Men's Water Polo Begins Postseason Play Friday

LEWISBURG, Pa. - The Bucknell University men's water polo team prepares to get its postseason underway Friday when it takes on Mount St. Mary's at 6:30 p.m. at home in Kinney Natatorium.

Friday's game, as well as every other game in the Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference Tournament, will be streamed live on CWPATV at this link ($).

Bucknell (10-15, 7-5 MAWPC) returns to action after having the past week off. The Bison last played Sunday, October 29th, going 0-2, which placed them in the third seed.
As the third seed, Bucknell will play sixth-seed Mount St. Mary's to begin tournament play Friday in the second game of three that day.
The Bison played Mount St. Mary's twice this season, defeating the Mountaineers (7-20, 1-11 MAWPC) 15-13 and 17-6. The team accumulated 32 goals over the two wins.
In the first of the two matches for the teams, the Bison and Mountaineers battled throughout the game; however, the Mount could never earn themselves the lead. Bucknell went on a 7-6 run in the first half of play, controlling the tempo throughout the second half.
In the October 14th match, Bucknell wasted no time in earning its lead. Sophomore attacker Aleksa Stefanovic and fifth-year attacker Andu Vlasceanu scored four goals apiece, followed by junior center defender Hasan Mogultay, who notched three. The Bison earned a 5-0 run to end the contest, with senior center Doruk Ozar, senior center defender Liam Stott, and first-year center defender Gregory Alexander Nordheim scoring to pull the team ahead and win 17-6.
A win over the weekend would notch Head Coach John McBride his 212th career victory for the Orange and Blue, and he is now the second coach ever to reach the 200's mark after Bucknell Hall-of-Famer Dick Russell (223 career victories) who began the program in 1977 and coached through 1986. The 223 wins made him the first Bucknell coach to record over 100 wins in two sports. He also coached the men's swimming and diving team.
Coach McBride has clinched his ticket to the 2024 Olympics by helping the U.S. National Team earn the gold medal at the PanAm Games in Chile.
Bucknell has won its opener in six of the seven years of CWPA Championships, falling for the first time in the opening game against Wagner, 8-7, in 2021. The game was played in Annapolis, Md. Bucknell won its second game of the 2021 championship 17-11. Hasan Mogultay led the team in a four-goal effort and had a hand in two of the Bisons' four-goal run against the Mountaineers to pull an early lead.
The Bison are looking to return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the spring of 2021 when they won their second of two straight MAWPC Championships.
Aleksa Stefanovic leads the team in scoring with 54 goals, followed by Hasan Mogultay, who has notched 40 goals, and Shay Gillearn rounds out the group with 39 goals.
The winner of Friday's game two will advance to play the winner of game one, and the loser of game two will play the loser of game one. You can find the MAWPC schedule here.
Teams listed first wear dark caps and are home on the scoreboard. The host team always wears dark caps and is listed first on the scoreboard regardless of seed.

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Players Mentioned

Shay Gillearn

Hasan Mogultay

Greg Nordheim

Doruk Ozar

Aleksa Stefanovic

Liam Stott

Andu Vlasceanu