Bucknell University
St. Francis Brooklyn
Men's Water Polo Places Sixth at CWPA Championship
11/22/2015 3:24:00 PM | Men's Water Polo
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Three years ago Bucknell and St. Francis Brooklyn met in the title game of the CWPA Championship. On Sunday, those two teams squared off in the fifth-place contest and the Terriers made a 4-2 halftime advantage hold up and defeated the Bison 9-6. Stefan Aleksic led Bucknell with three goals, while Sean Daley added two.
The Bison held a 2-1 lead early in the second quarter after an extra-man goal by Aleksic, but St. Francis Brooklyn (17-13) scored six of the game's next seven goals to open a 7-3 cushion. The Terriers led by as many as five goals in the second half.
Bucknell, which had finished in the top five at the CWPA Championship 11 consecutive years, still exceeded its seed this year as the Bison entered the weekend seeded seventh in the 12-team field. Bucknell wrapped up its campaign with an 18-13 overall mark, its most victories since 2007.
Rodrigo Siracusa led St. Francis Brooklyn with four goals, while Bogdan Kostic added three.
Thanks to his three goals Sunday, Bucknell all-conference selection Aleksic finished his Bison career with 213 goals (8th), 152 assists (7th) and 365 points (8th) to rank in the top 10 in program history in all three categories. His 67 goals this fall were a career high and his 97 points were just four shy of his highest total in that category.
Johns Hopkins and Princeton were scheduled to face each other in Sunday's CWPA Championship title game to decide the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Championship.
BUCKNELL 0 2 1 3 -6
ST. FRANCIS BROOKLYN 1 3 3 2 -9
Goals: Aleksic (3), Daley (2), Moore.
Saves: Niehaus (8 svs., 9 ga., 32:00 min.).
Sprints: Daley (1-2), Thayer (1-1), Bolanca (0-1).
Bucknell Record: 18-13.
