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Bucknell Men's Water Polo Vies for NCAA Berth at this Weekend's Eastern Championship
Nov. 9, 2006
LEWISBURG, Pa. - The 18th-ranked Bucknell men's water polo team travels to Princeton, N.J., this weekend for the Eastern Championship, hosted by Princeton. The sixth-seeded Bison battle third-seeded Brown Saturday at 1:30 p.m. at DeNunzio Pool. The winner of the eight-team event earns an automatic berth to the NCAA Championship, which will take place Dec. 2-3 at Loyola Marymount. Bucknell will play its second game Saturday at either 5:30 p.m. or 8:30 p.m. against either Navy or MIT, depending on the outcome of its game against Brown. Sunday's championship game is slated for 1:30 p.m. The Bison, who are playing a first round contest against the Bears for the second straight year, qualified for their seventh consecutive Eastern Championship by finishing third at the Southern Championships two weeks ago. Bucknell, which enters the weekend with a 14-11 record despite playing a challenging schedule that featured 13 ranked opponents, is one of four ranked teams in the Eastern Championship field. The Bison own a 5-8 record against possible opponents this weekend, including a perfect 1-0 mark against Brown. Although Bucknell has just two seniors on its roster, veterans have been the leaders this season. The top five scorers on the squad are at least juniors, while junior Luke Belenky (Kensington, Md./German School) has started every game in goal. Mark Masterson (Kihei, Hawaii/Marin) has been the Bison's top offensive producer this year with career highs in goals (56), assists (28) and points (84). He is first on the team in goals and points and second to Jason Rechel (Columbus, Ohio/Thomas Worthington) in assists. Not just an offensive player, Masterson has totaled 45 steals, leaving him just eight shy of 10th place on Bucknell's single-season list. With 77 steals in his two-year career he already stands 10th on that ledger, just one behind ninth-place Josh Watts. Belenky took over the goalkeeper duties from the graduated Trevor Mullins this year and has had a solid first season in the starting lineup. He has totaled 157 saves and owns a save percentage of .450 on the year. Belenky is just 11 saves shy of 200 in his career and has stopped a career-high 11 shots in a game on three occasions this year. Bucknell has four Eastern Championship titles to its credit, but has not won since 1980. Last year the Bison took fourth, marking their best showing since 1998.
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