Men's Water Polo Prepares for Showdown with Nationally Ranked Opponents at Princeton Invitational

LEWISBURG, Pa. -- The Bucknell men's water polo team hits the road for the second consecutive weekend, this time traveling to the Princeton Invitational to compete against not one but three nationally ranked teams. The Bison kick off the weekend with No. 15 Harvard early Saturday morning, followed by No.19 Santa Clara later in the day. Bucknell will finish its weekend away with one final match on Sunday against the host and sixth-ranked Princeton at 9 a.m. The Princeton game can be seen on ESPN+.

Saturday, Sept. 14
Bucknell (2-2, 0-0 MAWPC) vs. #15 Harvard (2-1, 0-0 NWPC) - 8 a.m.
Bucknell (2-2, 0-0 MAWPC) vs. #19 Santa Clara (1-0, 0-0 WCC) - 2 p.m.

Sunday, Sept. 15
Bucknell (2-2, 0-0 MAWPC) vs. Princeton (3-0, 0-0 MWPC) - 9 a.m.| WATCH

About the Bison

Bucknell started the 2024 campaign on the West Coast, splitting four games at UC San Diego's Triton Invitational. The Bison posted wins over UC Merced (22-10) and Redlands (14-11), while both losses came against ranked foes in No. 12 UCSD (16-3) and No. 10 Long Beach State (24-12).
The Bison received balanced scoring throughout the opening weekend as five players recorded at least seven goals. Aleksa Stefanovic and Tyler Hedblad have eight goals apiece, while Sean Tunnicliff, Matt Ryckman, and Shay Gillearn all have seven. Hedblad, a freshman, has scored in every game, as have Ryckman and Stefanovic. In the Long Beach State game, Bucknell's 12 goals came from 10 different players.
Gillearn scored a team-high five goals in the season-opening win over UC Merced, and he has now eclipsed the 100-goal mark for his career.
Goalkeeper David Dumitru totaled 27 saves last weekend, including 14 in the win over Redlands.
Bucknell is in the midst of a busy September tournament stretch in which the team will play 11 games in a span of three weeks. Next weekend, the Bison host their annual invitational at Kinney Natatorium and will see MAWPC opponents Mount St. Mary's, Fordham, and Wagner along with a non-conference game with McKendree.
Bucknell and Harvard met twice during the 2023 season. In the season opener at the Bruno Classic, the Crimson prevailed 14-7. Stefanovic netted three goals and Ryckman contributed two for the Bison, but the Crimson seized control in the second half with a decisive six-goal surge. Harvard then won 14-4 a week later at the Princeton Invitational.
Harvard went 2-1 last weekend at the Bruno Classic, beating Wagner (17-6) and No. 17 Cal Baptist (11-10) before falling 15-14 to No. 6 Pacific.
Bucknell will face Santa Clara for the first time since 2022, when the Broncos prevailed 13-11 at the Julian Fraser Memorial. Stefanovic led all players with six goals, but Santa Clara scored the tiebreaking goal with a man advantage with 2:25 to play.
Santa Clara has played just once thus far, an 18-4 home win over Fresno Pacific last Saturday.
Princeton and Bucknell last met at the 2023 Bucknell Invitational almost a year ago. The No.5 Tigers defeated the Bison 13-7. Stefanovic, Gillearn, and Hasan Mogultay scored for the Bison, but it was not enough to combat the Tigers' 9-3 run in the first half.
Princeton is off to a 3-0 start, piling up 73 goals in wins over Biola (24-2), Occidental (31-7), and George Washington (18-3) last weekend at the Navy Invitational.

Next Up

The Bison will play four games at the Bucknell Invitational next weekend. They will host Mount St. Mary's at 6 p.m. on Friday evening before playing twice on Saturday (3:20 p.m. vs. Fordham and 7:20 p.m. vs. McKendree) and once on Sunday (noon vs. Wagner).
It will be a water polo fan's delight next weekend, with 18 games on the schedule across three days.

Men's Water Polo Prepares for Showdown with Nationally Ranked Opponents at Princeton Invitational

Next Event

Players Mentioned

David Dumitru

Shay Gillearn

Tyler Hedblad

Hasan Mogultay

Matt Ryckman

Aleksa Stefanovic

Sean Tunnicliff

Men's Water Polo Prepares for Showdown with Nationally Ranked Opponents at Princeton Invitational

Next Event

Players Mentioned

David Dumitru

Shay Gillearn

Tyler Hedblad

Hasan Mogultay

Matt Ryckman

Aleksa Stefanovic

Sean Tunnicliff

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