Men's Water Polo Falls Twice against Ranked Teams at Julian Fraser Memorial Tournament

SAN JOSE, Calif. - The Bucknell men's water polo team fell to two nationally ranked teams Saturday at the Julian Fraser Memorial Tournament at the Spartan Recreation and Aquatics Center.

The Bison began the afternoon with a close 15-13 loss to No. 15 Pacific, later falling 17-8 to No. 4 Pepperdine.

No. 15 Pacific 15, Bucknell 13

The Bison and Tigers battled it out throughout the majority of the match. Pacific had the first scoring advantage with a power play that allowed Gil Gvishi to find the back of the net. Bucknell answered back, notching two goals of its own with shots by sophomore center Maxime Touzot and junior center defender Hasan Mogultay, both finding the back of the net, earning the Bison the lead.

The Bison held a 12-8 lead at one point in the third period, but Pacific then went on a 6-1 run to take a 14-13 lead. Ultimately, the Bison were never able to successfully get a shot on net again in the fourth period, and the Tigers ripped one last shot with 23 seconds to play.

Bucknell was 13-for-26 (goals versus shots) against Pacific's 15-for-39. First-year goalie David Dumitru earned himself a .464 save percentage with 13 saves and 15 goals against.

Bucknell had eight goal-scorers in the match, including three multi-goal scorers. Sophomore attacker Aleksa Stefanovic and Mogultay both talllied three and Touzot added two. Rounding out the group was first-year attacker Sean Michael Tunnicliff, junior center Matt Ryckman, sophomore center defender Jack Murad, junior attacker Shay Gillearn, and fifth-year Andu Vlasceanu.

No. 4 Pepperdine 17, Bucknell 8

Pepperdine scored three quick goals for an early lead, and Bucknell scored a goal to put itself on the board. The Bison fought back but were behind 6-2 at the end of the first quarter.

Bucknell scored three goals in the second quarter but was on the short end of a 10-5 count at the half.

Pepperdine kept up the pressure in the second half and went on a scoring run to lead 14-7. Both teams scored late, bringing the score to 17-8.

Mogultay led the team in scoring notching two goals for the Bison. Senior attacker Walker Butler, first-year Gregory Alexander Nordheim, Tunnicliff, Ryckman, Stefanovic, and Gillearn all tallied a point apiece for Bucknell.

Men's Water Polo Falls Twice against Ranked Teams at Julian Fraser Memorial Tournament

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Players Mentioned

Walker Butler

David Dumitru

Shay Gillearn

Hasan Mogultay

Jack Murad

Greg Nordheim

Matt Ryckman

Aleksa Stefanovic

Maxime Touzot

Sean Tunnicliff

Andu Vlasceanu