Bucknell University
#20 St. Francis (N.Y.)
Third Quarter Hurts Bucknell Men's Water Polo in 13-9 Loss to No. 13 Princeton
9/16/2012 8:00:00 AM | Men's Water Polo
Sept. 16, 2012
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. –The Bucknell men's water polo team outscored No. 13 Princeton 9-8 in three quarters of play during Sunday's third-place game at the North-South Tournament, however the Tigers posted a 5-0 advantage in the third quarter that propelled them to a 13-9 victory over the Bison. Bucknell (4-5) finished the weekend 1-2 and captured fourth place in the eight-team field.
The Bison were tied at 4-4 with Princeton (5-3), the highest-ranked East Coast team, at halftime. Bucknell also outscored the Tigers 5-4 in the fourth quarter, but the 5-0 verdict in the third period was too much to overcome for the Bison.
Mike Kimble led the Bucknell offense with a career-high five goals as he returned to his reserve role one game after earning his first start since his freshman year. The junior also drew a pair of ejections.
Junior Jack Else posted a season-high five ejections drawn as the Bison generated eight man-up opportunities in the contest.
Brian Barron helped Kimble shoulder the offensive load as he tallied a pair of goals and dished out two assists. It was his second multi-goal outing of the weekend after a two-goal output vs. Harvard on Saturday morning.
Goalie Matt Napleton concluded the two-day tournament with his third consecutive 10-save performance. The senior now has 409 stops in his career, including 78 in nine games this season.
Bucknell advanced to the North-South Tournament semifinals with a win over the host Crimson Saturday morning. It then lost to No. 20 St. Francis (N.Y.) by a 7-6 margin Saturday evening to fall to the third-place game vs. Princeton, which lost to Brown on Saturday night. All five of Bucknell's losses this season have come to ranked foes.
The Bison will now gear up for the start of league play. Bucknell will play conference contests at Navy, George Washington and Johns Hopkins next weekend, Sept. 22-23.
BUCKNELL 2 2 0 5 -9
PRINCETON 1 3 5 4 -13
Goals: Kimble (5), Barron (2), Nowlin, Else.
Assists: Barron (2), Aleksic, Nowlin.
Field Blocks: Else.
Ejections Drawn: Else (5), Kimble (2), Nowlin.
Saves: Napleton (10 svs., 13 ga., 32:00 min.).
Steals: Somers (2), Hale, Colina, Barron, Napleton.
Sprints: Barron (2-4).
Bucknell Record: 4-5.
