No. 22 Women's Water Polo Goes 1-1 on Sunday

Sunday, March 8

Cambridge, Mass.

9:15 a.m.

Bucknell University

LIU

Photo by: Marc Hagemeier

3/8/2020 11:12:00 AM | Women's Water Polo

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The No. 22 Bucknell University women's water polo team finished 3-1 at the Harvard Invite on Sunday morning with a 12-6 victory over LIU, before dropping its last game to No. 19 Wagner, 15-5. The Sunday morning matchup was the first-ever meeting between LIU and the Bison.

Game One: No. 22 Bucknell 12, LIU 6

Bucknell used ten goals in the final three quarters to pull away from the Sharks in the first game of the day.

Kali Hyham opened the scoring for the Bison on a pass from Paige Furano, before LIU evened the game at one on a goal by Alejandra Aranguren.

Bucknell then went on to score three straight to close the first quarter and open the second to take a 4-1 lead. Hyham and Marcela Herrera drew exclusions to set up penalty shots for junior Ally Furano during the stretch, before Nina Benson added Bucknell's third shortly Furano's second goal. After a goal by the Sharks, Hyham scored herself, setting up the powerplay by drawing an exclusion. Hyham's goal came late in the second quarter on a pass from P. Furano, her third assist of the first half.

LIU scored the opening goal of the second half, but Bucknell pulled away during the third quarter, scoring four straight after giving up the goal to LIU, and blanking the Sharks during the rest of the period to take a commanding 9-3 lead.   Benson scored twice during the run, along with a goal each from A. Furano and P. Furano.

A. Furano, Benson, and Megan Lacroix added a goal each in the fourth as Bucknell took its third win at the Harvard Invite of the weekend. Bucknell has held its opponents to nine goals or fewer in four of its last five wins, and nine times overall this season.

Benson and A. Furano each scored four times on the day, while Georgia Lewis made four saves in the cage for the Bison. P. Furano dished out three assists, while Hyham scored twice and drew four ejections.

Goals: Benson (4), A. Furano (4), Hyham (2), P. Furano, Lacroix
Assists: P. Furano (3), A. Furano
Steals: Benson, Herrera, Rojahn
Ejections Drawn: Hyham (4), A. Furano (2)
Sprints: Herrera (0-2), Lacroix (0-1), Rojahn (0-1)
Saves: Lewis, 4 saves, 6 goals allowed, 32:00 minutes

Game Two: No. 19 Wagner 15, No. 22 Bucknell 5

The Seahawks and the Bison kept things close early on, but Wagner went on to score nine of the game's final ten goals, including ten goals in the second half, to pull away from the matchup between ranked foes. The win by the Seahawks was their second over the Bison this season.

Wagner scored the first three goals of the game, and looked to run away with the game early on before P. Furano found the back of the cage on a pass by Gigi Rojahn shortly into the second half as the Bison managed to pull a goal back.

A goal by Wagner's Abbey Simshauser extended the Seahawk lead to 4-1, but two straight goals by P. Furano and Benson brought Bucknell within a goal, 4-3, midway through the second quarter before Wagner's Skye Nankervis scored near the halftime horn to give Wagner a 5-3 advantage at the break.

Wagner scored another goal to open the third, before Hyham responded shortly afterwards to pull Bucknell with two, 6-4.

However, that was the closest the Bison could get in the game, as Wagner scored eight straight goals to end the third and pull away from Bucknell in the second half. Bucknell was held to a season-low five scores in the defeat.

Benson and P. Furano scored two goals each, while Lacroix tallied Bucknell's other goal on the day.

Bucknell will now travel to California for five games beginning with a Thursday matchup against Long Beach State.

Goals: P. Furano (2), Benson (2), Lacroix
Assists: P. Furano, Rojahn
Steals: Benson, Rojahn
Ejections Drawn: Herrera (2), P. Furano, Hodzic
Sprints: Herrera (0-1), Rojahn (0-1), Benson (0-1)
Saves: Lewis, 5 saves, 15 goals allowed, 32:00 minutes