PRINCETON, N.J — Madeleine Poissonnier (Fr., Tustin, Calif./Foothill) scored four times to notch Player of the Game recognition as No. 20-ranked Brown University dominated Bucknell University, 17-6, in the 2023 Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Championship fifth place game at Princeton University’s DeNunzio Pool.
The Bears (26-10, 5-5 CWPA) never trailed versus the Bison (5-26, 0-10 CWPA) thanks to racking up a 5-0 lead in the first five minutes of the first quarter and never looking back to hold leads of 5-1, 8-1 and 13-1 at the conclusion of the first, second and third quarters, respectively.
Brown – which previously finished first (2001), second (2003), fourth (2004, 2009, 2012, 2022), fifth (2000, 2007, 2008, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2019), sixth (2002, 2010, 2018), seventh (2005, 2016, 2017) and ninth (2011) at the CWPA Championship since 2001 – put the game out of reach within the opening five minutes as Claire Pisani (Sr., Redwood City, Calif./Castilleja School) (7:28, 7:01), Lily Weiser (Sr., Long Beach, Calif./Los Alamitos) (6:18), Ella Palmer (Fr., Auckland, New Zealand/St. Cuthbert’s College) (4:40, penalty shot) and Sierra Martin (Jr., San Diego, Calif./The Bishop’s School) (3:08) pushed the Bears into the lead. Chloe Smith (Sr., Newport Beach, Calif./Corona del Mar) shaved a goal off the Bison’s deficit prior to the conclusion of the first quarter by lining in a shot with 19 seconds remaining on the clock.
The second and third quarters were exclusively the domain of Brown as the Bears mauled the Bison for three and five goals in the frames, respectively, to make it 13-1 heading into the final eight minutes of regulation.
Emily Suong (So., Glendale, Calif../Notre Dame) ignited the run with 6:49 remaining in the second quarter prior to Tallulah Clancy (So., Moraga, Calif./Campolindo) (4:56) and Poissonnier (20 seconds) wrapping up the first half with back-to-back strikes to make it 8-1 at the break.
Poissonnier continued to pour it on in the dawning moments of the third quarter by dinging the cage with shots at 6:41 and 5:30 to build the Bears’ margin to 10-1. Zoe King (Sr., Almaden, Calif./Leland) (4:49), Sophie Golub (Jr., Woodside, Calif./Menlo School) (2:22) and Poissonnier (49 seconds) wrapped up the 7-0 outburst as Brown exited the third quarter with a 13-1 lead.
Bucknell attempted to climb back into the contest in the first three minutes of the fourth quarter as Gwen Kallmeyer (Fr., Mil Valley, Calif./Redwood) (6:41) netted the Bison’s second goal prior to Isabelle Monaghan (Jr., Lawrenceville, N.J./The Lawrenceville School) cashing in on consecutive penalty shots (5:59, 5:21) to close the gap to 13-4.
Martin (4:58) and Weiser (4:24, man-up) responded to return Brown’s lead to 11 at 15-4 before Monaghan completed a hat-trick (4:12) to again move the Bison within 10 at 15-5.
The Bears completed the game with a 2-1 scoring advantage over the final three minutes as Palmer (2:10) and Clancy (43 seconds) sandwiched a marker by Smith (1:49) for the 17-6 final.
For Bucknell – which previously claimed second (2021), third (2019), fourth (2006), fifth (2010, 2016, 2018), sixth (2008, 2014, 2017, 2022), seventh (2004, 2005, 2007, 2011, 2013, 2015), eighth (2003, 2012), ninth (2000) and 11th (2002) place marks since 2000 at the CWPA Championship – received a hat-trick from Monaghan, a pair by Smith and a solo marker courtesy Kallmeyer. Sam Gove (Sr., Rockport, Mass./Phillips Exeter Academy (N.H.)) made three saves in taking the loss.
Poissonnier (four), Weiser (two), Pisani (two), Martin (two), Clancy (two) and Palmer (two) combined for 14 of Brown’s 17 goals with King, Golub and Suong tacking on the remaining trio. Shauna Franke (Jr., La Jolla, Calif./La Jolla) earned the victory in cage with six saves.
The game marked the third meeting of the year between the two programs as Brown improves to 3-0 against the Bucknell in 2023 following prior 14-9 (April 2, at Brown) and 14-10 (April 16, at the University of Michigan) wins.
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| No. 20 Brown University |
5 | 3 | 5 | 4 | – | 17 |
| No. 20 Bucknell University | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | – | 6 |
| Bucknell Goals: | Isabelle Monghan (3); Chloe Smith (2); Gwen Kallmeyer | |||||
| Brown Goals: | Madeleine Poissonnier (4); Lily Weiser (2); Claire Pisani (2); Sierra Martin (2); Tallulah Clancy (2); Ella Palmer (2); Zoe King; Sophie Golub; Emily Suong | |||||
| Saves: | Bucknell – Sam Gove (3) ; Brown – Shauna Franke (6) | |||||
| Exclusions: | Bucknell – 3 ; Brown – 15 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | Bucknell – 2-for-15 ; Brown – 2-for-3 | |||||
| Sprints: | Bucknell – 3-for-4 (2nd, 3rd, 4th) ; Brown – 1-for-4 (1st) | |||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | Bucknell – None ; Brown – None | |||||
| Officials: | Alex Stankevitch; Stephanie Villalobos | |||||
