ERIE, Pa. — The Mercyhurst University men’s water polo team put away Penn State Behrend, 18-16, before dropping a Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) meeting with Bucknell University, 20-9, on the second day of the 2026 Laker Invitational hosted at the Hallman Aquatics Center.
Squaring off with crosstown foe Penn State Behrend, the Lakers opened the game with three consecutive goals as Aiden Botterill, Caden Stover and Cooper Venneman hammered home blows. The Behrend Lions retaliated with four consecutive goals of their own to take the lead. Ben Gavran scored a goal to tie the game at four-all with under a minute left in the first quarter.
Penn State Behrend regained its momentum by opening the second quarter with back-to-back markers within the first minute. Botterill answered for Mercyhurst to keep his squad within a goal. The Lions rebuilt its lead to a pair of goals, but Ethan Green and Botterill swished shots to square the squads at seven-all.
The Lakers’ offense continued to inflict damage upon Penn State Behrend as Marcos Loen and Green staked the Lakers to a two-score lead at 9-7. Penn State Behrend tied the contest at nine-all, but Botterill and Gavran fired a pair of balls into the twine to push the Lakers back in front at 11-9. Penn State Behrend shaved its deficit down to 11-10 as the halftime horn sounded.
In the third quarter, the Lions roared first to knot the score at 11-all. Asher Jones delivered for the Lakers to put Mercyhurst ahead 12-11 before the teams traded goals back-and-forth goals. The home squad received tallies by Jones and Gavran as the Lakers sailed into the fourth quarter holding a 14-13 lead.
The Lions, however, refused to go down without a fight as a strike in the dawning moments of the fourth quarter balanced the scoreboard at 14-all. Declan Puacz and Jones – who completed a hat-trick with the goal – arched in counterstrikes to put Mercyhurst ahead 16-14. Penn State Behrend kept showing signs of life by scoring another goal to keep themselves in the match at 16-15. The Lakers responded with a marker by Petar Vujovic to regain a two score margin at 17-15. Gavran continued the scoring for Mercyhurst by completing a hat-trick to widen the gap to 18-16 prior to the Lions arching in a counterstrike with 30 ticks left in regulation for the 18-16 final spread.
Taking on MAWPC nemesis Bucknell, a fast start was not enough to corral the Bison.
Caden Stover broke the ice for the Lakers, but Bucknell rattled off four strikes to acquire a 4-1 lead heading into the second quarter.
Another Bucknell marker built the lead to 5-1 before Constantine Romanov snapped the scoring spurt to move the Lakers back to within three at 5-2. The teams traded goals with Gavran delivering for the home squad. Back-to-back Bucknell blasts extended the lead to 8-3 before Declan Puacz trimmed the deficit to four at 8-2. However, the Bison tacked on another tally in the closing minutes of the second quarter to gain a 9-4 lead going into halftime.
Consecutive strikes in the opening minutes of the third quarter inflated Bucknell;s lead to 11-4. Gavran delivered his second goal of the game to inch the Lakers with 11-5, but the Bison broke loosed for another pair of tallies to make it a 13-5 contest. Loen made it 13-6 before Bucknell scored a goal with just three seconds remaining in the frame to go ahead 14-6 prior to the commencement of the fourth quarter.
Mercyhurst attempted to put together a comeback as Porter Austin closed the gap to 14-7. The rally came to a quick end, however, as the Bison responded 30 seconds later with a goal before adding a trio of scores in extending Bucknell’s lead to 18-7. Mason Grzybowski cashed in an opportunity to shave Mercyhurst’s deficit back to 10 at 18-8, before the Lakers and Bison traded goals with Austin scoring his second of the game to keep the gap at 10 (19-9). Bucknell broke the 20-goal plateau in the closing minutes of the game to wrap-up a 20-9 win.
Information courtesy Mercyhurst University Athletics Communications
