SAN JOSE, CALIF. — The No. 15-ranked Bucknell University men’s water polo team defeated Fresno Pacific University, 12-7, to snap a three-game skid and improve to 5-0 all-time against the Sunbirds. The Bison then dropped an 11-10 sudden death overtime decision to No. 13-ranked/host San Jose State University to finish out the 2019 Julian Fraser Memorial Tournament.
Rade Joksimovic led the way for the Bison with seven goals, including the very first goal of the game as Bucknell never trailed in the contest against Fresno Pacific.
Joksimovic, a senior, contributed to all three Bucknell goals in the first quarter after he scored twice and assisted fellow senior Logan Schofield on Bucknell’s second as the Bison took a 3-2 lead. Joksimovic and Schofield proved to be a powerful duo for the Bison on the day, combining for ten of Bucknell’s 12 goals.
Joksimovic and Schofield each netted one more time around a goal by Jared Stanley in the second while blanking the Sunbirds in the frame as the Bison took a 6-2 lead at halftime.
Fresno Pacific pulled within two in the third quarter after a goal on the powerplay by Nathan Olson, but Jack Lewis found the back of the cage just seconds later, also on the powerplay, to push the Bucknell lead back to three at 7-4. After the Sunbirds netted a goal to close within two once more, Bucknell scored two straight to end the quarter en route to a 4-0 run with two more goals the fourth frame.
Three of the goals were scored by Joksimovic during the final stretch as Bucknell reached the 15-win mark on the season.
Joksimovic scored his seven goals on a season-high 17 shots as Bucknell trailed the Sunbirds in shots, 35-31. Schofield found the back of the cage three times to go along with four ejections drawn, while Mitchell Scott also drew two ejections. Adrien Touzot made 15 saves in cage for the Bison.
Bucknell played its first overtime game of the season in a narrow defeat to the Spartans as San Jose State found the golden-goal in the third overtime period with 2:03 left to take an 11-10 win.
The Bison, which has used fast starts to their advantage all season, found itself trailing this time after San Jose State jumped out to a 3-0 lead after one quarter. The Spartans extended their lead to 5-0 on a goal by Ethan Koch about halfway through the second quarter before Stanley found the back of the cage on an assist from Cooper Dolan. Joksimovic then scored on a penalty shot just a few minutes later after freshman Andu Vlasceanu drew an ejection on Ashley Castle. A late goal by the Spartans gave SJSU a 6-2 lead at the half.
Bucknell began the third quarter with a goal by Schofield assisted by Joksimovic before Stanley scored again to cut the SJSU lead to 6-4. The Bucknell defense stepped up in the third quarter by keeping the Spartans off the board to halve the deficit.
Schofield brought Bucknell within one after he scored to open the fourth before San Jose State’s Harry Nixon pushed the Spartans’ lead back to two. A long pass from Touzot found Joksimovic in space to score Bucknell’s sixth, before the senior tied the game with just 23 seconds to go to help Bucknell send the game into overtime.
The Bison trailed in both overtime periods before battling back with late goals in each. In the first overtime, Stanley found the back of the cage with 40 seconds left to tie the game at eight, before a goal from Joksimovic with just three seconds on the clock in the second overtime tied the game at ten to send the game into a sudden-death third overtime period as the two teams scored two goals each in the final 1:26 of the second overtime periods.
With 2:03 left on the clock in the third overtime, a goal by San Jose State won the game as Bucknell dropped its third game of the weekend, all by two goals or less, and all to teams either ranked or receiving votes in the latest Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) National Top 20 poll.
Joksimovic scored four times for Bucknell, while Stanley added three in the defeat.
Release courtesy Bucknell University Athletics Communications
