No. 14 Men's Water Polo Goes 1-1 at Home

LEWISBURG, Pa.—The No. 14 Bucknell men's water polo team moved a step closer to clinching the No. 1 seed at the MAWPC Championships with a 14-10 win over Navy on Sunday morning. Senior Rade Joksimovic, who led the Bison with seven goals, recorded his 500th career goal in the second period as Bucknell took an early lead and never looked back. Joksimovic joined Bucknell Athletics Hall of Famer Scott Schulte as the only Bison to reach this historic milestone.

Later in the afternoon, the Bison were edged by George Washington, 11-10, despite a five-point (3g-2a) outing from Joksimovic. With that loss, the Bison will enter their regular-season finale at Fordham with an 18-8 (9-2 MAWPC) record.

The Bison defeated Navy for the second time this season after a narrow 11-10 win over the Mids on Oct. 12. Joksimovic was involved early on, scoring five of his seven goals in the first half as Bucknell jumped out to a 5-0 lead after one. Andu Vlasceanu opened the scoring on a nice pass from senior Cooper Dolan, before goals from Joksimovic and Mitchell Scott added to the early lead.

Joksimovic added two more goals on penalty shots in the second period, before Scott made a nice play in the center to turn and score with just three seconds remaining in the first half of play for Bucknell's eighth goal. Senior Logan Schofield made a big impact in the early goings, drawing three ejections that Joksimovic converted as the Bison took an 8-2 lead into halftime.

Joksimovic's 500^th goal came from the penalty spot to close the second half.

Schofield was at it once again as he drew another ejection to set up Joksimovic's penalty shot goal to open the third. Schofield drew six ejections on the day, and proved to be a dominating presence in the middle for the Bison. He then scored Bucknell's tenth on a long pass from freshman goalkeeper Adrien Touzot as Bucknell took control, 10-2. Bucknell led by as many as nine in the third period, and emptied its bench in the fourth period as the Bison won their third straight game and improved to 9-1 in the MAWPC standings.

Joksimovic and Vlasceanu combined for 11 of Bucknell's 14 goals, while Scott netted twice. Schofield provided the other goal for the Bison. Vlasceanu also chipped in five steals. 11 different Bison picked up a steal in the win.

The Colonials proceeded to spoil Bucknell's Senior Day with their tight 11-10 victory. After ceding George Washington a 4-1 lead in the first quarter, the Bison pulled within a single strike behind a 3-1 second quarter. The teams entered the final frame locked in an 8-8 tie; the Colonials scored the fourth quarter's first two goals to take a 10-8 lead. Bucknell would not even the score again.

Beyond Joksimovic, Schofield and Vlasceanu each contributed two goals. Schofield drew six ejections while Vlasceanu tied Joskimovic for the team lead with two steals.

The Bison return to action on Saturday, Nov. 16 at 2 p.m. by facing off against Fordham in the Bronx. That game is their regular-season finale.

Navy    0 - 2 - 3 - 5 -- 10
Bucknell    5 - 3 - 6 - 0 -- 14

Goals: Joksimovic (7), Vlasceanu (4), Scott (2), Schofield
Assists: Stanley (2), Vlasceanu, Joksimovic, Touzot, Dolan, Lewis
Steals: Joksimovic (6), Vlsaceanu (5), Poland (2), Touzot, Schofield, Brill, Stanley, Jacuzzi, Dolan, Fazekas, Lewis
Ejections Drawn: Schofield (6), Gildea, Vlasceanu, Little
Saves: Touzot, 7 saves, 24:00 minutes
             Otto 1 save, 8:00 minutes

George Washington        4 - 1 - 3 - 3 -- 11
Bucknell                         1 - 3 - 4 - 2 -- 10
Goals: Joksimovic (3), Schofield (2), Vlasceanu (2), Dolan, Lewis, Stanley
Assists: Joksimovic (2), Stanley (2), Dolan, Vlasceanu
Steals: Joksimovic (2), Vlasceanu (2), Scott, Stanley
Ejections Drawn: Schofield (6), Joksimovic (2)
Saves: Touzot, 11 saves, 32:00 minutes

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Players Mentioned

Cooper Dolan

Rade Joksimovic

Logan Schofield

Mitchell Scott

Adrien Touzot

Andu Vlasceanu