Tag: men’s water polo

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Three straight losses for men’s water polo

By Chris McCree

Contributing Writer

The men’s water polo team began league games with three road losses this weekend against Johns Hopkins, No. 18 Navy and George Washington. With the losses, the Bison extended their losing streak to five games and fell to the bottom of the CWPA Southern Division. The Orange and Blue played tough games against all of their opponents but fell short in the last minutes of each contest.

The Orange and Blue began the weekend with a 13-12 loss during their Friday night match-up against Johns Hopkins. The Bison, who were able to overcome a three-goal deficit at the half, fell victim to a game-winning goal by Hopkins’ Ross Schofield with two seconds left on the clock.

Richie Hyden ’11 totaled career highs of nine points and six goals against the Blue Jays. Spencer Richley ’12, Brian Barron ’13 and Paul Reamey ’11 each chipped in two goals.

The combined effort of goalkeepers Miles Gilhuly ’11 and Matt Napleton ’13 produced a season-high 14 saves for the Bison.

During a heated match-up on Saturday against Navy, the Bison’s comeback attempt fell short in a 10-9 loss. After falling behind 8-3 in the first half, the Bison were able to outscore Navy 6-2 in the second half to get it to 10-9 but couldn’t manage another goal. Hyden, Barron and Howie Kalter ’11 had multi-goal games.

After defeating the Colonials 21-3 just a week earlier in Boston, the Bison were defeated 10-7. The Bison matched the Colonials goal-for-goal through three quarters but were outscored 3-0 in the fourth to end a disappointing weekend.

Poor play on the defensive end seems to be the team’s Achilles’ heel this season.

“Everything starts with our defense, which we did not do a great job with,” Sean Coghlan ’11 said.

Over the team’s three games, the Bison defense gave up a combined 33 goals.

“The team is going through some growing pains at the moment. The guys’ lack of trust in our game plan and each other cost us some close games this weekend,” team captain Hyden said.

The Bison are off this weekend but play Princeton on Oct. 9.

“We have … two weeks of good practice to work out the kinks and more forward from here,” Hyden said. “The next two weeks of practice are vital if we want to be successful come championship season.”

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Water polo takes fourth at ECAC tourney

By Chris McCree

Contributing Writer

The top-seeded men’s water polo team lost two out of three games last weekend at the ECAC Championships at Harvard University but managed to finish in the top five for the seventh year in a row. The Bison claimed fourth place in a tough 12-team field consisting of schools from along the East Coast.

The Orange and Blue opened the tournament with a 21-3 victory over George Washington that featured four-goal performances by Jack Else ’14, Richie Hayden ’11 and Trevor Reitz ’14. The Bison eclipsed the 20-goal mark for the third time this season, and Hayden became the ninth player in school history to reach 200 goals for his career.

The Orange and Blue experienced an offensive stall after their first game as they managed only 13 goals combined in their final two games against Brown and Princeton. The Bison fell to Brown 11-7 during their semifinal matchup on Saturday after having beat Brown a week earlier at the Bucknell Invitational. Howie Kalter ’11 scored four goals. The Bison trailed the Bears the entire game but managed to cut the deficit to one through three periods, but were outscored by the Bears 3-0 in the fourth.

Bison offense struggled during their third-place game against second-seeded Princeton. Sean Coghlan ’11 scored twice and was the team’s only multiple-goal scorer in the 9-6 loss. On paper, this game was the Bison’s toughest matchup as Princeton came into the tournament ranked 17th in the nation. The Orange and Blue played tight in the first half, but the defense could not keep up with the Tigers late in the game.

Inconsistent play on defense has troubled the team all season. The Bison have surrendered nine goals or more seven times this season.

“We need to improve our team defense so that we can hold teams to under seven goals,” Hayden said.  The Bison are 5-0 in games where they have held teams to under seven goals.

After going 1-2 this weekend in Boston, the Bison are 7-4 and are about to enter a crucial part of their season. This weekend the Orange and Blue travel south to Maryland and Washington, D.C. to play three games against league rivals Johns Hopkins, Navy and George Washington. The Bison have yet to play Johns Hopkins or Navy this season but are 1-0 against George Washington.

