Bucknell University Athletics
Seven Games in California Highlight Bucknell Women's Water Polo Spring Break Schedule
3/11/2011 7:00:00 AM | Women's Water Polo
March 11, 2011
LEWISBURG, Pa. - The Bucknell women's water polo team has had nearly two weeks off since its last game, a 10-7 win over Marist at the ECAC Championship, meaning it should be well-rested for its upcoming weeklong spring break trip to California. The Bison will play seven games in the Golden State over the next nine days as they cross the mid-point of their season.
The trip begins Saturday with contests against Concordia (Calif.) and La Verne at the Claremont Convergence. During the upcoming trup, Bucknell will play three teams that appear in this week's national rankings: No. 11 Long Beach State, No. 13 UC Santa Barbara and No. 16 Cal State Northridge.
Bucknell Women's Water Polo Notebook (5-5, 0-0 CWPA)
• Bucknell posted a 3-2 mark on its spring break trip to California last March.
• Bucknell snapped a five-game losing streak with a 10-7 win over Marist its last time out, in the seventh-place game at the ECAC Championship.
• Bucknell is outscoring its opposition 97-88, including 49-38 in the second half.
• The final game (vs. Cal State San Bernardino) of the upcoming trip will be the 400th contest in program history. Bucknell's all-time record since the program began in 1999 is 216-177.
• Senior Kandis Canonica enters the trip with 356 career points, placing her second on Bucknell's all-time list. She is just two points behind Aubrey Rowe's program record and just nine assists from the 200 mark.
• Freshman Julianne Valdes leads the Bison with 27 points this season. She will attempt to become the first freshman to lead Bucknell in scoring since Canonica in 2008.
• Freshmen have tallied 38 of Bucknell's 97 goals this year.
• Goalies Brittany Connell and Rena Heim have split time evenly in goal this year, each playing 160 minutes. Connell has stopped 43 shots and yielded 49 goals, while Heim has 45 saves and 39 goals against. Connell enters this week's trip with 99 career saves, good for sixth on the program's all-time list.
• Canonica has scored at least one goal in 16 consecutive games in which she has played.
• Bucknell is 18-3 since the beginning of 2010 when netting at least 10 goals.
• Valdes remains the only Bison player to start every game this season.
Bison on Career Record Lists
Kandis Canonica: Points (2nd, 356), Goals (5th, 165), Assists (1st, 191), Ejections Drawn (4th, 146), Shots (6th, 389), Games Started (9th, 101)
Haley Prickett: Ejections Drawn (6th, 97)
Amanda Skonezney: Sprints Won (2nd, 126)
Brittany Connell: Saves (6th, 99)
Bucknell's Weekly Awards in 2011
CWPA Western Division Player of the Week
- Julianne Valdes (Feb. 14)
CWPA Western Division Rookie of the Week
- Julianne Valdes (Feb. 14)
Bucknell vs. Upcoming Opponents
• vs. Concordia (Calif.): 2-0
• vs. La Verne: 3-0
• at Long Beach State: 0-1
• at Cal State Northridge: 0-6
• vs. Marist: 10-1
• at UC Santa Barbara: 0-2
• vs. Cal State San Bernardino: 4-3
Up Next
• Bucknell will be in action on only five more days during the regular season, although it will still have nine contests remaining on its schedule before the season-ending Eastern Championship. The Bison will open league play April 2 against Michigan and will also play former league rival Princeton on that day.
