Bucknell University Athletics
Difficult Schedule for Bucknell Men's Water Polo at this Weekend's Princeton Invitational
9/7/2012 8:00:00 AM | Men's Water Polo
LEWISBURG, Pa. - The Bucknell men's water polo team heads into the second weekend of its 2012 season with an unblemished 2-0 record. The Bison will look to build on that mark at this weekend's Princeton Invitational. They will play four games - three against ranked foes - in a three-day span.
Bucknell's Princeton Invitational schedule features games against No. 20 St. Francis (Friday), No. 3 Cal (Saturday) and No. 18 Brown (Saturday). Additionally, the Bison will face Fordham on Sunday.
A total of 25 games will be contested at the 11-team, three-day Princeton Invitational. Among the highlights of the weekend is a nationally televised broadcast on ESPNU of Friday evening's Princeton-Cal contest. Start time for that game is 6 p.m.
Bucknell's Princeton Invitational Schedule
Friday, Sept. 7
Bucknell vs. No. 20 St. Francis (N.Y.), 9 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 8
Bucknell vs. No. 3 Cal, 12:30 p.m.
Bucknell vs. No. 18 Brown, 5:30 p.m.
Sunday, Sept. 9
Bucknell vs. Fordham, 1 p.m.
Bucknell Men's Water Polo Notebook (2-0, 0-0 CWPA)
• Bucknell has had success early in seasons in recent years. The Bison started 2010 with wins in their first two games and extended the hot streak to a 7-1 start. Last year, Bucknell opened with a 3-0 record and was 5-1 after six games. This year, the Bison are already 2-0.
• Second-year Bison head coach John McBride has led Bucknell to a 9-2 record in September during his tenure.
• John McBride now has a 17-10 career record as Bucknell's head coach. This past weekend he passed Jim Harvey for seventh place on the program's all-time wins list. Next up is Alan Huckins and his 23 victories.
• Bucknell will face three consecutive nationally ranked opponents this weekend. The Bison last faced that many ranked foes in a row last year when they played No. 17 Navy, No. 3 Stanford, No. 12 UC Davis, No. 15 Santa Clara and No. 6 Pepperdine in consecutive contests.
• Bucknell defeated Notre Dame (Ohio) by a 24-9 score and Iona by a 14-12 margin at last weekend's season-opening Navy Labor Day Open.
• Senior co-captain Brian Barron leads the Bison with seven goals through two games this season. He recently became the first current Bucknell player to cross the 100-goal plateau for his career and he now has 101 in his four years as a Bison.
• Junior Jack Else enters this weekend with 93 career points (76g, 17a). He is in line to become the third current Bison to reach the 100-point mark for a career, joining Barron (156) and Alex Nowlin (126).
• Freshman Stefan Aleksic became the first Bucknell player to earn a weekly award this season when he was named the CWPA Southern Division Rookie of the Week this past Tuesday. He totaled six goals, two assists, seven steals, one ejection drawn and one field block last weekend. His seven steals vs. Notre Dame were the most by a Bison since 2004.
• Senior goalie Matt Napleton currently ranks eighth in program history with 342 career saves. He is just 29 stops behind seventh-place Miles Gilhuly, who ended his career in 2010 with 371 saves.
Bucknell's Weekly Awards in 2012
CWPA Southern Division Rookie of the Week
- Stefan Aleksic (Sept. 4)
Bucknell vs. Weekend Opponents
• Bucknell vs. St. Francis: 4-25 (Bucknell snapped a 22-game losing streak with a 16-10 win at the 2011 Navy Labor Day Open)
• Bucknell vs. Cal: 0-10 (Teams met every year from 2004 to 2009 with the closest game being an 11-7 contest in 2007)
• Bucknell vs. Brown: 21-30-2 (Bucknell has won 11 of the last 15 meetings)
• Bucknell vs. Fordham: 36-2 (Bucknell has won all three meetings over last two seasons)
Up Next
• Bucknell will travel to Cambridge, Mass., for the North/South Invitational. The Bison will open the two-day event against the host Crimson.
