Men's Water Polo Falls in Final Two Regular-Season Games

NEW YORK, N.Y. - Bucknell men's water polo put on a tireless effort against No. 16 Fordham and Wagner but ultimately fell short in both matches Sunday to close out the regular season.

The Bison fell 16-12 against the first-place Rams in the first game of the day, played in the Bronx. Later in the day, the team traveled to Staten Island, and in a nail-biter, the Seahawks prevailed 15-13. Bucknell now prepares to host the Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference Championship at home in Lewisburg at Kinney Natatorium on Nov. 17-19.

No. 16 Fordham 16, Bucknell 12

Bucknell successfully ripped five shots on the net in the first half of play, but the 16th-ranked Rams ran out to an 11-5 halftime lead. Junior center defender Hasan Mogultay, sophomore attacker Aleksa Stefanovic, junior attacker Shay Gillearn, freshman center defender Gregory Alexander Nordheim, and senior center Doruk Ozar all scored for the Bison in the first half.

Bucknell earned the first possession of the second half and Stefanovic, of Belgrade, Serbia, moved on to earn a one-on-one with Rams goalie Thomas Lercari for the team's sixth goal of the day. Fordham pulled ahead by seven with back-to-back goals. Mogultay put himself in a pristine scoring position and finished Bucknell's second one-on-one versus the goalie.

In the final period, the Bison scored four more goals to close the gap to just two. Despite the tough fight by Bucknell, Fordham made two more successful plays on the net to win by four.

Wagner 15, Bucknell 13

Despite earning the first possession, the Bison spent the entire game chasing after the Seahawks' lead. Wagner came out ready to go, earning a 9-3 run over Bucknell in the first half of play.

The Bison came out fired up in the second half, winning the swim-off once again to earn possession, and Mogultay found the back of the net in an attempt to close the gap with 6:55 on the clock. The Bison and Seahawks went goal for goal for the majority of the third quarter at the end, the score was 11-7 Wagner.

Bucknell wasn't done fighting yet when it won the sprint and immediately went to the net to score its eighth goal of the game. Despite Bucknell's valiant effort to close the gap, Wagner ultimately pulled away again to win 15-13 in a fight until the finish.

The Bison finished with three multi-goal scorers. Stefanovic had five, Mogultay scored two, and Ozar wrapped up the group with two goals. The team also had four single-goal scorers; freshman attacker Sean Michael Tunnicliff, junior attacker Jack Bruce, sophomore center defender Jack Murad, and center sophomore Maxime Touzot all tallied a goal each.

Men's Water Polo Falls in Final Two Regular-Season Games

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Players Mentioned

Jack Bruce

Shay Gillearn

Hasan Mogultay

Jack Murad

Greg Nordheim

Doruk Ozar

Aleksa Stefanovic

Maxime Touzot

Sean Tunnicliff