Bucknell University
#17 Navy
Late Scoring Flurry Lifts Navy to 10-8 Victory Over Bucknell Men's Water Polo
10/16/2011 8:00:00 AM | Men's Water Polo
Oct. 16, 2011
LEWISBURG, Pa. –Playing its fourth game in three days, the No. 15 Bucknell men's water polo team scored six six-on-five goals and led No. 17 Navy by two scores with four minutes to play, but the Mids scored five goals in the final 3:40 to defeat the Bison 10-8 Sunday at Kinney Natatorium. Bucknell finished its home league weekend 2-2 with victories over George Washington and Johns Hopkins.
The Bison excelled in man-up situations, scoring six times in 13 chances. Brian Barron (Oak Park, Ill./Fenwick), one of two Bucknell (10-4, 5-3 CWPA) players to net two goals along with Alex Nowlin (Coto de Caza, Calif./Tesoro), added a five-meter penalty shot, meaning the Bison scored just one goal at even strength. Navy (16-5, 3-2 CWPA) was 4-for-9 on six-on-fives as 11 of the contest's 18 goals were tallied under special circumstances.
A goal by Jack Else (Lansdale, Pa./North Penn) with 7:04 remaining in the fourth quarter staked Bucknell to a 7-5 lead. Jesse Walker got Navy back in it just over three minutes later when he tallied the second of his two man-up goals in the final period. On the Bison's ensuing possession Else earned an ejection, but Navy's Darren McKay was slow leaving the pool and his actions resulted in a Bucknell turnover. The Mids quickly came down the pool and Stevie Ray netted the equalizing goal with 2:54 on the clock.
Barron put the Bison back on top 83 seconds later when he bounced in a shot to make it 8-7. Navy then got its fast break going as Paul Pedrotty scored a one-on-one goal against Bucknell goalie Matt Napleton (Oark Park, Ill./Fenwick) and Erich Schwamb did the same thing a few seconds later (34 seconds remained), giving the Mids their first lead (9-8) since it was 2-1 early in the second quarter.
Barron did take a shot on the Bison's final possession, but Anthony Gutierrez made his seventh save of the game. Navy quickly called timeout and then ran down the final 20 seconds of the clock before tallying an empty-net goal moments before the horn sounded to make it 10-8.
Napleton, who had 10 saves in the first half, and 15 overall, played a strong game, and came up just one stop shy of equaling his career high.
Bucknell equaled its season high with 15 ejections drawn, marking the second time this weekend it did that. Else posted a season high-tying five, while Beau Caillouette (Newport Beach, Calif./Sage Hill School) registered four.
Nowlin dished out a pair of assists to go along with his two goals to give him a team-high four points. Pedrotty led the Mids with three goals and five points.
Navy, which had been idle all weekend, will play a 7 p.m. game at No. 16 Princeton on Sunday. Bucknell will next be in action next weekend, Oct. 22-23, at the Santa Clara Rodeo.
NAVY 1 1 2 6 -10
BUCKNELL 1 2 3 2 -8
Goals: Nowlin (2), Barron (2), Else, Richley, Colina, Kimble.
Assists: Nowlin (2), Caillouette (2), Richley, Colina, Barron.
Field Blocks: Caillouette, Schwartz.
Ejections Drawn: Else (5), Caillouette (4), Kimble (3), Barron (2), Nowlin.
Saves: Napleton (15 svs., 10 ga., 32:00 min.).
Steals: Nowlin (2), Napleton (2), Else.
Sprints: Reitz (1-3), Richley (0-1).
Bucknell Record: 10-4, 5-3 CWPA.
