No. 13 Bucknell University-vs.-No. 18 George Washington University Scoresheet (MAWPC Championship)
LEWISBURG, Pa. — Goalie Adrien Touzot (Fr., Beirut, Lebanon/Brummana) made 11 saves to net Player of the Game accolades as No. 13-ranked Bucknell University defended its home turf of Kinney Natatorium with a 9-4 victory over No. 18 George Washington University in the title game of the 2019 Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) Championship.
The win provides Bucknell (22-8, 10-2 MAWPC-East) with the program’s second MAWPC crown and its first National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championship berth since 2016.
The game marked the third time the Bison and Colonials (22-9, 9-3 MAWPC-East) met for the league title since the formation of the MAWPC prior to the 2016 season. In 2016, the Bison downed GW by an 11-5 score at Kinney Natatorium for the program’s first league crown since winning hte 1908 Eastern Championship against Loyola University. Last year, George Washington avenged its earlier loss by topping the Bison, 12-11, in overtime last year at Fordham University for the crown.
Bucknell – which split the season series against George Washington with a 13-8 win on October 13 and an 11-10 loss on November 10 – never trailed in the third meeting of the year as Logan Schofield (Sr., Maumee, Ohio/St. Francis de Sales), Jared Stanley (Jr., Palo Alto, Calif./Palo Alto) and Rade Joksimovic (Sr., Novi Sad, Serbia/Gimnazija Jovan Jeovanovic Zmaj) rifled in consecutive scores at 6:37, 5:49 and 4:24 to put the 2017 and 2018 MAWPC Champion Colonials in a 3-0 hole less than four minutes into the contest.
Andras Levai (Jr., Budapest, Hungary/Csik Ferenc Secondary School) put George Washington on the board at 2:22 via a five-meter penalty shot, but Schofield struck again with 1:57 on the clock to return the lead to three at 4-1.
DJ Davis (So., Alamo, Calif./San Ramon Valley) cut into the Bison’s margin 36 seconds into the second quarter by sweeping in a shot at the 7:24 mark to move the Colonials within a pair at 4-2. However, Bucknell charged further ahead as Cooper Dolan (Sr., San Juan Capistrano, Calif./JSerra Catholic), Andu Vlasceanu (Fr., Bucharest, Romania/Liceul Teoretic “Nicolae Lorga” Bucuresti) and Joksimovic ticked off a trio of tallies at 7:00, 4:03 and 3:40, respectively, to set the scoreboard at 7-2 in favor of the Bison by halftime.
Following the break, Cullen Jacuzzi (Sr., Orinda, Calif./Campolindo) padded the lead to 8-2 with a strike at the 6:17 mark of the third quarter. GW attempted to rally back as Levai connected on shots at 2:01 and 57 seconds to move the Colonials within four at 8-4 heading in the fourth quarter.
However, Touzot made a pair of saves in the fourth quarter and Schofield drove home the final nail with 2:27 remaining to complete a hat-trick and cap off the Bison’s 9-4 championship game victory.
For Bucknell, Schofield (three) and Joksimovic (two) netted multi-goal games, while Vlasceanu, Stanley, Jacuzzi and Dolan each accounted for solo strikes.
Levai posted three of George Washington’s goals with Davis notching the other tally. Goalie Matt Taylor (Gr., Auckland, New Zealand/Rangitoto College) took the loss with 11 saves.
The title game marked the fourth consecutive year George Washington played for the MAWPC crown. In 2016, the Colonials fell to the host Bison by an 11-5 count. In 2017, GW won its first league championship in the sport of water polo by taking down Wagner College, 8-5, at the United States Naval Academy. Last year, GW clipped the Bison in overtime, 12-11, at Fordham to repeat as MAWPC Champions.
Futher the loss prevents GW from joining Bucknell (1977-78-79-80), Brown University (1983-84-85), Navy (1986-87-88; 2006-07-08) and the University of Massachusetts (1993-94-95-96) as the only teams outside the state of California to win three or more consecutive varsity league championships in men’s water polo.
Following the conclusion of the championship game, the 2019 Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference Championship All-Tournament Team was named with Joksimovic, Vlasceanu and head coach John McBride sweeping the Most Valuable Player, Rookie of the Tournament and Dick Russell Coach of the Tournament accolades:
| 2019 Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference Championship | |
| All-Tournament Team | |
| Most Valuable Player: | Rade Joksimovic (Bucknell University) |
| Rookie of the Tournament: | Andu Vlasceanu (Bucknell University) |
| Coach of the Tournament: | John McBride (Bucknell University) |
| First Team | |
| Matt Taylor (Goalie) | George Washington University |
| Andrew Mavis | George Washington University |
| Andras Levai | George Washington University |
| Rade Joksimovic | Bucknell University |
| Logan Schofield | Bucknell University |
| Andu Vlasceanu | Bucknell University |
| Isaac Salinas | United States Naval Academy |
| Second Team | |
| Bailey O’Mara (Goalie) | Fordham University |
| Jake Miller-Tolt | Fordham University |
| Dimitris Koukias | Fordham University |
| Drago Marjanovic | Gannon University |
| Atakan Destici | George Washington University |
| Daniel Domotor | La Salle University |
| Oliver Fodor | Wagner College |
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| No. 18 George Washington University | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | – | 4 |
| No. 13 Bucknell University | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | – | 9 |
| Bucknell Goals: | Logan Schofield (3); Rade Joksimovic (2); Andu Vlasceanu; Jared Stanley; Cullen Jacuzzi; Cooper Dolan | |||||
| GW Goals: | Andras Levai (3); DJ Davis | |||||
| Saves: | Bucknell – Adrien Touzot (10) ; GW – Matt Taylor (11) | |||||
| Exclusions: | Bucknell – 6 ; GW – 6 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | Bucknell – 0-for-6 ; GW – 1-for-6 | |||||
| Sprints: | Bucknell – 3-for-4 (2nd, 3rd, 4th) ; GW – 1-for-4 (1st) | |||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | GW – YC (Head coach Barry King, 7:36 left in 3rd Q), RC (Finn Lillis, 2:56 left in 3rd Q), YC/RC (Head coach Barry King, 3:11 left in 4th Q) | |||||
| Officials: | Josh Kratz ; Scott Voltz | |||||
Bucknell University’s Rade Joksimovic (#22) shoots against George Washington University’s Andrew Mavis (#3)
George Washington University’s Atakan Destici (#2) shoots as Bucknell University’s Logan Schofield (#12) closes in
George Washington University’s Gabriele Simonti (#20) rises to shoot against Bucknell University’s Cullen Jacuzzi (#7)
Bucknell University’s Rade Joksimovic (#22) looks for an opening as George Washington University’s Bender Russo (#15) defends
George Washington University’s Gabriele Simonti (#20)
United States Naval Academy – 2019 Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference Third Place
George Washington University – 2019 Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference Second Place
Bucknell University – 2019 Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference Champion
2019 Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference Championship Rookie of the Tournament: Andu Vlasceanu (Bucknell University)
2019 Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference Championship Most Valuable Player: Rade Joksimovic (Bucknell University)
2019 Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference Championship Dick Russell Coach of the Tournament: John McBride (Bucknell University)
