ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Player of the Game Kyle Chambers (Sr., Thousand Oaks, Calif./Westlake) racked up four goals as Wagner College broke a five-all halftime tie to outdistance Bucknell University, 12-9, in the opening round of the 2024 Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) Championship hosted at the United States Naval Academy’s Lejeune Hall.
Wagner (16-16, 9-6 MAWPC) pulled away from 2016, 2019 and 2020/Winter 2021 MAWPC Champion Bucknell (11-16, 7-8 MAWPC) thanks to 4-3 and 3-2 scoring advantages in the third and fourth quarters, respectively.
Courtesy the win, Wagner advances to a 4:00 p.m. Eastern semifinal showdown on Saturday, November 23, against MAWPC regular season champion/2021, 2022, 2023 MAWPC Champion No. 3-ranked/undefeated Fordham University which dispatched Mercyhurst University via a 30-4 victory earlier in the day. It guarantees the Seahawks will record the programs’ fifth Top Four finish at the MAWPC Championship following prior Second (2017), Third (2018), Fourth (2021, 2023), Fifth (2016, 2019) and Sixth (2022) place marks.
A three-time (2016, 2019, 2020/Winter 2021) MAWPC Champion, 2017 and 2023 Third Place finisher along with 2018 and 2022 runner-up, Bucknell will take on Mercyhurst at 1:00 p.m. on November 23 with a spot in the championship’s Fifth Place game on the line.
The contest was nip-tuck in the first half as Chambers staked Wagner to a 2-0 lead less than three minutes into the game by torquing home tallies with 7:25 and 5:14 remaining in the first quarter. Matt Ryckman (Sr., Caracas, Venezuela/Looms Chaffee (Conn.)) and Sean Tunnicliff (So., Long Beach, Calif./Long Beach Wilson) answered for the Bison at 4:40 and 1:56, respectively, to erase the margin. However, Eliot Alvarez (Jr., San Leandro, Calif./San Leandro) shook his defender and buried a ball into the twine with four seconds remaining on the clock to return the Seahawks to the lead at 3-2.
A man-up marker from Ryckman 45 seconds (7:15) into the second quarter once again balanced the scoreboard at three-all, but Chambers completed a first half hat-trick by lining in another go-ahead strike at the 4:02 mark to push Wagner back in front at 4-3.
The Bison stampeded back, however, as Jack Dillane (Fr., Pleasantville, N.Y./Pleasantville) rebalanced the scoreboard at four-all with 2:45 until halftime. Smith Connors (Fr., Brisbane, Australia/Good Shepard Lutheran College) (2:14) and Aleksa Stefanovic (Jr., Belgrade, Serbia/”Sportium” Sportska Gimnazija) (1:08) traded scoring blows in the closing minutes of the second quarter as the squads entered halftime deadlocked at five-all.
Bucknell went in front for the first time in the game exactly one minute into the third quarter as Jovan Udovicic (Fr., Belgrade, Serbia/Oaks Christian School (Calif.)) put away a shot with seven minutes remaining on the frame’s clock.
Maayan Nahari (So., Givat Ela, Israel/Wizo Nahalal) returned equality to the contest by notching a tying man-up tally at 5:35, but Stefanovic (4:51, penalty shot) and Tyler Hedblad (Fr., Poway, Calif./Poway) (3:53, man-up) built an 8-6 margin for the Bison as Bucknell appeared to gain the contest’s momentum.
The perception was not the reality, however, as Matan Friedenberg (Fr., Tel Aviv, Israel/Alliance) (3:36, 44 seconds) and Patrick Ray (So., Columbus, Ohio/Upper Arlington) (2:38) closed out the third quarter with a trio of strikes to turn the tables in favor of the Staten Island squad to provide Wagner a 9-8 margin through 24 minutes of action.
The lead continued to grow in the fourth quarter as Chambers (7:19), Ray (4:58, man-up) and Connors (1:25) flushed shots to widen the gap between the teams to 12-8. Udovicic closed out the scoring by firing in a response for Bucknell with 1:16 left in regulation to establish the 12-9 final score.
For Wagner, Chambers (four), Ray (two), Connors (two) and Friedenberg (two) combined for 10 goals with Nahari and Alvarez slipping in single scores to support a 19 save performance by goalkeeper Filip Petrovic (Fr., Seattle, Wash./Roosevelt).
Ryckman (two), Stefanovic (two), Udovicic (two), Hedblad, Dillane and Tunnicliff combined for Bucknell’s nine goals with goalkepper David Dumitru (So., Bucharest, Romania/Jean Monnet Theoretical) turning aside 11 shots.
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| Bucknell University |
2 | 3 | 3 | 1 | – | 9 |
| Wagner College | 3 | 2 | 4 | 3 | – | 12 |
| Wagner Goals: | Kyle Chambers (4); Patrick Ray (2); Smith Connors (2); Matan Friedenberg (2); Maayan Nahari; Eliot Alvarez | |||||
| Bucknell Goals: | Matt Ryckman (2); Aleksa Stefanovic (2); Jovan Udovicic (2); Tyler Hedblad; Jack Dillane; Sean Tunnicliff | |||||
| Saves: | Wagner – Filip Petrovic (19) ; Bucknell – David Dumitru (11) | |||||
| Exclusions: | Wagner – 16 ; Bucknell – 4 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | Wagner – 2-for-4 ; Bucknell – 3-for-16 | |||||
| Sprints: | Wagner – 2-for-4 (1st, 2nd) ; Bucknell – 2-for-4 (3rd, 4th) | |||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | None | |||||
| Officials: | James Wolff, Alex High | |||||
Bucknell University’s Sean Tunnicliff (#3) defends Wagner College’s Andrew Cowie (#4)
Bucknell University’s Jack Dillane (#7) closes on defense
Wagner College’s Kyle Chambers (#2) goes on the attack versus Bucknell University’s Hasan Mogultay (#21)
