Bucknell University Athletics
Three Bucknell Men's Water Polo Players Earn All-America Honors
1/29/2010 7:00:00 AM | Men's Water Polo
Jan. 29, 2010
LEWISBURG, Pa. - A program-record three Bucknell men's water polo players were named Honorable Mention All-America, it was announced Friday by the Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches. Junior Richie Hyden (Melbourne, Australia/Greenwich (Conn.)) was recognized for the second consecutive year, while junior Sean Coghlan (Chicago, Ill./Brother Rice) and senior Nick Donahue (Brooklyn, N.Y./Lawrenceville) were cited for the first time.
Bucknell, which has had at least one Honorable Mention All-America selection four consecutive years, and five of the last six, had never before had more than one player honored as an All-American in one year.
A two-time First Team All-Collegiate Water Polo Association Southern Division selection, Hyden is the second Bison to be recognized as an All-American twice, joining Scott Schulte, who was a second-team selection in 1979 and 1980.
Hyden led Bucknell in scoring for a second consecutive year, piling up 95 points on 53 goals and a team-high 42 assists. He finished the season with 180 goals, 124 assists and 304 points in his three-year career, leaving him within four goals, one assist and eight points of joining the Bison career top-10 lists in those categories.
An explosive offensive player, Hyden finished the season with 15 multiple-goal games, 12 multiple-assist outings and he registered at least one point in all but two games he appeared in.
Hyden led Bucknell with 69 ejections drawn in 2009, a new program record. His career total of 129 ranks him third in the Bison record books. On the defensive end of the pool, Hyden recorded 22 steals, pushing his career total to 85.
Coghlan blossomed in his third year as a Bison, totaling 34 goals, 25 assists and 59 points, ranking third on the team in all three categories. All three figures were also career highs. He was one of two Bucknell players to start all 31 contests, and his career-high 65 ejections drawn ranked second on the team to Hyden.
A Second Team All-CWPA Southern Division selection, Coghlan produced possibly his best game of the year with a five-goal, six-point outing at George Washington in early October. Both figures were career highs and he also drew two ejections and recorded a pair of steals.
Donahue, a goalie, wrapped up his Bucknell career with a second consecutive outstanding season. He stopped a career-high 214 shots, posted an impressive .518 save percentage, played in all but one game and was in cage for nearly 750 minutes. That followed up a junior campaign that saw him make 213 saves, record a .520 save percentage and make 27 starts.
A two-year starter, Donahue finished his career with 474 saves and a .520 save percentage.
After not registering a double-figure save performance through the season's first 11 games this past fall, Donahue piled up nine games with at least 10 saves in a 16-game stretch. During that streak, he totaled 149 of his 214 stops. Included in that streak was a 17-save outing against George Washington, the most stops in a single game by a Bison netminder in five years.
Bucknell finished the 2009 campaign with a 17-14 record and finished in third place at the Eastern Championship, its best showing at the event since a runner-up finish in 1993. It was the fourth consecutive time the Bison have posted a final record above .500.
Bucknell All-Time Men's Water Polo All-Americans
1979: Scott Schulte (2nd team)
1980: Scott Schulte (2nd team)
1985: Jeff Hilk (Honorable Mention)
1995: Tim Nesvig (Honorable Mention)
1998: Kevin Permisohn (Honorable Mention)
2004: Brad Roslyn (Honorable Mention)
2006: Mark Masterson (Honorable Mention)
2007: Jason Rechel (Honorable Mention)
2008: Richie Hyden (Honorable Mention)
2009: Sean Coghlan (Honorable Mention), Nick Donahue (Honorable Mention), Richie Hyden (Honorable Mention)
