Sunday, October 13
Lewisburg, Pa.
11 a.m.
Bucknell University
13
vs
14
Navy
Photo by: Lianne Garrahan
No. 20 Men’s Water Polo Splits Pair of MAWPC Games at Kinney Natatorium
10/13/2024 5:15:00 PM | Men's Water Polo
LEWISBURG, Pa. – The Bucknell men's water polo team bounced back from a tough one-goal loss to Navy with a 20-9 rout of Mercyhurst to cap a 1-1 Sunday and a 2-2 weekend against Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference foes at Kinney Natatorium.
The Bison are now 8-8 on the season and 5-3 in the MAWPC. Both losses this weekend were by one goal to George Washington and Navy, with the wins coming against Johns Hopkins and Mercyhurst. The two victories give head coach John McBride 221 in his Bucknell career, moving him within two of Dick Russell's program record.
The Serbian tandem of junior Aleksa Stefanovic and freshman Jovan Udovicic carried Bucknell's offensive production. Stefanovic logged five goals and five assists in the morning matchup with Navy, and Udovicic piled up nine goals and an assist against Mercyhurst, tallying the most goals by a Bison this season.
Bucknell will step away from league play next weekend with four games at the Harvard Invitational. The Bison will face San Jose State, LIU, Harvard and Salem in Cambridge, Mass.
No. 20 Navy 14, No. 20 Bucknell 13
The first game of the day was a back-and-forth affair between two teams that entered the weekend ranked in a tie for 20th in the CWPA national poll. The contest itself was just as even as the rankings, as Navy held on to win 14-13 in a game that came right down to the final shot.
Both teams overcame three-goal deficits with big runs. The Bison trailed 5-2 midway through the second quarter, but a 5-0 burst to start the third flipped the game around. Stefanovic and Matt Ryckman scored twice each during that surge. Stefanovic's penalty shot put Bucknell ahead for the first time at 7-6. Tyler Hedblad's steal led to a Ryckman finish from the hole, and then Jovan Udovicic scored off a skip pass from Jack Bruce to make it 8-6.
Orion Erwin scored two straight goals to halt the Bison momentum, and after Stefanovic put back a rebound, Billy Zech scored 6-on-5 to cut the Midshipmen's deficit to 10-9 after three.
Navy (12-5, 3-2 MAWPC) tallied the first three goals of the fourth quarter, with Erwin scoring two and assisting on the third, and the Bison were playing from behind the rest of the way. Zach's power-play goal gave Navy a 14-12 lead with 2:12 to play, but the Bison still had a chance to force overtime.
Hedblad's extra-man goal off a Stefanovic assist made it a one-goal game, and then Ian Shultz deflected a shot to give Bucknell the ball back with 34 seconds left. After a timeout, the Bison worked the ball around but Navy blocked a pair of attempts from Hasan Mogultay and Hedblad as time expired.
Stefanovic tallied five goals and five assists to lead the Bucknell offense. Erwin had five goals and two assists for the Mids. David Dumitru tallied seven saves in goal for the Bison, while Ryan Munch had 10 for Navy, including two on penalty shots.
It was a penalty-filled game, as Navy (19) and Bucknell (12) combined for 31 exclusions in the 32-minute contest. Of the 27 goals, 14 came with a man advantage.
No. 20 Bucknell, Mercyhurst 9
Bucknell got out to a slow start in their afternoon tilt against Mercyhurst and trailed 2-0 three minutes into the match. But the Bison ramped up their press defense and held the Lakers scoreless for more than 10 minutes while rattling off eight straight goals.
Jack Bruce and Stefanovic got the offense going, tying the game at 2-2 by the end of the first quarter, and then Udovicic took over the game in the second quarter. He scored three straight goals to start the period, and then his mid-pool steal led to a Mogultay goal and a 6-2 lead. Stefanovic fed Maxime Touzot, and then a long pass from goalie Mateo Herrera sprung Udovicic to put the Bison up 8-2.
Mercyhurst stemmed the tide a bit with three straight goals, capped by a transition tally from Alessio Sampedro with nine seconds to go in the half. But the Lakers gifted the Bison goal with just two seconds left. A foul in the middle of the pool followed by an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty gave Udovicic a penalty shot, which he converted to make it a 9-5 game at the half.
Udovicic scored four more goals in the third quarter, three coming from the five-meter spot and another off a Ned Smith assist on a 6-on-5 with 34 seconds left. That gave Bucknell a 14-7 lead, with nine of the goals coming from the freshman from Belgrade.
Udovicic got a well-deserved rest in the fourth quarter, but the Bison continued to expand on the lead behind two goals each from Bruce and Greg Nordheim and one apiece from freshmen Jack Dillane and Jake Wedding.
Herrera tallied 12 saves in the win, which gave Bucknell the season sweep of Mercyhurst. The Bison also beat the Lakers 20-5 at Kinney Natatorium on Sept. 29.
