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No. 20 Bucknell Men's Water Polo Falls to No. 12 Princeton and No. 16 Navy
Oct. 23, 2004
LEWISBURG, Pa. - The 20th-ranked Bucknell men's water polo team scored three unanswered goals in the fourth quarter against No. 16 Navy to cut its deficit to just one goal, but could not take the lead and earn a split of its two games with ranked foes Saturday at Kinney Natatorium. In the nightcap against the Mids, the Bison fell by an 8-6 margin after closing to within 7-6 in the fourth quarter. Earlier in the day, Bucknell dropped a 7-4 decision to No. 12 Princeton. In the contest with Navy, the Bison shut out the Mids over the first 8:28 of play as they took a 2-0 lead into the second quarter. However, after the teams traded goals to make it 3-1, Navy reeled off six consecutive scores to take a 7-3 lead early in the fourth quarter. Bucknell was held scoreless for 12:18 until Sean Robinson netted the first of three straight goals over a three-minute stretch in the fourth quarter for the Bison. That run put Bucknell within one goal with just over three minutes to play in the contest, but the Bison couldn't put another goal on the scoreboard as the Mids tallied the final goal of the game with 32 seconds remaining. Joining Robinson in the scoring column were Jay Danforth, who had a team-high three goals, and Elliot Benoist, who contributed two goals. Benoist, Jason Rechel and Nick Ferring also had one assist apiece. Trevor Mullins started and played all 28 minutes in goal and made 13 saves, his second-highest total of the season. With his five saves in the opener against Princeton, the junior upped his daily total to 18 and his season total to a career-high 174. He made two key saves to preserve a 3-3 tie at the close of the first half. Navy's Joe Snelgrove took a shot that Mullins knocked away, but Alex Ratcliffe picked up the rebound and fired it at the goal from point-blank range. Mullins was able to stop the shot as time expired in the half.
In the earlier game, Bucknell scored just one goal in each quarter and Princeton's defense recorded seven steals as the Tigers defeated the Bison 7-4. Princeton, which downed Bucknell (13-11, 5-5 Southern Division) 10-9 last weekend in Annapolis, Md., scored the first two goals of the game and never trailed. The Bison narrowed the gap to one goal on two separate occasions in the first half, but could not even the score despite being just the fifth opponent to hold the Tigers to seven goals or less this season. Danforth and Bradley Roslyn combined to attempt 16 of Bucknell's 19 shots and tallied three of the four goals. Danforth, who had two scores, found the back of the net in the first and third quarters. Benoist, who also had a pair of assists, scored the final goal of the game for the Bison with just 13 seconds remaining in the contest. With Saturday's results, Bucknell clinched third place in the Southern Division East Region. At next week's Southern Championships in Princeton, N.J., the Bison will be the fifth seed. They will open up with Washington & Jefferson at 7:10 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 29. Play will continue Saturday, Oct. 30, at 2:20 p.m. against a yet to be determined foe. GAME 1 GAME 2 |
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