Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Men's Water Polo's Matt Napleton Earns CWPA Defensive Player of the Week Award for Third Time this Season
9/27/2011 8:00:00 AM | Men's Water Polo
Sept. 27, 2011
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Bucknell men's water polo junior goalie Matt Napleton (Oak Park, Ill./Fenwick) was named the Collegiate Water Polo Association Defensive Player of the Week Tuesday after totaling 42 saves in three league games this past weekend. It is the third time this year Napleton has been honored with the award.
Napleton finished the three-game conference weekend with 42 saves, 28 goals allowed, two steals and four assists in 102 minutes played. He registered double-figure saves in each contest, including a career-high 16 stops in a 10-8 win at George Washington.
Napleton, who registered 42 saves in the season's first six games, has now reached double figures in stops in four of the last five outings. He now has 84 saves on the year and just 76 goals allowed for a .525 save percentage.
One of four Bison to start all nine games this season, Napleton is one of the key reasons why Bucknell (7-2, 2-1 CWPA Southern Division) has limited opponents to 33 first-half goals.
The Bison, who defeated No. 16 Navy and George Washington, and lost to Johns Hopkins, this past weekend, will be idle this weekend. They will be back in action Saturday, Oct. 8, when they play at league rival Princeton in a 2 p.m. game.
