Men's Water Polo Travels Across The Country to Compete in California

LEWISBURG, Pa. - Bucknell (10-9, 7-3 MAWPC) travels to California to compete in four games over the weekend. The Bison will see three days packed with play, including multiple nationally-ranked opponents.

Their first stop is in Berkeley on Friday to play No. 2 California (13-3, 2-2 MPSF) in a single game. The Bison will then travel to San Jose for the Julian Fraser Memorial Tournament for the remainder of the weekend. Bucknell will play No. 4 Pepperdine (15-4, 1-0 WCC) and No.15 Pacific (9-6, 0-1 WCC) on Saturday and close out its trip with Air Force (14-9, 1-0 WCC) on Sunday.

Friday, October 20th

Bucknell (10-9, 7-3 MAWPC ) vs. California (13-3, 2-2 MPSF) - 5:00 p.m. ET - WATCH

The following games will be held at the SRAC on the San Jose State campus as part of the Julien Fraser Memorial Tournament.

Saturday, October 21st

Bucknell (10-9, 7-3 MAWPC) vs. Pacific (9-6, 0-1 WCC) - 3:00 p.m. ET

Bucknell (10-9, 7-3 MAWPC) vs. Pepperdine (15-4, 1-0 WCC) - 7:00 p.m. ET

Sunday, October 22nd

Bucknell (10-9, 7-3 MAWPC) vs. Air Force (14-9, 1-0 WCC) - 12:20 p.m. ET

Bucknell scored 35 goals last week in the sweep of Mount St. Mary's and Johns Hopkins. The Bison have won eight of their last 10 games as they head into the weekend.
Aleksa Stefanovic continues to lead the team in goals with 45. Not far behind him is Shay Gillearn with 35, and Hasan Mogultay finishes out the top three with 30.
The Bison face off against California and Pepperdine for the first time this season. Bucknell previously saw competition early on in the season against Pacific at the Bruno Classic, where the Tigers earned a 22-12 win over the Bison and Air Force at the Bucknell Invitational, where Bucknell clinched a 13-8 win.
Bucknell pulled out a 6-0 run in the first half against the Falcons. Fifth-year attacker Andu Vlasceanu and junior attacker Shay Gillearn clicked on back-to-back goals to start the game. Junior center Matt Ryckman and sophomore attacker Aleksa Stefanovic tallied a goal each for the Bison.
First-year goalkeeper David Dumitru only allowed the Falcons two goals to close out the first half with a 10-3 lead. Walker Butler notched two goals for the Bison shortly after Stefanovic tallied his second goal; Sean Michael Tunnicliff wanted in on the action and scored his first goal.
The Bison added two more goals in the third quarter. Gillearn notched his third goal, and senior center Doruk Ozar had his first goal.
Bucknell last played California in 2021. Then, in the season opener for both teams, the third-ranked Golden Bears showed their scoring dominance early, beginning the game on a 14-3 run and pulling away with a 20-8 victory.
Bucknell tied the game at one with 5:50 left in the first period on a goal by Andu Vlasceanu, but the Golden Bears went on to score three straight and four of the following five goals en route to a comfortable 5-2 lead at the end of the first period. Bucknell had five different goal scorers, with Vlasceanu and Liam Stott each scoring a pair of goals to lead the Orange and Blue. Bucknell, unfortunately, came no closer than three goals the rest of the game.
Bucknell and Pacific have a history dating back to 2007 when the teams competed for the first time, and Bucknell came away with a 10-5 win over the Tigers. The two teams have faced off 10 times, with Pacific clinching the win in nine out of the 10 games.
In the Bruno Classic earlier in the season, the Bison fell 22-12. The Bison had five different goal scorers and three different multi-goal scorers. Gillearn led the group, scoring six; Stefanovic and Tunnicliff scored twice apiece, and Hasan Mogultay and Doruk Ozar tallied one each.
Bucknell hung around for much of the first half against the Tigers. Stefanovic's tally made it a 3-3 game midway through the opening period, and Gillearn scored with 21 seconds left to make it a 5-4 game after one.
Bucknell has not seen Pepperdine since the 2018 Bruno Classic, where the Bison fell 12-11 against the Waves. The Bison had the final three goals of the contest to draw within one, but ultimately, the Waves held on for the victory.
Marko Djordjevic led the Bucknell attack, totaling four goals and an assist. Rade Joksimovic had a strong outing, posting a hat trick and two helpers.
The Bison have moved up to take second place in the MAWPC, currently ranked just below an undefeated Fordham and knocking down No.19 Navy to third place. The Bison have two more league games next week on the road at Fordham and Wagner before returning home to host the MAWPC Championship on November 17-19 at Kinney Natatorium.

Men's Water Polo Travels Across The Country to Compete in California

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Players Mentioned

Walker Butler

David Dumitru

Shay Gillearn

Hasan Mogultay

Doruk Ozar

Matt Ryckman

Aleksa Stefanovic

Liam Stott

Sean Tunnicliff

Andu Vlasceanu