Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell University
Washington & Jefferson
Men's Water Polo Caps Perfect Weekend with 20-8 Win Over Washington & Jefferson
9/13/2015 3:23:00 PM | Men's Water Polo
LEWISBURG, Pa. – Stefan Aleksic scored a career-high five goals, Jeff Hagen added three and Sean Daley dished out four assists to help the No. 17 Bucknell men's water polo team to a commanding 20-8 victory over Washington & Jefferson Sunday afternoon at Kinney Natatorium. The win capped a perfect 5-0 weekend for the Bison at their own invitational and lifted their overall record to 7-2, marking their best start to a season since 2011.
Bucknell scored three goals in the first two minutes and tallied eight overall in the first period. The advantage ballooned to 10 goals at 14-4 early in the third quarter before the Presidents put up four goals in a row to cut the Bison lead to 14-8. Bucknell's starters came back into the game and made sure the outcome would not be in doubt as Aleksic scored three times in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter. The Bison ended the game on a 6-0 run and they held Washington & Jefferson without a goal for the final 10-plus minutes.
Bucknell scored 20 goals in a game for the first time since defeating Fordham 20-8 in September 2012. It was a team effort as 11 different Bison players found the back of the net. Jeff Hagen, Borna Bolanca, Jedd Thayer and Tommy Stupp joined Aleksic with multi-goal outings. Hagen also had a season-high six ejections drawn.
Five of Bucknell's goals came on six-on-five situations, while four others came on penalty shots.
Charlie Niehaus and Patrick McKenzie split time in goal for the Bison. Niehaus recorded five saves in the first half, while McKenzie had three in the second, including a stop of a penalty shot.
Bucknell, which opened the day with a 14-11 win over Toronto, will be idle next weekend and will return to action Sept. 26 on the road against league opponents Johns Hopkins and George Washington.
WASH. & JEFF. 2 2 4 0 -8
BUCKNELL 8 5 1 6 -20
Goals: Aleksic (5), Hagen (3), Bolanca (2), Thayer (2), Stupp (2), Hunter, Moore, Wilder, Babic, White, Farmer.
Assists: Daley (4), Aleksic (2), Farmer (2), Niehaus (2).
Ejections Drawn: Hagen (6), Hunter (2), Daley (2), Aleksic.
Steals: Daley (3), Aleksic (2), Hagen (2), Hunter, Moore, Wilder, Djordjevic, Babic, Thayer, White, Niehaus.
Saves: Niehaus (5 svs., 4 ga., 16:00 min.), McKenzie (3 svs., 4 ga., 16:00 min.)
Sprints: Daley (3-3), Coleman (1-1).
Bucknell Record: 7-2.
