Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Harvard
Bucknell Women's Water Polo Falls to Harvard at Eastern Championship, 13-8
4/30/2011 8:00:00 AM | Women's Water Polo
April 30, 2011
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Julianne Valdes (Miami, Fla./Gulliver Prep) scored three of Bucknell's four goals in the first half and finished with a team-high five points, but Harvard outscored the Bison women's water polo team by an 8-4 margin in the second half en route to a 13-8 victory Saturday afternoon at the Eastern Championship. The loss drops Bucknell into Sunday's seventh-place game against George Washington.
Coming off the bench, Valdes netted three goals and dished out two assists in the contest to lead the Bison offense. Kandis Canonica (Burlingame, Calif./St. Ignatius Prep) added one goal and three assists and enters Sunday's competition one goal shy of becoming the fourth Bucknell player to reach 200 goals in a career. Haley Prickett (Newport Beach, Calif./Corona del Mar) contributed two goals to the Bison scoring tally.
Bucknell (12-18), the 10th seed in the 11-team field, trailed the sixth-seeded Crimson by just a 5-4 margin at the half, but Harvard netted six goals in the third quarter to take a four-goal advantage into the final period.
Brittany Connell (Montebello, Calif./Montebello) posted seven saves for the third consecutive game as she moved her season total to a team-high 124 stops.
In addition to her four points, Canonica drew a team-high four ejections and posted two steals.
A win Sunday against eighth-seeded George Washington will give Bucknell its fourth all-time seventh-place finish at the Eastern Championship. The Bison also finished seventh in 2004, 2005 and 2007. Sunday's game is slated for 10:30 a.m. Bucknell was 0-2 against the Colonials during the regular season, dropping a pair of two-goal contests.
BUCKNELL 2 2 3 1 -8
HARVARD 4 1 6 2 -13
Goals: Valdes (3), Prickett (2), Ovalle, Canonica, Carroll.
Assists: Canonica (3), Valdes (2), Smith, Kennan.
Field Blocks: Valdes (2), Ferry.
Ejections Drawn: Canonica (4), Prickett (2), Skonezney.
Saves: Connell (7 svs., 13 ga., 32:00 min.).
Steals: Smith (2), Canonica (2), Valdes, Shopiro, McNally, Murao, Prickett, Carroll, Connell.
Sprints: Ovalle (1-3), Skonezney (0-1).
Bucknell Record: 12-18.
