LEWISBURG, Pa. — The Bucknell University men’s water polo team closed out the 2023 season on a strong note, scoring the game’s final four goals to defeat Wagner College, 10-7, in the Third Place game of the Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) Championship at Kinney Natatorium. Aleksa Stefanovic led the Bison with four goals, and Walker Butler scored two straight goals just over a minute apart to break open a seven-all tie.
Bucknell (12-16) was the No. 3 seed in the MAWPC Tournament. The Bison walloped sixth-seeded Mount St. Mary’s University, 17-7, in the opening round on Friday, November 17, but dropped a 10-9 heartbreaker to second-seeded/No. 18-ranked the United States Naval Academy in the semifinal round on Saturday, November 18. Wagner, seeded fourth, clipped fifth-seeded George Washington University, 15-14, in round one but was sent into the third-place game after falling 23-12 to top-seeded/No. 15 Fordham University in the semifinals.
The Seahawks (17-15) had the upper hand early in Sunday’s bronze-medal affair, jumping in front 2-0 behind two early goals from Laszlo Strasser. Wagner maintained the advantage all the way to the end of the second quarter when Stefanovic scored consecutive goals to even the match at four-al.
Wagner tallied the first two goals of the second half, but Stevanovic and Ian Schultz scored 17 seconds apart to make it a 6-6 game after three. The Seahawks again took the lead on a Vince Varga strike with 5:57 remaining, but Stefanovic quickly struck back just 12 seconds later, and the Bison dominated from there.
After successfully killing off a six-on-five advantage for Wagner, Bucknell converted on two of their own, with Butler on the finishing end both times. He snapped the seven-all deadlock with 3:40 remaining, and then after Patrick Ray was sent off, Butler scored again at the 2:38 mark to make it 9-7. Liam Stott tacked on one more for good measure with four seconds remaining, and the Bison finished off their second win in three tries against Wagner this season.
Release courtesy Bucknell University Athletics Communications
