Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Men's Water Polo's Barron and Napleton Honored by CWPA
10/16/2012 8:00:00 AM | Men's Water Polo
Oct. 16, 2012
| BUY PHOTOS | BUY PHOTOS | BUY PHOTOS | BUY PHOTOSLEWISBURG, Pa. - Bucknell men's water polo players Brian Barron (Oak Park, Ill./Fenwick) and Matt Napleton (Oak Park, Ill./Fenwick) celebrated Senior Day together on Saturday and on Tuesday each earned a weekly award from the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA). Barron was named the Southern Division Player of the Week, while Napleton nabbed Defensive Player of the Week honors for a third time this season and the eighth time in his career.
Barron and Napleton, the only two seniors on the Bison and team co-captains who played together in high school, helped lead Bucknell (9-10, 3-5 CWPA) to a 3-1 record this past weekend. The Bison defeated league foes Johns Hopkins, George Washington and No. 16 Princeton. Their lone loss came to No. 14 Navy in a game that was much closer than the final six-goal margin indicated.
Barron, who was already named the Bison Athlete of the Week on Monday, totaled 17 goals and six assists in the four games over the weekend. The highlight of the four games for Barron was the Navy contest when he netted a career-high eight goals, the most by a Bucknell player since Josh Watts tallied eight times against Slippery Rock in 1998.
A three-time CWPA Southern Division Player of the Week in his career, Barron registered four multi-goal outings over the weekend. He converted a penalty shot with 36 seconds left that proved to be the game-winning score in a 10-9 victory over No. 16 Princeton.
Barron's 23-point performance over the weekend boosted his career figure to 202, the most among current Bison. He also has 21 steals and 12 ejections drawn to go along with 41 sprints won. Barron captured 12 of 18 sprints over the weekend and ranks third in program history with 126 sprints won.
Napleton, who like Barron was a first-team all-conference pick in 2011, was strong on the defensive end of the pool, making 55 saves in goal. He yielded just 44 goals, including 27 in the three victories. He now has 195 stops this year, placing him just 34 saves shy of his career high (229).
A starter in all 19 games this season, Napleton has 11 double-figure save performances in 2012, including the last six game in a row. He ranks seventh in program history with 526 career saves.
Barron and Napleton will head west this coming weekend when Bucknell plays five games at the Santa Clara Rodeo. The Bison will face five teams that show up in this week's national rankings.
