BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The Bucknell Unviersity women's water polo team opened up play at the Elite Eight Tournament Saturday and lost a pair of games to ranked teams. The Bison dropped their opener to No. 8 University of Michigan 13-7, and followed with a 12-7 loss to No. 17 Brown University. Bucknell, which fell to 5-4 on the season, was outscored 13-6 total in the second halves of the two games.

The Bison will wrap up play at the two-day Elite Eight Tournament Sunday at 10 a.m. against Harvard University.

Bucknell fell to 0-13 all-time against the Wolverines as it was outscored 6-3 in the second half, including 5-3 in the third quarter. Seven different Bison tallied single goals.

Valentina Rozas (Pico Rivera, Calif./El Rancho) posted a solid game with one goal, three ejections drawn, two field blocks and one steal. Additionally, Kandis Canonica (Burlingame, Calif./St. Ignatius Prep) tied the program record for career assists as she was one of six players to dish out one in the game, bringing her career figure to 142.

Alison Carter (Costa Mesa, Calif./Newport Harbor) recorded three steals and eight saves from her goalkeeper position. She followed that performance with four more steals and three stops later in the day against the Bears. She now has 93 saves on the season, more than half her total from 2009.

Bucknell trailed Brown just 5-4 at halftime, but the Bears won the fourth quarter 3-0 to extend a 9-7 lead to the final five-goal advantage.

Canonica led the offensive attack with three goals, while Rozas added one goal and a pair of assists.

The Bison were just 2-for-9 on six-on-five opportunities in the game, and attempted 35 shots, connecting on only 20 percent of them.

Bucknell will play Harvard Sunday morning. The Bison defeated the Crimson last Sunday to wrap up fifth place at the Eastern Colelge Athletic Conference (ECAC) Championship.

Michigan Goals: Mantel 3, Orth 3, Felt 2, Reitz 2, Colton 1, Golden 1, Bukofzer 1
Michigan Saves: Adamson 4, May 3
Bucknell Goals: Canonica 1, Kennan 1, McNally 1, Morgan 1, Palencia 1, Rozas 1, Skonezney 1
Bucknell Saves: Carter 7
Princeton Saves: Ward 6

Bucknell Goals: Canonica 3, Kennan 1, Morgan 1, Rozas 1, Skonezney 1
Bucknell Saves: Carter 5
Brown Goals: Glick 3, Presant 2, Westerman 2, Wohlmuth 2, Bullwinkel 1, Ryu 1, Stanton 1
Brown Saves: Laing 12

Release courtesy Bucknell Athletic Communications