Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Men's Water Polo Heads to ECAC Championship this Weekend
9/18/2009 8:00:00 AM | Men's Water Polo
Sept. 18, 2009
LEWISBURG, Pa. – The Bucknell men's water polo team will spend its second consecutive weekend playing at the site of the 2009 NCAA Championship. After taking part in the Princeton Invitational last weekend, the Bison will be at Princeton's DeNunzio Pool this weekend for the ECAC Championship. Bucknell (4-4) will open up the event with a 12:45 p.m. contest against Johns Hopkins Saturday.
Four ranked teams will be in the 10-team field, including No. 13 Navy, No. 16 Brown as well as host Princeton and Johns Hopkins, who are tied for 20th in the national rankings. Bucknell is the No. 4 seed in the field, which is seeded based on the final standings at last year's Eastern Championship. After previously consisting of eight teams, the ECAC Championship is a 10-team field this year.
ECAC Championship Schedule
Friday, Sept. 18
Game 1: No. 7 Fordham vs. No. 10 Connecticut College
Game 2: No. 8 George Washington vs. No. 9 Harvard
Saturday, Sept. 19
Game 3: No. 3 Brown vs. No. 6 MIT, 9 a.m.
Game 4: No. 2 Princeton vs. Winner Game 1, 10:15 a.m.
Game 5: No. 1 Navy vs. Winner Game 2, 11:30 a.m.
Game 6: No. 4 Bucknell vs. No. 5 Johns Hopkins, 12:45 p.m.
Game 7: Loser Game 2 vs. Loser Game 4, 2 p.m.
Game 8: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 5, 3:15 p.m.
Game 9: Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 3, 4:30 p.m.
Game 10: Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6, 5:45 p.m.
Game 11: Loser Game 3 vs. Winner Game 7, 7 p.m.
Game 12: Loser Game 6 vs. Winner Game 8, 8:15 p.m.
Sunday, Sept. 20
Ninth Place: Loser Game 8 vs. Loser Game 7, 9:30 a.m.
Seventh Place: Loser Game 12 vs. Loser Game 11, 11 a.m.
Fifth Place: Winner Game 12 vs. Winner Game 11, 12:30 p.m.
Third Place: Loser Game 9 vs. Loser Game 10, 2 p.m.
First Place: Winner Game 9 vs. Winner Game 10, 3:30 p.m.
Bucknell Men's Water Polo Notebook (4-4, 0-0 CWPA)
Bucknell Notes
• Bucknell has gone 2-2 each of its first two weekends of the 2009 campaign. The Bison own a 4-0 record against unranked foes, but are 0-4 opposite ranked opponents. Bucknell has already played three games against top-five squads.
• Bucknell will be aiming for its sixth consecutive top-five finish at the ECAC Championship. The Bison have finished third each of the last two years and last made it to the championship game in 2004.
• Bucknell is scheduled to play no fewer than nine games at Princeton's DeNunzio Pool this season. The facility will become the first East Coast pool to host the NCAA Championship since Kinney Natatorium in 2005.
• Veterans Howie Kalter, Sean Coghlan and Andrew Nelson are the only Bison to start all eight games this season.
• Richie Hyden leads the Bison in goals (16), assists (8) and points (24) this season. He now has 143 goals, 90 assists and 233 points in his three-year career.
• Andrew Nelson has been Bucknell's top sprinter this season. The senior has won 6 of 9 sprints. Freshman Brian Barron has been successful on five sprints.
• Bucknell has been utilizing three goalies during the early part of the year. Each of the three goalies on the roster (Nick Donahue, Miles Gilhuly, Matt Napleton) have appeared in at least four games and played at least 40 minutes. Donahue has made a team-high six starts and paces the group with 27 saves, bringing his career total to 287.
Bucknell's Weekly Awards in 2009
CWPA Southern Division Player of the Week
- Richie Hyden (Sept. 7)
Bucknell vs. Possible Weekend Opponents
• No. 13 Navy: 13-71 (Navy has won 15 straight games; Bucknell has one win since 2000; last seven games decided by a total of 21 goals)
• No. 20 Princeton: 28-34 (Bucknell is 5-3 in last eight meetings dating to September 2007)
• No. 16 Brown: 19-26-2 (Bucknell has won eight in a row)
• No. 20 Johns Hopkins: 33-14 (Bucknell has won nine of last 10)
• MIT: 14-1 (played twice since 2005)
• Fordham: 31-2
• George Washington: 33-11 (split season series in 2008 2-2)
• Harvard: 14-7
• Connecticut College: 0-0
Up Next
• Bucknell will play its first home games next weekend when it hosts Johns Hopkins on Friday night and George Washington and Princeton on Saturday. All three contests are CWPA Southern Division league games. In fact, six of the Bison's seven contests following the ECAC Championship are league games.
