Bucknell Men's Water Polo Splits Two MAWPC Games at Kinney Natatorium

LEWISBURG, Pa. – The Bucknell University men's water polo team split two MAWPC games at home on Sunday afternoon. The Bison fell in the first game, 8-5, to George Washington before rebounding with a 9-5 victory over Wagner in two defensive contests.

Bucknell, now 6-8 on the season, improves to 1-3 in MAWPC play this season.

Game one: George Washington 8, Bucknell 5
The two teams kept things close during the early stages of the game, but four goals by the Colonials in the third quarter helped the Colonials pull away in closely-contested defensive contest. Bucknell, which fired 22 shots overall, was held to a season-low five goals in the defeat.

Bucknell took its first lead of the day, 2-1, in the second quarter after Doruk Ozar found the back of the cage with 7:35 to go in the half as the two teams looked to get things going offensively. However, GW responded right back with a goal at the 7:08 mark of the period to tie the game at two. The Colonials scored twice more to take a two-goal advantage, 4-2, before a goal by Bucknell's Josh Yardley with 1:30 to go in the half made the score 4-3 at the break.

Bucknell managed to come back and tie the game at five in the third on a goal by Shay Gillearn, but three unanswered goals by the Colonials, including two in the final 1:12 of the quarter, helped GW take an 8-5 win after both teams were held scoreless in the fourth.

The Bison goals were scored by five different players in Yardley, Gillearn, Ozar, Ethan Jones, and Hasan Mogultay. Adrien Touzot made four saves in the defeat.

Game two: Bucknell 9, Wagner 5
Game two saw the Bison hold its opponent to a season-low offensive output, as Wagner had been held to single-digit goals in just two of its first 14 contests.

Bucknell led 3-2 after one, but managed to break open a back-and-forth first quarter in the second thanks to two straight goals from J. Yardley, followed by a goal from Walker Butler on the powerplay with 4:09 left in the first half to cap a 3-0 run to open the second period. Bucknell maintained a healthy 7-4 lead into the halftime break thanks to one more goal from J. Yardley with 2:00 to go in the period.

The Bucknell defense stepped up in the second half, keeping the Seahawks off the board for the next 11 minutes. The Bison extended the lead to four on a goal from Vlasceanu with 5:44 to go in the third, and Mogultay sealed the win with an insurance goal with 2:09 in the fourth to help the Bison secure their first MAWPC victory of the season, and avenge an earlier loss to the Seahawks this season at Kinney Natatorium.

Touzot made a season-best 11 saves as part of the defensive effort, while J. Yardley and Vlasceanu each had three goals in the win.

Bucknell will have next weekend off before getting back into MAWPC play. The Bison will travel to GW, Navy, and Johns Hopkins on October 16-17.

Bucknell Men's Water Polo Splits Two MAWPC Games at Kinney Natatorium

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Players Mentioned

Walker Butler

Shay Gillearn

Ethan Jones

Hasan Mogultay

Doruk Ozar

Adrien Touzot

Josh Yardley