The Bison are now 8-8 on the season and 5-3 in the MAWPC. Both losses this weekend were by one goal to George Washington and Navy, with the wins coming against Johns Hopkins and Mercyhurst. The two victories give head coach John McBride 221 in his Bucknell career, moving him within two of Dick Russell's program record.
The Serbian tandem of junior Aleksa Stefanovic and freshman Jovan Udovicic carried Bucknell's offensive production. Stefanovic logged five goals and five assists in the morning matchup with Navy, and Udovicic piled up nine goals and an assist against Mercyhurst, tallying the most goals by a Bison this season.
Bucknell will step away from league play next weekend with four games at the Harvard Invitational. The Bison will face San Jose State, LIU, Harvard and Salem in Cambridge, Mass.
No. 20 Navy 14, No. 20 Bucknell 13
The first game of the day was a back-and-forth affair between two teams that entered the weekend ranked in a tie for 20th in the CWPA national poll. The contest itself was just as even as the rankings, as Navy held on to win 14-13 in a game that came right down to the final shot.
Both teams overcame three-goal deficits with big runs. The Bison trailed 5-2 midway through the second quarter, but a 5-0 burst to start the third flipped the game around. Stefanovic and Matt Ryckman scored twice each during that surge. Stefanovic's penalty shot put Bucknell ahead for the first time at 7-6. Tyler Hedblad's steal led to a Ryckman finish from the hole, and then Jovan Udovicic scored off a skip pass from Jack Bruce to make it 8-6.
Orion Erwin scored two straight goals to halt the Bison momentum, and after Stefanovic put back a rebound, Billy Zech scored 6-on-5 to cut the Midshipmen's deficit to 10-9 after three.
Navy (12-5, 3-2 MAWPC) tallied the first three goals of the fourth quarter, with Erwin scoring two and assisting on the third, and the Bison were playing from behind the rest of the way. Zach's power-play goal gave Navy a 14-12 lead with 2:12 to play, but the Bison still had a chance to force overtime.
Hedblad's extra-man goal off a Stefanovic assist made it a one-goal game, and then Ian Shultz deflected a shot to give Bucknell the ball back with 34 seconds left. After a timeout, the Bison worked the ball around but Navy blocked a pair of attempts from Hasan Mogultay and Hedblad as time expired.
Stefanovic tallied five goals and five assists to lead the Bucknell offense. Erwin had five goals and two assists for the Mids. David Dumitru tallied seven saves in goal for the Bison, while Ryan Munch had 10 for Navy, including two on penalty shots.
It was a penalty-filled game, as Navy (19) and Bucknell (12) combined for 31 exclusions in the 32-minute contest. Of the 27 goals, 14 came with a man advantage.
No. 20 Bucknell, Mercyhurst 9
Bucknell got out to a slow start in their afternoon tilt against Mercyhurst and trailed 2-0 three minutes into the match. But the Bison ramped up their press defense and held the Lakers scoreless for more than 10 minutes while rattling off eight straight goals.
Jack Bruce and Stefanovic got the offense going, tying the game at 2-2 by the end of the first quarter, and then Udovicic took over the game in the second quarter. He scored three straight goals to start the period, and then his mid-pool steal led to a Mogultay goal and a 6-2 lead. Stefanovic fed Maxime Touzot, and then a long pass from goalie Mateo Herrera sprung Udovicic to put the Bison up 8-2.
Mercyhurst stemmed the tide a bit with three straight goals, capped by a transition tally from Alessio Sampedro with nine seconds to go in the half. But the Lakers gifted the Bison goal with just two seconds left. A foul in the middle of the pool followed by an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty gave Udovicic a penalty shot, which he converted to make it a 9-5 game at the half.
Udovicic scored four more goals in the third quarter, three coming from the five-meter spot and another off a Ned Smith assist on a 6-on-5 with 34 seconds left. That gave Bucknell a 14-7 lead, with nine of the goals coming from the freshman from Belgrade.
Udovicic got a well-deserved rest in the fourth quarter, but the Bison continued to expand on the lead behind two goals each from Bruce and Greg Nordheim and one apiece from freshmen Jack Dillane and Jake Wedding.
Herrera tallied 12 saves in the win, which gave Bucknell the season sweep of Mercyhurst. The Bison also beat the Lakers 20-5 at Kinney Natatorium on Sept. 29.
Players Mentioned
ATK
/ Men's Water Polo
/ Men's Water Polo
GK
/ Men's Water Polo
/ Men's Water Polo
GK
/ Men's Water Polo
CD
/ Men's Water Polo
CD
/ Men's Water Polo
C
/ Men's Water Polo
ATK
/ Men's Water Polo
ATK
/ Men's Water Polo
C
/ Men's Water Polo
/ Men's Water Polo
/ Men's Water Polo
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