|
No. 20 Bucknell Men's Water Polo Heads to Southern Championships
Nov. 7, 2008
LEWISBURG, Pa. – After playing nine games in nine days on separate coasts in mid-October, the Bucknell men’s water polo team has played just three times in the last 19 days. That lull in competition has allowed the Bison, who are ranked 20th nationally, ample time to prepare for this weekend’s Southern Championships at Princeton. Bucknell is seeded third in the 10-team field and will take on sixth-seeded Gannon Saturday morning at 9 a.m. The Bison (14-13) need only to defeat the Golden Knights (10-8), a team they are 3-0 against all-time, in their opening contest to guarantee a top-four placing at the Southern Championships and earn an automatic berth to the Eastern Championship, which will be held Nov. 21-23 at Navy. If Bucknell defeats Gannon, it will play in the semifinals at 4:30 p.m. with No. 16 Princeton the opponent if seeds hold true. With a loss, the Bison will play a consolation-bracket game at 7 p.m. Sunday’s championship game is slated for 3:30 p.m. Bucknell Men’s Water Polo Notebook (14-13, 4-4 CWPA) • With two wins this weekend Bucknell will have its second-most victories in the last four years and its third-most in the last eight years. The Bison are within reach of their third consecutive .500-or-better season and their fourth in the last five years. • With ranked opponents No. 14 Navy and No. 16 Princeton in the Southern Championships field, it is likely Bucknell will face at least one ranked foe this weekend. The Bison are 4-11 against ranked opposition this year and have played four consecutive ranked teams. • Since posting a season-high five-game winning streak, Bucknell is just 1-3 over its last four games. However, all four of those matchups have been against ranked foes.
• This week Bucknell is in the national rankings for the fourth time this season. The Bison are currently ranked No. 20, but have been as high as No. 18. Last year the Bison were ranked for 14 weeks and climbed as high as No. 11 in the polls. • Bucknell is very familiar with Princeton’s DeNunzio Pool, the site of this weekend’s Southern Championships. The Bison have played six games there this year and 11 over the last two years. The facility is the host venue for the 2009 NCAA Championship. • Richie Hyden enters Sunday’s contest with 71 goals, 40 assists and 111 points. The goal total is the most since Ryan McCarty netted 72 in 2000, while Elliot Benoist’s 41 assists in 2002 mark the last time a Bison had more assists than Hyden’s team-leading total. Kevin Permisohn, who totaled 112 points in 2000, was the last Bucknell player with more points. • Bucknell is 11-0 when scoring at least 10 goals this season. The Bison are 3-13 when failing to reach double figures in goals. • Bucknell has outscored its opponents 64-49 in the first quarter this season. • Thanks to three of the top five individual single-season marks in program history, Bucknell has smashed the team record for ejections drawn in a season. The Bison have 237, while the 2007 squad held the previous record of 198 in the stat that has been kept since 1996. Senior Gabriel Heiber leads the team with a program-record 55, while classmate Alex Lampley is second with 55. Hyden has a career-high 40 after drawing just 10 ejections as a freshman. • Two-time CWPA Player of the Week Nick Donahue, who posted a career-high 16 saves last Sunday vs. St. Francis (N.Y.), has played a very solid goalkeeper position of late. The junior has started nine consecutive games and is averaging more than nine saves per game over that span. Prior to the Oct. 17 win over Princeton when he made a then-career high 14 saves, Donahue had never posted more than 10 saves in a contest. Since then, he has accumulated four double-figure save outings. • Junior Johnny Stupp, the only Bison to start all 27 games this season, enters the Southern Championships within reach of 100 career points. Thanks to his 62 points this season he now has 89 in his three-year career. Hyden (182) and Heiber (112) are the only two current Bison to have more than 100 career points. Bucknell’s Weekly Awards in 2008 About Gannon Bucknell vs. Possible Weekend Opponents Up Next Southern Championships Schedule Saturday, Nov. 8 Sunday, Nov. 9 |
MULTIMEDIA 
Photo Galleries 
Facilities Gallery 
Video Player 
Media Guide HistoryNewslettersProspective Student-AthletesCampsFacilities |
