Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Men's Water Polo Home for First Time in 2009 this Weekend
9/24/2009 8:00:00 AM | Men's Water Polo
Sept. 24, 2009
LEWISBURG, Pa. – The Bucknell men's water polo team will host three key league games at Kinney Natatorium this weekend, providing Bison fans their first chance to see the squad in action at home this year. Bucknell and No. 20 Johns Hopkins will square off at 8 p.m. Friday and then the Bison will face George Washington (1:30 p.m.) and No. 17 Princeton (5 p.m.) on Saturday.
Weekend Schedule
Friday, Sept. 25
Bucknell vs. No. 20 Johns Hopkins (6-6), 8 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 26
Bucknell vs. George Washington (4-10), 1:30 p.m.
Bucknell vs. No. 17 Princeton (4-4), 5 p.m.
Bucknell Men's Water Polo Notebook (6-5, 0-0 CWPA)
• After three weeks on the road, Bucknell will be making its home debut this weekend. The Bison are 30-17 (.638) all-time at Kinney Natatorium, including 4-2 last year. Bucknell has lost two in a row at home.
• By the conclusion of the weekend Bucknell will have faced seven ranked opponents in its first 14 games. The Bison enter the weekend 0-5 opposite ranked foes, but 6-0 against unranked opponents.
• Bucknell lost to its Friday night opponent (Johns Hopkins) 11-10 last Saturday in the first round of the ECAC Championship. The Bison were 3-1 against the Blue Jays last year with the one loss coming at the Southern Championships.
• Thanks to wins over George Washington and Fordham to conclude last week's ECAC Championship, Bucknell is riding a two-game winning streak. It is the first winning streak of the season for the Bison, who posted four winning streaks last year, including a season-high five in a row in October.
• Bucknell's next five games will be league contests. The Bison will play six of their eight league games prior to departing for their California trip Oct. 9.
• Bucknell was 4-4 in CWPA Southern Division play last year. The Bison finished the season third in the five-team league that consists of their three weekend opponents and Navy.
• This weekend marks the first of four weekends the Bison will be home in 2009. Bucknell will host Navy next Saturday (12 p.m.) and then will be home for a pair of non-conference contests Nov. 1. The Southern Championships (Nov. 6-8) will also take place at Kinney Natatorium.
• Bucknell second-year head coach John Abdou has used his bench considerably during the early part of the year. Thirteen players have appeared in all 11 games and 10 different players have earned at least one start. Only veterans Howie Kalter, Sean Coghlan and Andrew Nelson have started every game.
• Richie Hyden continues to lead the Bucknell offense in goals (25), assists (12) and points (37). The junior is six assists shy of 100 for his career and is within 32 goals of joining the program's career top-10 list. The last player to join that list was Alex Lundig, who played from 1995-97.
• Hyden netted a career high-tying five goals last week against Johns Hopkins. He has now scored five goals in a game seven times in his career. The junior has eight multiple-goal outings this season, including three in a row.
• After not tallying a point in the season's first five games, Beau Caillouette has registered one assist in five of the last six contests. He is fourth on the team in assists with five.
• Howie Kalter has scored at least one goal in each of Bucknell's 11 games this season. Dating back to last year he has tallied a goal in 24 consecutive contests. Kalter has 63 career goals, placing him second among current Bison to Hyden's 152.
• Nick Donahue, who has started in goal a team-high nine times, has registered at least five saves in each of his last four outings. He did not have more than four stops over the season's first seven games.
Bucknell's Weekly Awards in 2009
CWPA Southern Division Player of the Week
- Richie Hyden (Sept. 7)
Bucknell vs. Weekend Opponents
• No. 17 Princeton: 28-34 (Bucknell is 5-3 in last eight meetings dating to September 2007)
• No. 20 Johns Hopkins: 33-15 (Bucknell has won nine of last 11)
• George Washington: 34-11 (split season series in 2008, 2-2)
Up Next
• Bucknell will have nearly a week in between games as it will be idle until it hosts Navy next Saturday, Oct. 3, at 12 p.m. The Bison will then play at Princeton against the Tigers and Queens the following day.
