Men's Water Polo Loses to UC Santa Cruz in Final of Bucknell Invitational
Sept. 14, 2003
LEWISBURG, Pa. - The Bucknell men's water polo team and UC Santa Cruz put together an exciting championship game in the first-ever men's water polo tournament held in Kinney Natatorium. The first-place game took place on Sunday, September 14, with the Slugs coming away with a thrilling 11-10 victory for the trophy. It was a defensive battle for the first nine minutes of the game with both team's scoring only once. Santa Cruz got off several shots during that time, but Bison goalkeeper Trevor Mullins made some challenging saves to thwart the efforts. Bucknell finally took advantage of an extra man situation with 4:55 to go in the second period. Junior Nick Ferring tallied to give the Orange and Blue a short lived 2-1 lead. The Slugs answered just 25 seconds later to tie the contest. The two teams exchanged goals once more before UC Santa Cruz rattled off three unanswered within a 1:42 span to go ahead 6-3. Junior Jay Danforth made it a two goal game at the break when he blooped a ball over UCSC goalkeeper Scott Vaughn with just four seconds left until halftime. The Orange and Blue carried that momentum into the third period, opening the frame with two consecutive goals to tie the game again, 6-6. The Slugs took the lead again with two of their own, before a Bradley Roslyn score with 25 seconds left in the quarter brought BU within one, 8-7. With UC Santa Cruz holding a 10-8 lead, junior Scott Afzal scored his third of the game to make it 10-9 with 1:39 to play. Afzal took the pass from sophomore Lars Weborg and one-touched the ball into the back of the net.
The Slugs got it back, however, with a similar goal at the other end with under a minute to play for an 11-9 advantage. Junior Aaron Platshon converted on a 4-meter shot with just 23 seconds left to pull Bucknell to within one, 11-10, but UC Santa Cruz did a good job of playing keep-away in the final seconds to hang on for the championship. Mullins ended the game with 10 saves. Vaughn made five stops for the Slugs, while also grabbing two steals and assisting on a breakaway goal. In addition to scoring once and assisting on another, Roslyn finished the game with eight ejections drawn. Roslyn and junior Elliot Benoist were both named to the All-Tournament First-Team, while Platshon earned a spot on the second-team. UC Santa Cruz's Mike Webb was tabbed the Tournament MVP. Bucknell is 2-5 overall. The Bison are back in action next weekend for the first set of Southern Division League games at Navy. BU faces Navy at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, September 20, for the first game of the weekend.
Bucknell Invitational Water Polo Tournament
FINAL TEAM STANDINGS: 1. UC Santa Cruz (3-0) 2. Bucknell (2-1) 3. Salem International (2-1) 4. Slippery Rock (1-2) 5. Gannon (2-1) 6. Connecticut College (1-2) 7. Grove City (1-2) 8. Penn State Behrend (0-3) |
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