ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Aleksa Stefanovic (Jr., Belgrade, Serbia/”Sportium” Sportska Gimnazija) connected for six goals and Player of the Game/goalkeeper Mateo Herrera (Jr., Windermere, Fla./Olympia) turned aside 15 shots as Bucknell University exploited 7-1, 8-1 and 4-1 scoring outputs in the first, third and fourth quarters, respectively, to take down Mercyhurst University on the second day of the 2024 Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) Championship.
Competing at the United States Naval Academy’s Lejeune Hall, the Bison (12-16, 8-8 MAWPC) – which fell by a 12-9 count to Wagner College during the first day of action on Friday, November 22 – never trailed versus the Lakers (7-25, 0-16 MAWPC) to set the stage for a 10;30 a.m. Eastern Fifth Place game on Sunday, November 23, against the victor of a consolation game matching Mount St. Mary’s University and Johns Hopkins University.
A three-time (2016, 2019, 2020/Winter 2021) MAWPC Champion, 2017 and 2023 Third Place finisher along with 2018 and 2022 runner-up, the Bison are guaranteed to garner either their inaugural Fifth or Sixth Place finish courtesy the victory over the Lakers.
Mercyhurst – which dropped a 30-4 game to No. 3-ranked Fordham University in the opening game of the three-day, 12 game championship weekend in Maryland – will face the fallen from the Mountaineers-Blue Jays’ showdown at 9:00 a.m. on Sunday, November 23, for Seventh Place.
The Lakers – who rejoined the MAWPC prior to this season due to the school becoming a Division I institution and leaving the Division II Western Water Polo Association (WWPA) – last competed at the MAWPC Championship in 2022 at Fordham University. That year, Mercyhurt claimed 11th Place in the final standings in the team’s first appearance at the MAWPC Championship since 2016. The 2016 Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC)-West Region Champion, the Lakers claimed Seventh Place at Bucknell.
Bucknell wasted little time in putting Mercyhurst behind as Sean Tunnicliff (So., Long Beach, Calif./Long Beach Wilson) (6:19, man-up), Shay Gillearn (Sr., Woodland Hills, Calif./Harvard-Westlake) (4:12, man-up), Tyler Hedblad (Fr., Poway, Calif./Poway) (3:50) and Maxime Touzot (Jr., Greenwich, Conn./Greenwich) (2:47) fired in four consecutive strikes to stake the Bison to a 4-0 lead. Owen Hardner (Jr., Erie, Pa./McDowell) snapped the run at 2:22 with a penalty shot goal, but back-to-back-to-back markers from Jack Dillane (Fr., Pleasantville, N.Y./Pleasantville) (2:08), Gillearn (1:22, man-up) and Stefanovic (16 seconds) widened the offensive chasm between the programs to 7-1 after eight minutes of competition.
Mercyhurst made the game interesting in the second quarter as Asher Jones (So., Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) (7:07; 3:20), Ben Gavran (So., Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) (6:25) and Will Cheney (Fr., Rockford, Mich./Rockford) (5:56) strung together a 4-0 run to close the Lakers within 7-5.
However, Gillearn (51 seconds) and Matt Ryckman (Sr., Caracas, Venezuela/Loomis Chaffee (Conn.)) (three seconds) concluded the second quarter/first half with a pair of markers to extend Bucknell’s lead back to four at 9-5 heading into halftime.
Stefanovic (7:16, man-up) and Jack Bruce (Sr., Greenwich, Conn./Greenwich) (6:32, man-up) added to the margin by denting the twine in the first 90 seconds of the third quarter to cushion the Bison’s lead to 11-5.
Jones cashed in a man-up bid at 5:14 to terminate the run and move the Lakers back within five at 11-6, but Bucknell continued to stampede towards victory and a Fifth Place game shot as Touzot (3:57), Jovan Udovicic (Fr, Belgrade, Serbia/Oaks Christian School (Calif.)) (3:16, penalty shot), Stefanovic (1:59; 1:32, man-up; six seconds, man-up) and Dillane (51 seconds, man-up) wrapped up the frame with five consecutive goals to widen the spread to 17-6.
The run continued in the fourth quarter as Touzot (5:15), Stefanovic (3:53) and Dillane (3:11) put away even-strength chances to help Bucknell reach the 20-goal plateau and acquire a 20-6 lead.
Alessio Sampedro (Fr., Barcelona, Spain/Sagrat Cor) brought the 9-0 run to an end by denting the twine with 1:39 to play, but Gillearn got the goal back prior to the terminus horn by lining in a shot with 1:07 left in regulation for the 21-7 final.
For the Bison, Stefanovic (six), Gillearn (four), Touzot (three) and Dillane (three) posted hat-tricks or better, while Tunnicliff, Ryckman, Bruce, Udovicic and Hedblad chipped in solo tallies.
Jones accounted for three of the Lakers’ seven goals with Sampedro, Hardner, Cheney and Gavran racking up single strikes to support a 12 save effort by goalkeeper Tony Golin (Sr., Dexter, Mich./Dexter).
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| Mercyhurst University |
1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | – | 7 |
| Bucknell University | 7 | 2 | 8 | 4 | – | 21 |
| Bucknell Goals: | Aleksa Stefanovic (6); Shay Gillearn (4); Maxime Touzot (3); Jack Dillane (3); Sean Tunnicliff; Matt Ryckman; Jack Bruce; Jovan Udovicic; Tyler Hedblad | |||||
| Mercyhurst Goals: | Asher Jones (3); Alessio Sampedro; Owen Hardner; Will Cheney; Ben Gavran | |||||
| Saves: | Bucknell – Matteo Herrara (15) ; Mercyhurst – Tony Golin (12) | |||||
| Exclusions: | Bucknell – 6 ; Mercyhurst – 13 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | Bucknell – 9-for- 13 ; Mercyhurst – 2-for-6 | |||||
| Sprints: | Bucknell – 3-for-4 (2nd, 3rd, 4th) ; Mercyhurst – 1-for-4 (1st) | |||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | None | |||||
| Officials: | Alex Larin, Jim Lewis | |||||
Mercyhurst University Nate Cheney (#10) attempts to loft a shot over Bucknell University’s Matt Ryckman (#4)
Mercyhurst University’s Caden Stover (#16) & Bucknell University’s Aleksa Stefanovic (#6) square-off
Buckell University’s Aleksa Stefanovic (#6) lines up a shot versus Mercyhurst University
