Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Men's Water Polo Opens 2009 Campaign at Navy Open this Weekend
9/4/2009 8:00:00 AM | Men's Water Polo
Sept. 4, 2009
LEWISBURG, Pa. - The Bucknell men's water polo team commences its 2009 campaign at the Navy Open this weekend. The Bison will play four games, including a pair against top-five teams when they face No. 2 Stanford and No. 4 California. It is the sixth consecutive year Bucknell has faced a top-five Cal team at the season-opening event, but it is the first time the Bison will have to battle two highly ranked opponents on back-to-back days.
Bucknell will also take on Gannon and Fordham this weekend. The Navy Open consists of 15 college teams and has games running from 8 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Saturday and 7:30 a.m. to 4:50 p.m. on Sunday.
Bucknell's Navy Open Schedule
Saturday, Sept. 5
Bucknell vs. No. 2 Stanford, 11:45 a.m. (Lejeune Hall)
Bucknell vs. Gannon, 4:45 p.m. (Scott Natatorium)
Sunday, Sept. 6
Bucknell vs. No. 4 California, 9:50 a.m. (Scott Natatorium)
Bucknell vs. Fordham, 3:40 p.m. (Scott Natatorium)
Season Outlook
The 2008 campaign was a year of transition for the Bucknell men's water polo program; Former assistant John Abou took over as head coach, filling in for veteran mentor John Zeigler, and the Bison were forced to replace four of their top five scorers, including a pair of All-Americans, from a 20-win team. It was a challenging task, but the Bison impressed all, posting their third consecutive winning season while facing a demanding schedule that featured 17 ranked opponents.
"People in the water polo community were surprised by our success last year, except maybe (assistant coach) Paul (Rave) and me," commented Abdou, who led Bucknell to a solid 17-16 record and a strong fifth-place showing at the Eastern Championship in his rookie season on the pool deck. "A lot of the guys who stepped up have been in our program three or four years and their level of achievement is what was expected of them when they first came to Lewisburg."
There were a lot of question marks for the Bison entering 2008, but seven players ended up registering at least 40 points in a balanced offense that dished out 266 assists, the eighth-most in program history. Six of those players, including the top four scorers, return in 2009. Incredibly, those six returning players that totaled 425 points last season had accumulated just 162 combined points entering the 2008 campaign.
The questions are gone this fall as nine juniors and seniors with plenty of experience dot the roster of the team that was picked No. 18 in the CWPA Preseason Poll. Veterans like senior co-captains Randy Ang and Johnny Stupp as well as Howie Kalter and Sean Coghlan improved immensely last year and Abdou expects another monumental jump this season.
While a strong supporting cast developed last year, the headliner of the squad is Honorable Mention All-American Richie Hyden. The Melbourne, Australia, native is just halfway done with his Bison career and has already piled up 127 goals, 82 assists and 209 points. He is on pace to become the first player in more than a decade to join the program's top-10 lists for goals, assists and points. Last year the left-hander led the team in all three offensive categories, registered nearly twice as many points (138) as Kalter (73), who was second on the squad, and paced the team in sprints, winning 39 of 56. Additionally, the first-team all-conference selection drew 50 ejections, the third-best single-season mark in program annals.
"Richie's game is celebrated both inside and outside our program, but he still has some things he needs to work on," commented Abdou, who also coaches the Bison women's water polo team. "We are going to continue to push him to improve his game and help facilitate everyone else's game as well. My expectation is that he continues to improve individually and helps the team get better as well."
Ang and Stupp will also be charged with making the team better in their roles as senior co-captains.
Ang has gotten better each year he has been a Bison. After appearing in 19 games and scoring 17 points as a freshman in 2006, he saw action in all 31 games and made his first three career starts as a sophomore. Last year he finished fourth on the team with a career-high 54 points while making a career-high 19 starts.
"I want to see leadership from Randy," explained Abdou about his vocal left-hander. "He is someone who sees the game very well and has a lot of experience."
The physical Stupp also had a breakout year last fall. He finished third on the team with 68 points after registering just 27 points over his first two campaigns. He also was the lone Bison to start all 33 games after earning just one starting assignment in his freshman and sophomore seasons.
