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Bucknell Men's Water Polo Splits Two Games at Eastern Championship
Nov. 11, 2006
PRINCETON, N.J. - Jason Rechel (Columbus, Ohio/Thomas Worthington) registered five goals and three assists as the Bucknell men's water polo team split its two games Saturday at the Eastern Championship at DeNunzio Pool. The Bison, seeded sixth in the eight-team field and 18th nationally, defeated Brown 9-7 in their opener and then fell to No. 13 Navy 11-8 in the nightcap. Bucknell's victory over Brown gave it 15 wins on the season, marking the second-most the Bison have totaled since winning 21 in 2000. Behind four goals from Rechel, Bucknell easily defeated Brown. In fact, the Bears did not get on the board until 1:31 was left in the first half. By then the Bison had already built a 5-0 lead. Bucknell led 8-3 at the end of three quarters, but Brown converted a pair of penalty shots in the final quarter to narrow the final margin. In addition to Rechel's scoring outburst, five other Bison netted single goals, while Sean Robinson (San Marino, Calif./San Marino) assisted on a pair. Luke Belenky (Kensington, Md./German School) made five saves in goal to lead a defense that tallied 14 steals, including a team-high four from Mark Masterson (Kihei, Hawaii/Marin). Belenky followed his performance against Brown with six saves against Navy, but it was not enough as the Mids downed the Bison for the fourth time this season with at least two goals every quarter. Despite that fact, Bucknell hung tough, trailing just 5-4 at halftime and 8-6 after three quarters. Robinson and Masterson each netted three goals in the losing effort. Bucknell (15-12) will play St. Francis (N.Y.), the 2005 Eastern Championship winner and NCAA participant, Sunday in the third-place game at 12 p.m. The Bison finished fourth last year, equaling their best showing since taking second in 1993. Navy will battle Princeton in Sunday's championship for the right to advance to the NCAA Championship, which will be held at Loyola Marymount.
Game 1 - Quarterfinals BROWN 0 1 2 4 -7 BUCKNELL 3 2 3 1 -9 Goals: Rechel (4), Robinson, Masterson, Heiber, Eimstad, Sunday. Game 2 - Semifinals Goals: Robinson (3), Masterson (3), Rechel, Sunday. |
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