Men's Water Polo Prepares for Final Two Regular Season Games

LEWISBURG, Pa - Bucknell (10-13, 7-3 MAWPC) travels to the New York City area for its final two regular season games.
The Bison will wrap up their season on Sunday with key contests against No. 16 Fordham (16-7, 9-0 MAWPC) and Wagner (12-11,3-3 MAWPC) before returning home (to Lewisburg) to host the 2023 Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference Championship on November 17-19 at Kinney Natatorium. This weekend's match-ups will solidify placements for the 2023 championship tournament.

Sunday, October 29th

Bucknell (10-13, 7-3 MAWPC) vs. Fordham (16-7, 9-0 MAWPC) - 10:00 a.m. ET - WATCH

Bucknell (10-13, 7-3 MAWPC) vs. Wagner (12-11, 3-3 MAWPC) - 3:00 p.m. ET

Bucknell sees its second-season contests against Fordham and Wagner this weekend. The Bison played earlier in the season against Fordham, where the Rams came away with a 14-11 win on September 16th at the Bucknell Invitational. Bucknell clinched a 13-10 win over the Seahawks at Kinney Natatorium on October 7th.
Fordham is undefeated in the Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference and is currently the number-one team in the conference. Bucknell is currently ranked third, and Wagner wraps up the top five. Navy is currently in second, and George Washington is fourth.
The Bison and Rams battled it out throughout the first half in their first meeting of the season. Bucknell had the first two goals in the game, and sophomore attackers Shay Gillearn and Aleksa Stefanovic had two unanswered goals.
Bucknell put together a 3-2 run to end the first quarter and took its final lead going into the second, 5-3.
In an effort to close the gap in the second half, Bucknell scored four goals to pull within 10-9. Three of the Bisons' four goals went unanswered, and first-year center defender Jack Murad, from Stanford, California, scored with 22 seconds left in the third quarter.
Bucknell had the game's final shot when Gillearn went one-on-one with the goalie and scored his third goal with 33 seconds remaining.
The Bison last played the Seahawks at home, where Bucknell held Wagner to just five goals in the first half against its own seven goals.
Sophomore center Maxime Touzot and Stefanovic both scored a pair of goals. Junior center Matt Ryckman, junior attacker Gillearn, and junior center defender Hasan Mogultay notched a goal apiece in the first half for the Bison.
The Bison and the Seahawks saw two more successful plays on goal by their respective teams. Stefanovic earned his fourth and final goal of the game alongside Gillearn, who netted his second goal for the Bison.
Bucknell's defense pressed Wagner hard but ultimately allowed the Seahawks to get a shot off, hoping to close the gap between the two teams. Shortly after, the Bison answered with a buzzer-beater goal against the shot clock when Gillearn notched his third and final goal, shooting the ball from across the pool to score, extending the lead to 12-8.
The Bucknell offense made a quick play to the net after gaining possession when Gillearn found Ryckman in the center and scored.
Aleksa Stefanovic leads the team in goals with 54, followed by Hasan Mogultay, who has notched 40, and just behind him is Shay Gillearn, tallying 39 goals.

Men's Water Polo Prepares for Final Two Regular Season Games

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Players Mentioned

Shay Gillearn

Hasan Mogultay

Jack Murad

Matt Ryckman

Aleksa Stefanovic

Maxime Touzot