Saturday, October 7
Lewisburg, Pa.
11:00 AM ET
Bucknell University
8
vs
6
George Washington
Men’s Water Polo Sweeps George Washington and Wagner
10/7/2023 12:57:00 PM | Men's Water Polo
LEWISBURG, Pa. – The Bucknell men's water polo team used balanced scoring and some strong defense to pull off a pair of wins Saturday at Kinney Natatorium.
The Bison held off George Washington 8-6 in a morning game and improved its record to 8-8 overall and 5-2 in the Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference with a 13-10 win over Wagner later in the day.
Bucknell 8, George Washington 6
A key sequence came in the second quarter with the Bison leading 4-2. Goalie David Dumitru saved a penalty shot, and then on the next offensive possession Tunnicliff fired a shot through the GW keeper and across the line to make it 5-2.
George Washington pulled within 5-4 later in the half before Butler and Gillearn scored to make it 7-4. The Revolutionaries scored twice from inside in the final 1:24 of the half, the latter coming with just one second remaining to make it 7-6 at intermission.
The Bison drew an exclusion just 11 seconds into the second half, and Gillearn capitalized with the 6v5 goal to make it 8-6, and the two defenses took over from there.
Dumitru was stellar in goal for the Bison. He made two clutch saves and saw a shot hit the post in the fourth quarter to keep it an 8-6 game. Bucknell had a shot saved with two minutes remaining, but it was tipped out of play, resetting the shot clock. The Bison drained the clock and then Hasan Mogultay had a big blocked shot in front of the goal with 25 seconds left. Bucknell ran out the clock from there to secure the win.
Bucknell 13, Wagner 10
Bucknell's defense did an impeccable job holding off Wagner's offense throughout the game. The Seahawks only managed to tally five goals in the first half of play against the Bisons' seven goals.
Sophomore center Maxime Touzot and sophomore attacker Aleksa Stefanovic both scored a pair of goals. Junior center Matt Ryckman, junior attacker Shay Gillearn, and junior center defender Hasan Mogultay notched a goal apiece as well in the first half for the Bison.
Stefanovic kicked off the second half of play by winning possession in the swim-off for the Bison. Then, launching himself down the pool, Stefanovic slowed down the offense to work the ball around the top to once again find the ball in his hands and land a successful shot for the Bison to show the score 8-5.
The Bison and the Seahawks both saw two more successful plays on goal by its respective teams. Stefanovic earned his fourth and final goal of the game alongside Gillearn, who netted his second goal for the Bison.
Wagner's pair of goals came from junior attackers Andrew Cowie and Kristian Stanczewski to show the score 10-7.
Stefanovic won his second swim-off to put the Bison on the offensive for the start of the final quarter of play.
Sophomore center defender Jack Murad passed to Gillearn, who ripped a shot into the back of the top right corner of the net with 6:58 on the clock, extending the lead to four goals.
Bucknell's defense pressed Wagner hard but ultimately allowed the Seahawks to get a shot off in hopes of closing 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.
Mogultay successfully blocked a shot by Wagner in an impressive save for the Bison. The Bucknell offense made a quick play to the net after gaining possession when Gillearn found Ryckman in the center, creating a scoring play to extend the lead to 13-10.
The Bison held off George Washington 8-6 in a morning game and improved its record to 8-8 overall and 5-2 in the Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference with a 13-10 win over Wagner later in the day.
Bucknell 8, George Washington 6
Sean Michael Tunnicliff, Walker Butler, and Shay Gillearn tallied two goals apiece for the Bison, who jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead and never trailed in the match. George Washington did pull within one goal on a couple of occasions, but Bucknell had a response each time.
A key sequence came in the second quarter with the Bison leading 4-2. Goalie David Dumitru saved a penalty shot, and then on the next offensive possession Tunnicliff fired a shot through the GW keeper and across the line to make it 5-2.
George Washington pulled within 5-4 later in the half before Butler and Gillearn scored to make it 7-4. The Revolutionaries scored twice from inside in the final 1:24 of the half, the latter coming with just one second remaining to make it 7-6 at intermission.
The Bison drew an exclusion just 11 seconds into the second half, and Gillearn capitalized with the 6v5 goal to make it 8-6, and the two defenses took over from there.
Dumitru was stellar in goal for the Bison. He made two clutch saves and saw a shot hit the post in the fourth quarter to keep it an 8-6 game. Bucknell had a shot saved with two minutes remaining, but it was tipped out of play, resetting the shot clock. The Bison drained the clock and then Hasan Mogultay had a big blocked shot in front of the goal with 25 seconds left. Bucknell ran out the clock from there to secure the win.
Bucknell 13, Wagner 10
Bucknell's defense did an impeccable job holding off Wagner's offense throughout the game. The Seahawks only managed to tally five goals in the first half of play against the Bisons' seven goals.
Sophomore center Maxime Touzot and sophomore attacker Aleksa Stefanovic both scored a pair of goals. Junior center Matt Ryckman, junior attacker Shay Gillearn, and junior center defender Hasan Mogultay notched a goal apiece as well in the first half for the Bison.
Stefanovic kicked off the second half of play by winning possession in the swim-off for the Bison. Then, launching himself down the pool, Stefanovic slowed down the offense to work the ball around the top to once again find the ball in his hands and land a successful shot for the Bison to show the score 8-5.
The Bison and the Seahawks both saw two more successful plays on goal by its respective teams. Stefanovic earned his fourth and final goal of the game alongside Gillearn, who netted his second goal for the Bison.
Wagner's pair of goals came from junior attackers Andrew Cowie and Kristian Stanczewski to show the score 10-7.
Stefanovic won his second swim-off to put the Bison on the offensive for the start of the final quarter of play.
Sophomore center defender Jack Murad passed to Gillearn, who ripped a shot into the back of the top right corner of the net with 6:58 on the clock, extending the lead to four goals.
Bucknell's defense pressed Wagner hard but ultimately allowed the Seahawks to get a shot off in hopes of closing 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.
Mogultay successfully blocked a shot by Wagner in an impressive save for the Bison. The Bucknell offense made a quick play to the net after gaining possession when Gillearn found Ryckman in the center, creating a scoring play to extend the lead to 13-10.
Players Mentioned
ATK
/ Men's Water Polo
GK
/ Men's Water Polo
ATK
/ Men's Water Polo
CD
/ Men's Water Polo
CD
/ Men's Water Polo
C
/ Men's Water Polo
ATK
/ Men's Water Polo
C
/ Men's Water Polo
A
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