Men’s Water Polo Falls to Two Ranked Teams at Princeton Invitational

Saturday, September 9

Princeton, N.J.

12:30 PM ET

Bucknell University

California Baptist

Photo by: Christine Yardley

Men’s Water Polo Falls to Two Ranked Teams at Princeton Invitational

9/9/2023 10:27:00 PM | Men's Water Polo

PRINCETON, N.J. – The Bucknell men's water polo team dropped a pair of games to ranked opponents on Saturday at the Princeton Invitational. The Bison began the day with a 14-8 loss to No. 15 Cal Baptist, then fell to No. 18 Harvard 14-4 in their evening game.

Bucknell fell to 1-5 on the season, with four of the five losses coming to teams in the top 20 in the CWPA rankings. The Bison face Iona on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. at DeNunzio Pool. Bucknell beat the Gaels 12-9 last week at the Bruno Classic.

#15 Cal Baptist 14, Bucknell 8

The Bison and Lancers went back and forth throughout the first half, with neither team leading by more than a single goal. Bucknell led on four different occasions the last at 6-5 after a Jack Bruce goal with 5:28 left in the second quarter.

Cal Baptist scored the final two goals of the half to take a 7-6 lead at intermission, and then the Lancers scored the first three goals of the third quarter to open up a four-goal cushion.

Shay Gullearn, Hasan Mogultay, and Sean Michael Tunnicliff scored two goals apiece, and Bruce and Ian Schultz tallied one each.

Bodhi Bowden paced the Lancers with four goals, while Toby Bumgardner added three. Cal Baptist routed George Washington 19-9 later in the day to improve to 4-4 on the season.

#18 Harvard 14, Bucknell 4

Bruce, Walker Butler, Aleksa Stefanovic, and Doruk Ozar scored for the Bison, but they could not overcome Harvard's 5-0 run to start the game.

Kaleb Archer and Owen Hale tallied three goals apiece for the Crimson, who also beat George Washington 16-9 on Saturday and are now 5-1 on the season.