"Johnny has had one of the strongest work ethics of anyone in the program over his four years," lauded Abdou. "I expect Johnny to lead by example and effort. He gets a lot done strictly by effort and hustle."
Another senior who had a career year last year was Andrew Nelson, who finished seventh on the team with 41 points after seeing limited playing time his first two years. The Palos Verdes, Calif., native was one of four Bison to appear in all 33 games and earned 13 starts after seeing action in just 28 contests over his first two seasons.
Kalter and Coghlan joined the current seniors last year in helping fill the void created by the graduation of talented players like All-Americans Jason Rechel and Mark Masterson, Kyle Roslyn and Josh Sunday. After appearing in 15 games and totaling four goals as a freshman in 2007, Kalter piled up 42 goals and 31 assists last year, finishing second on the squad in goals and points.
"Howie has a lot to improve upon, but he is maturing nicely into a role where I ask him to play a number of positions," praised Abdou. "He plays two-meter defense, driver and I have asked him to post up and I expect his improvement to continue."
Coghlan was as impressive in his leap from rookie campaign to sophomore year. He saw action in 20 games and totaled seven points as a freshman, but saw those numbers increase to 31 games played and 51 points last fall.
Thanks to the increased production from many of the veterans, last year's rookie class did not get a chance for much playing time and was not called upon to produce much. However, with the graduation of Gabriel Heiber, Alex Lampley and Alex Lovell, youngsters like Beau Caillouette, Paul Reamey, Spencer Richley, Nick Barnett, Sam Fiske and Daniel Schwartz will be called upon to fill larger roles.
"For us to be successful the second-year guys will need to step into bigger roles this year," said Abdou. "I am putting pressure on them to step up in the same manner the sophomores of 2008 (Coghlan, Hyden, Kalter) did. It typically takes about a year to adjust in this program and this is the time I expect them to step up."
Another veteran who blossomed into a solid player last year was Nick Donahue. After limited minutes in the cage his first two seasons, Donahue claimed the starting goalkeeper position early in the season and never relinquished it despite strong competition from Miles Gilhuly. Donahue ended up playing more than 750 minutes, registered 213 saves and posted a .521 save percentage, marking the second consecutive year he stopped more than half the shots he faced.
"Nick's potential is limitless," praised Abdou. "It is a shame I only have four more months with him. With his size and work ethic he has an incredibly high ceiling if he continues to play water polo."
Gilhuly, a junior, and freshman Matt Napleton will challenge Donahue for time in goal. Gilhuly started 16 games as a freshman in 2007, splitting time with Donahue. He totaled 123 saves and was poised for a solid sophomore campaign, but battled injuries throughout the season, limiting him to 18 games played (288 minutes) and 74 saves.
Napleton played on a state championship team in Illinois and Abdou is impressed with his size and experience.
Napleton and his high school teammate Brian Barron comprise two-thirds of this year's freshman class. Brett Thompson, a native of Laguna Beach, Calif., is the third member of the talented group. With such a strong veteran cast returning, and seven players who started at least 13 games last year on the roster, the freshmen will not be counted on heavily. However, Abdou does believe they can produce when called upon.
While Bucknell's offense netted 317 goals last year, its second-highest figure in a decade, Abdou firmly believes the strength of this year's squad will be its defense.
"We are going to be a defense-first team this year," said a passionate Abdou. "We talk about defense every day. We work on defense every day. Our strength is going to be what we can do collectively as a unit in our defensive schemes."
Abdou hopes a strong defensive showing will help the team to success in the postseason. The Bison have finished in the top four at the Southern Championships each of the last nine years, but with the event at Kinney Natatorium the first weekend in November this year it takes on paramount importance.
Two weeks after the Southern Championships is the Eastern Championship. The winner of the Eastern Championship earns an automatic berth to the NCAA Championship and Abdou sets that as an ultimate goal for his squad each year.
"This program is at a point where we are focused on championships," explained Abdou. "We haven't won a Southern or Eastern Championship in a long time. We will work toward those goals and find success as the season progresses."
