Bucknell University
Brown
Men's Water Polo Drops Games to Brown and Harvard at Princeton Invitational
9/7/2014 6:48:00 PM | Men's Water Polo
PRINCETON, N.J. – The start of Bucknell's 2014 campaign was pushed back a day due to weather concerns wiping out most of Saturday's schedule at the Princeton Invitational. The Bison finally got a chance to get in the pool for real on Sunday and squared off against the opponents they were originally supposed to face 24 hours earlier. Bucknell dropped its opener to Brown by an 11-6 score. The Bison bounced back in the nightcap against Harvard, bringing the Crimson to overtime, but fell by a 12-10 margin.
Stefan Aleksic led the Bucknell offensive attack all day as he totaled seven goals and two assists in the two contests. Grant Curry added four scores, including three goals against Harvard, while Jeff Hagen scored twice opposite the Crimson.
Bucknell (0-2) and Harvard played a close game throughout as there were nine ties in the contest. The Bison did not trail until late in the third quarter and their largest deficit was the final two-goal margin.
It was tied 8-8 entering the fourth quarter. Ben Zepfel put the Crimson on top 9-8 early in the stanza, but back-to-back goals by Curry gave Bucknell the lead with 1:18 to play. However, Joey Colton scored the tying goal with 18 seconds left on the clock to force overtime.
Zepfel and Colton netted goals in the first three-minute overtime period to propel the Crimson to the victory.
It marked the first overtime game for the Bison since the 2012 Eastern Championship final vs. St. Francis Brooklyn.
Nate Hunter was solid in the middle for Bucknell with five ejections drawn against Harvard. The Bison scored six of their 10 goals in man-up situations.
Freshman Charlie Niehaus made his first career start in goal for the Bison and made 10 saves. Keegan Williams started game one against Brown and also posted 10 stops.
Bucknell trailed the Bears just 6-4 at halftime in that contest, but Brown outscored the Bison 5-2 in the second half en route to the victory. Aleksic led Bucknell with three goals, one assist and two ejections drawn.
The Bison will host their own invitational next weekend at Kinney Natatorium. All four of Bucknell's games during the two-day event will air live and free of charge on Bison Vision on the Patriot League Network.
