Men's Water Polo Piles up 35 Goals in Home Sweep of Mount St. Mary's, Johns Hopkins

LEWISBURG, Pa. -- The Bucknell men's water polo team got the offense going on Saturday, pouring in 35 goals in two home victories at Kinney Natatorium. The Bison used a 6-1 opening quarter to set the tone for a 17-6 win over Mount St. Mary's in the afternoon, and then they returned for an 18-9 Senior Night rout of Johns Hopkins in the evening contest. Bucknell improved to 10-9 overall and 7-3 in the Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference, and the squad has won eight of its last 10 games heading into next week's West Coast trip.

Bucknell 18, Johns Hopkins 9

The Bison won a 17-16 thriller when these two teams matched up in Baltimore on Sept. 23, but this time around Bucknell used a decisive third quarter to pull away. Seniors Walker Butler, Doruk Ozar, and Liam Stott were all honored prior to the game, and all three wrote their names on the scoresheet, accounting for six of the team's season-high 18 goals. Andu Vlasceanu scored a team-high five goals, giving him nine on the day, and Ozar, Shay Gillearn, and Aleksa Stefanovic added three goals apiece. Stott, a center defender not known for his goal-scoring, brought the crowd to its feet with two fourth-quarter tallies.

Goalie David Dumitru also had a big night with 12 saves in three quarters of work. He tallied six saves in the third period alone, when the Bison outscored the Blue Jays 5-1 to turn a 7-4 halftime lead into a comfortable 12-5 margin.

Bucknell never trailed in the game, but it was 2-2 late in the first quarter when Ozar's 6-on-5 tally right in front of the goal gave the Bison the lead for good. Stefanovic made it 4-2 with 25 seconds left in the period, and then Butler and Sean Michael Tunnicliff both scored with a man advantage early in the second half to make it a 6-2 game.

The Bison led 7-4 at the half, and then on the first two possessions of the third quarter Ozar completed his hat trick followed by a Gillearn strike to make it 9-4. Two more man-up tallies from Stefanovic and Vlasceanu, the latter coming with only two seconds left in the quarter, gave Bucknell a commanding seven-goal lead heading into the final period. Stott's first goal of the night came from long range, and then he converted a penalty shot to make it 16-7 with 3:43 to go.

Bucknell 17, Mount St. Mary's 6

Aleksa Stefanovic and Andu Vlasceanu scored four times each and the Bison got out to a hot start on the way to a season sweep in the Route 15 rivalry.

Mount St. Mary's started the scoring with a goal nearly two minutes into the game, but the rest of the opening stanza was all Bucknell. Hasan Mogultay evened up the score on a penalty shot seven seconds later. Vlasceanu then deposited back-to-back goals for Bucknell. Mogultay added two more goals for the 5-1 lead. Mogultay was the MVP of the first quarter, scoring all three of his goals in the period. Vlasceanu finished the first quarter scoring with a goal at 1:50 for the 6-1 advantage.

The Bison wasted no time in the second period, tallying a goal 25 seconds in off a Sean Michael Tunnicliff shot. The Mount used a mini 2-0 run to draw within 7-3. Bucknell equaled the challenge by undergoing its own 2-0 stretch before halftime with goals by Stefanovic and Jack Murad for the 9-3 lead.

Nearly half of the third stanza expired before Stefanovic scored his second goal of the game. The Mountaineers answered with a score of their own. Vlasceanu responded with a goal and so did the Mount. With three seconds on the clock, Stefanovic fired a laser into the back of the net to make the margin 12-5 entering the final period.

Like in the first period, the Mount opened the scoring in the fourth, but the remainder of the quarter belonged to the Bison, proving to be a game of bookends. Bucknell ripped off a 5-0 run to end the contest. Doruk Ozar entered his name in the scorebook. Then Liam Stott and Stefanovic tallied twice in a 26-second block. Gregory Alexander Nordheim converted a penalty shot for the 16-6 lead. Ian Shultz put an exclamation mark on the game with one final goal.

Up Next

Bucknell plays four games in California next weekend, starting with a clash with No. 2 California in Berkeley on Friday. The Bison will then face No. 5 Pepperdine, No. 14 Pacific, and Air Force at the Julian Fraser Memorial in San Jose.

Men's Water Polo Piles up 35 Goals in Home Sweep of Mount St. Mary's, Johns Hopkins

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Players Mentioned

Walker Butler

David Dumitru

Shay Gillearn

Hasan Mogultay

Jack Murad

Greg Nordheim

Doruk Ozar

Ian Shultz

Aleksa Stefanovic

Liam Stott

Sean Tunnicliff

Andu Vlasceanu