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Offense propels Bison to four wins

By Chris McCree

Contributing Writer

The men’s water polo team went 4-1 at the Bucknell Invitational this past weekend. The team hosted an eight-team invitational and played five games over three days. The Bison cruised by Toronto, Diablo Valley and Penn State Behrend in their first three contests, but faced stiffer competition in their next two contests, beating Brown and losing to No. 16 St. Francis.

Beau Caillouette ’12 was an offensive stud for the Bison with 10 goals over the weekend. He scored four goals Friday to lead the team to a 15-4 defeat against Toronto.

Brian Barron ’13 and Captain Richie Hayden ’11 each had five goals to contribute to the high-powered Bison attack. Over five games, the Bison scored a total of 74 goals, including a 26-goal outburst against Penn State Behrend.

“The invitational went well, but we need to improve our team defense so that we are able to hold teams to under seven goals,” Hayden said. After holding Toronto to four goals and Penn State Behrend to three in their first two games, the Bison defense let up nine goals in each of their last three games.

The highlight of the weekend was the team’s 13-9 victory over Brown. Brown had outscored its previous two opponents by a margin of 22-11. The Bison jumped to an early 3-0 lead thanks to two goals by Paul Reamey ’11 in the first period. Hayden upped the intensity by causing two Brown players to get ejected from the game. Brown was able to bounce back thanks to a four-goal effort by senior Gordon Hood, but the Bison defense proved to be too much for Brown to complete the comeback.

The Bison concluded their weekend with a 9-5 loss against St. Francis. Although they were tied with the Terriers at the half, the Orange and Blue were outscored 6-2 in the second half.

“We struggled to execute our game plan and it hurt our overall performance,” Hayden said.

The Bison plan to use this weekend as a launching point for the rest of the season.

“I think we have a bright season ahead,” Hayden said. “We have the raw talent to be successful, but when it comes to winning championships, we need to master our defense if we want to be successful. If we can come together as a team and execute our game plan, we will be successful come November.”

Now 6-2 , the Bison will play in the ECAC championship next weekend as a number-one seed and then will begin their conference events upon their return.

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Water polo wins three out of four

By Eric Brod

Senior Writer

The men’s water polo team opened its season with three wins at the Navy Open this past weekend in Annapolis, Md.

On Sunday, the Orange and Blue capped off an impressive weekend with a 16-13 victory over the Fordham Rams.

The team tallied eight goals in the third frame to take a commanding lead. Brian Barron ’13 led the Bison  with three goals.

Teammates Beau Caillouette ’12, Julian Colina ’14, Richie Hyden ’11 and Howie Kalter ’11 each contributed two goals, Kalter also offered three assists. The team achieved 12 ejections.

Earlier on Sunday, the team fell to  Queens (N.Y.) 15-14.

The Knights were able to set the tone early, netting six first-period goals.

The Bison fought back and evened the score at eight going into halftime, but were outscored 4-3 in the fourth period.

Hyden posted a team-high five goals and two assists. Barron netted three goals and Mike Kimble ’14 scored two.

On Saturday afternoon, the Bison defeated Gannon 22-3.

Hyden and Spencer Richley ’12 led the way, each posting six goals and helping the team to an 11-2 halftime lead.

Trevor Reitz ’14 tallied a team-high five steals.

Hyden believes it is critical that the first-year players gain experience quickly.

“With this many new guys coming there are always going to be setbacks, but I think the guys have done a solid job at practice working together and trying to learn the systems that we run here,” Hyden said.

“We will need the new young guys to gain experience as fast as possible and this weekend was a great opportunity for that.”

Earlier on Saturday, the men took care of Vanguard in a convincing 18-6 victory. Once again, the scoring was evenly distributed among the team, with six players scoring multiple goals.

Goalie Miles Gilhuly ’11 recorded 10 saves.

Hyden believes  the team needs to work on improving its overall game and team chemistry.

“We were able to work on some areas of our game that we want to develop, and this will be crucial come league games when we need to execute at a high level,” Hyden said.

“This weekend everyone was able to play a lot of minutes and work on the things we have practiced over the past few weeks.”

The Bison return to action today when they open the Bucknell Invitational.

All games will be played at Kinney Natatorium.