LEWISBURG, Pa. — The Bucknell University men’s water polo team used balanced scoring and some strong defense to hold off George Washington University, 8-6, at Kinney Natatorium. The Bison defeated the Revolutionaries by two goals for the second time in three weeks and improved to 7-8 overall and 4-2 in the Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC).
Sean Michael Tunnicliff, Walker Butler and Shay Gillearn tallied two goals apiece for the Bison, who jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead and never trailed in the match. George Washington did pull within one goal on a couple of occasions, but Bucknell had a response each time.
A key sequence came in the second quarter with the Bison leading 4-2. Goalie David Dumitru saved a penalty shot, and then on the next offensive possession Tunnicliff fired a shot through the GW keeper and across the line to make it 5-2.
George Washington pulled within 5-4 later in the half before Butler and Gillearn scored to make it 7-4. The Revolutionaries scored twice from inside in the final 1:24 of the half, the latter coming with just one second remaining to make it 7-6 at intermission.
The Bison drew an exclusion just 11 seconds into the second half, and Gillearn capitalized with a man-up goal to make it 8-6, and the two defenses took over from there.
Dumitru made two clutch saves and saw a shot hit the post in the fourth quarter to keep it an 8-6 game. Bucknell had a shot saved with two minutes remaining, but it was tipped out of play, resetting the shot clock. The Bison drained the clock and then Hasan Mogultay had a blocked shot in front of the goal with 25 seconds left. Bucknell ran out the clock from there to secure the win.
Release courtesy Bucknell University Athletics Communications
