Bucknell Men's Water Polo Advances to MAWPC Semifinals with Win over No. 6 Navy, 8-6

BRONX, N.Y. -- The Bucknell University men's water polo team captured its first win of the season against Navy at the most opportune time, taking a hard-fought, 8-6 win over the Mids after Navy had bested the Bison twice in the regular season.

The win was head coach John McBride's 200^th in charge of the men's program. McBride becomes just the second coach in the men's program's extensive history to reach the 200-win mark along with Bucknell Hall-of-Famer Dick Russell (223).

The Bison, which had lost their last five meetings against Navy heading into the game, including its last four by two goals or less, managed to prevail in yet another close matchup on Friday evening in earning its seventh win in the first game of the MAWPC Tournament in the last eight years.

Bucknell took the first lead of the game, never relinquishing the advantage throughout the entire match. Senior Andu Vlasceanu opened the scoring just 30 seconds in, before Doruk Ozar scored at the 4:46 mark of the second to double the Bison advantage. Navy scored with 43 seconds remaining in the period, but a late penalty shot with nine seconds left from Aleksa Stefanovic, one of three on the day for the first-year, helped Bucknell take an early two-goal advantage.

The Bison pushed their lead to as many as three, 5-2, on a goal from Stefanovic with 4:48 left in the first half, but the Mids responded with two unanswered tallies to trim the Bison lead to 5-4 at the break. Navy continued that momentum to start the third, scoring a pair of goals on either side of a goal by Hasan Mogultay to tie the game at six with 2:29 in the third.

However, Bucknell showed its defensive prowess throughout the remainder of the game, shutting out the Mids the rest of the way.

Mogultay was on hand again to give Bucknell the lead with a minute to go in the third, and a brilliant defensive display from senior goalkeeper Adrien Touzot in the cage helped Bucknell secure the win, as the senior from Beirut, Lebanon made five saves over the closing eight minutes. Josh Yardley put the finishing touches on Bucknell's win with an insurance goal with 5:27 to go, as Bucknell secured an 8-6 win.

Stefanovic led all scorers with three goals while Mogultay also had multiple goals. Ozar, Vlasceanu, and Yardley also added goals.

Bucknell will now look ahead to a semifinal matchup against second-seeded George Washington, who defeated Johns Hopkins in the previous game to secure a semifinal berth. The matchup is scheduled for an 8 p.m. opening sprint on Saturday evening.

Bucknell Men's Water Polo Advances to MAWPC Semifinals with Win over No. 6 Navy, 8-6

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Players Mentioned

Hasan Mogultay

Doruk Ozar

Aleksa Stefanovic

Adrien Touzot

Andu Vlasceanu

Josh Yardley