PRINCETON, N.J. — The Bucknell University women’s water polo team dropped its final two games of the Princeton University Winter Tournament with losses to No. 15-ranked University of California-San Diego, 18-5, and No. 17 Wagner College, 14-6, at DeNunzio Pool.
An 11-0 run by UC-San Diego to end the half helped propel the Tritons past the Bison in the first game of the day.
Bucknell scored the opening goal in taking the lead at the 7:30 mark of the first quarter when Chloe Smith netted her first goal of the season. Bucknell held UC-San Diego off the board for the next three minutes until back-to-back goals by the Tritons gave them the lead.
Bella Moynihan tied the game at two-all with 3:16 left in the first quarter, but that was the last Bison goal scored until Megan LaCroix punched a ball into the cage with 7:10 remaining in the fourth quarter. In between, UC-San Diego broke the game open with an 11-0 run that spanned nearly 20 minutes.
Bella Schraa and Isabelle Monaghan each added goals for the Bison in the defeat.
In Bucknell’s final game of the weekend, Wagner used a 4-0 run to start the game while limiting the Bison to just three goals in the first half.
Bucknell was kept off the board for the opening seven minutes of the game until Smith broke the Bison drought with a goal at the 1:06 mark of the first quarter. Monaghan and Schraa each added first-half goals as Bucknell trailed 8-3 at the break.
The Bison scored three more times in the second half of play, including two more goals from Monaghan for her first hat trick of the season, but the Seahawks kept Bucknell at bay as Bucknell drops to 0-5 on the year. Izzy Lippolis added Bucknell’s other goal in the defeat.
Release courtesy Bucknell University Athletics Communications
