. After scoring 18 goals and 18 assists as a freshman when she was a part-time starter, she improved to 42 goals and 24 assists last year. In her second year as a full-time starter, she enters Saturday's game with 34 goals and a career-high 28 assists. She is just four points shy of equaling her career high.
• Rowe, a senior captain, has tallied at least two points in 13 consecutive games. She has 20 multiple-point games overall this season and 13 times has tallied at least four points in a game.
• Rozas is averaging 4.5 goals per game over her last four outings. She has scored at least three goals in a game 14 times this year.
• Earlier this year Rowe broke the Bucknell career steals record. She now has 225 in her four-year career, 26 more than second-place Meg Blitzer. Rowe is the only Bison who has played since 2005 in the top seven on that list.
• Junior Alison Carter, a two-year starter in goal, has 112 saves this year. She has registered double-figure saves three times and equaled her career high with 14 stops Feb. 15 vs. Maryland. With 396 career saves, Carter ranks third in Bison history. She is two spots ahead of Rachel McGillis, who recently crossed the 200-save plateau for her career.
• Six players have combined for 139 of a possible 150 starts outside of the goal position for Bucknell this year. The Bison had their top six players account for 214 of a possible 216 starts last year.
• Bucknell has not appeared in the national rankings this year after being ranked six weeks last year.
Bison on Career Record Lists
Kandis Canonica: Points (10th, 206), Assists (5th, 110)
Alison Carter: Saves (3rd, 396)
Rachel McGillis: Saves (5th, 207)
Shana Palencia: Assists (9th, 70), Sprints Won (7th, 38), Shots (10th, 269)
Aubrey Rowe: Points (2nd, 314), Goals (3rd, 191), Assists (3rd, 123), Steals (1st, 225), Ejections Drawn (3rd, 130), Shots (2nd, 444), Games Played (9th, 118), Games Started (t-4th, 112, Sprints Won (6th, 50)
Valentina Rozas: Points (7th, 236), Goals (4th, 178), Ejections Drawn (2nd, 204), Shots (3rd, 412)
Amanda Skonezney: Sprints Won (3rd, 56)
Bucknell's Weekly Awards in 2009
CWPA Southern Division Player of the Week (5)
- Valentina Rozas (Jan. 26, March 16)
- Aubrey Rowe (Feb. 9, Feb. 23 – co-player)
- Kandis Canonica (March 9)
CWPA Southern Division Rookie of the Week (4)
- Amanda Skonezney (Jan. 26, March 9, March 16)
- Hallie Kennan (Feb. 9)
Bucknell vs. Princeton
• Princeton leads all-time series 25-1.
• Princeton is Bucknell's second most-common opponent, following George Washington.
• Bucknell went 1-3 vs. Princeton in 2008.
• Bucknell's lone victory in the series came last March 28 at Kinney Natatorium. The Bison won 6-5 as they scored three goals in the final 3:52 to post the come-from-behind victory. Meagan Gins and Valentina Rozas had two goals apiece, while Aubrey Rowe had five steals for the Bison.
• Princeton has won the last three games in the series.
• Each of the four games last year were decided by one goal.
• The last 10 games in the series have been decided by a total of 16 goals.
• The last game in the series decided by more than three goals was in 2005.
Last 10 Bucknell-Princeton Games
March 4, 2006: No. 16 Princeton 7, Bucknell 6 (Princeton, N.J.)
March 11, 2006: No. 16 Princeton 7, Bucknell 6 (Lewisburg, Pa.)
April 2, 2006: No. 19 Princeton 9, Bucknell 6 (College Park, Md.) (ECAC Championship)
April 30, 2006: No. 20 Princeton 9, Bucknell 8 (Providence, R.I.) (Eastern Championship)
March 9, 2007: No. 18 Princeton 15, Bucknell 12 (Princeton, N.J.)
April 13, 2007: No. 16 Princeton 12, Bucknell 9 (Lewisburg, Pa.)
March 28, 2008: Bucknell 6, No. 16 Princeton 5 (Lewisburg, Pa.)
April 5, 2008: Princeton 7, No. 20 Bucknell 6 (Princeton, N.J.)
April 19, 2008: Princeton 10, No. 20 Bucknell 9 (OT) (Lewisburg, Pa.) (Southern Championships)
April 25, 2008: No. 20 Princeton 7, Bucknell 6 (Ann Arbor, Mich.) (Eastern Championship)
Up Next
• Bucknell will wrap up its regular season next weekend with four home games, including three key CWPA Southern Division contests. The Bison will host Princeton on Friday night at Kinney Natatorium in a game that will have live video available on Bison Vision. The next day Bucknell will entertain George Washington and Maryland. The Bison will then complete the weekend and the regular season Sunday, April 5, at 11 a.m. against non-conference foe Indiana. That contest will also be broadcast on Bison Vision.
