Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Men's Water Polo to Host Seven-Team Bison Invitational this Weekend
9/28/2012 8:00:00 AM | Men's Water Polo
Sept. 28, 2012
LEWISBURG, Pa. –The Bucknell men's water polo team will host the Bison Invitational this weekend at Kinney Natatorium. The Bison will kick off the event at 12 p.m. on Saturday against MIT in the first of 12 games to be played over the two-day invitational.
The Bison are 4-8 this season, coming off three losses from last weekend against league foes Navy, George Washington, and Johns Hopkins. However, they are looking to turn around the streak with their first home contests at Kinney Natatorium this season. Bucknell will play at home three of the next six weekends as it hosts four league contests Oct. 13-14 and the Southern Championships Nov. 2-4.
The Bison Invitational will feature MIT, Navy “B”, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Toronto, and Notre Dame College in addition to host Bucknell, but the Bison will only compete against MIT, Toronto, Navy and Harvard. Bucknell will play both the opening and closing games on Saturday, beginning at 12 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. The Invitational will resume Sunday morning at 8 a.m. and the final game will begin at 4 p.m. The Bison will wrap up their weekend in a game against Harvard beginning at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday.
Jack Else could be a key contributor to the Bison's success this weekend. Else has had five multi-goal games this year and posted a Bucknell single-game record of 10 ejections drawn last weekend against Navy. Else had a total of 23 ejections drawn for the three-game weekend giving him 43 for the year to rank No. 10 on the program's single-season ledger. Else is now fourth on the program's top-10 list with 148 career ejections drawn and sits at the top of the single-season records list with 78 ejections drawn in 2011. The junior is one of three Bison with 100 career points (113), alongside Brian Barron (169) and Alex Nowlin (142). Nowlin enters the weekend with 93 assists in his three-year career. The junior is just 34 assists shy of joining the program's top-10 list. Last year, Nowlin joined the single-season records list with 62 assists.
Senior co-captain and goalkeeper, Matt Napleton, posted 229 saves last year leaving him 25 short of the programs season records list, but with 100 saves so far this season, he could join the list in his final year at Bucknell. The senior is seventh on the career records list with 431 saves to date. Napleton recently received the honor of being named CWPA Southern Division Defensive Player of the Week (Sept. 18) after making 30 saves at the North-South Tournament. Napleton's co-captain, Barron, holds two places on the single-season records list for sprints won with 39 in 2009 and 42 in 2010. This season Barron is a team best, 24-for-47 in sprints.
This weekend the Bison play MIT, Toronto, Navy, and Harvard. The Bison are 15-1 all-time against MIT, 1-0 against Toronto, 16-77 against Navy, and 17-7 against Harvard. Sunday's Navy contest will not count in Bucknell's won-loss record. In the past two years, the Bison have been 8-7 when playing with an at-home advantage at Kinney Natatorium, with a 44-27 all-time record.
This weekend will be the first Bison Invitational since 2010 as last year's Invite was cancelled due to the flooding in Central Pennsylvania.
Bucknell's Weekly Awards in 2012
CWPA Southern Division Defensive Player of the Week
- Matt Napleton (Sept. 18)
CWPA Southern Division Rookie of the Week
- Stefan Aleksic (Sept. 4)
Bucknell vs. Weekend Opponents
• Bucknell vs. MIT: 15-1 (Four meetings since 2005; Bucknell won last matchup 12-5 in 2009)
• Bucknell vs. Toronto: 1-0 (Bucknell captured only previous meeting, 15-4, at 2010 Bison Invitational)
• Bucknell vs. Navy “B”: Exhibition game – will not count in won-loss record
• Bucknell vs. Harvard: 17-7 (Bucknell has won all three meetings over last two seasons by combined 42-22 score)
Up Next
• Bucknell will play just one game next weekend as it travels to nationally ranked Princeton for a 7 p.m. league game on Saturday, Oct. 6. The Bison lost to the Tigers 13-9 at the North-South Invitational earlier this month.
