CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Sisters Claire Poissonnier (Jr., Santa Ana, Calif./Foothill) and Madeleine Poissonnier (So., Tustin, Calif./Foothill) netted four and two markers, respectively, to combine for six goals and share Player of the Game honors as No. 24-ranked Brown University overpowered Bucknell University, 13-7, to reach the semifinals of the 2024 Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Championship hosted by Harvard University.
The Bears (16-15, 4-6 CWPA) will return to the water at 2:00 p.m. Eastern/11:00 a.m. Pacific on Saturday, April 27, against fellow Ivy League institution/defending 2023 CWPA Champion/2024 CWPA regular season champion/No. 11 Princeton University with a spot in the conference title game on the line.
Brown, which fell against the Tigers by scores of 9-6 (March 3 at Princeton) and 12-10 (April 13 at Brown) during the regular season, has won the league championship once in program history. In 2001, the Bears topped Princeton by an 11-10 score in sudden death overtime at home in Providence, R.I., to claim the program’s lone women’s water polo championship. Brown last reached the league title tilt in 2003 when then league member Indiana University clipped the Bears by a 7-5 score at Harvard.
Overall, Brown’s win guarantees the team another Top Four finish since 2000 with prior first (2001), second (2003), fourth (2004, 2009, 2012, 2022), fifth (2000, 2007, 2008, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2019, 2023), sixth (2002, 2010, 2018), seventh (2005, 2016, 2017) and ninth (2011) place marks at the league championship tournament.
Bucknell (6-20, 2-8 CWPA) – which holds prior second (2021), third (2019), fourth (2006), fifth (2010, 2016, 2018), sixth (2008, 2014, 2017, 2022, 2023), seventh (2004, 2005, 2007, 2011, 2013, 2015), eighth (2003, 2012), ninth (2000) and 11th (2002) place marks since 2000 in the many versions of the CWPA/Eastern Championship – will conclude the 2024 season at 4:00 p.m. Eastern/1:00 p.m. Pacific on Saturday, April 27, in the Fifth Place game versus fellow Keystone State institution Saint Francis University.
SFU, which dropped a 12-9 contest against host/No. 20 Harvard earlier in the day to open the 2024 CWPA Championship, finished 1-1 against the Bison during the regular season. Bucknell dropped an 8-7 game to the Red Flash on February 10 in Lewisburg, Pa., and Saint Francis suffered a 7-6 setback facing the Bison on March 23 at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Mich.
The Brown-Bucknell opening round game’s final score was not indicative of the first eight minutes of action as Bucknell struck first via a man-up marker by Bella Schraa (So., Greenwich, Conn./Greenwich) with 6:38 on the clock to stake the Bison to an early 1-0 margin. The lead lasted for 74 seconds until Madeleine Poissonnier netted the equalizer at 5:24 before Claire Poissonnier pumped in a go-ahead tally at 4:39. Bucknell answered with Schraa stroking in another strike at 4:15 to balance the scoreboard, but Claire Poissonnier converted a man-up opportunity at 3:53 to provide the Bears a 3-2 margin.
Isabelle Monaghan (Sr., Lawrenceville, N.J./The Lawrenceville School) squared the squads at three-all with 2:33 on the clock, but the duo of Ella Palmer (So., Auckland, New Zealand/St. Cuthbert’s College) and Claire Poissonnier brought the curtain down on the first quarter with back-to-back goals at the 1:43 and 18 seconds marks, respectively, to put the Bears in front to stay at 5-3.
Sophie Golub (Sr., Woodside, Calif./Menlo School) padded the lead to 7-3 within the first two minutes of the second quarter by cashing in on man-up (7:33) and even-strength (6:07) opportunities before Cleo Washer (Fr., Laguna Beach, Calif./Laguna Beach) and Claire Poissonnier zipped in natural scores at 4:29 and 3:51, respectively, to make it a 9-3 game.
Schraa completed a hat-trick with 1:23 until the conclusion of the first half, but Hanna Tidrenczel (Fr., Budapest, Hungary/Korosi Csoma Sandor Bilingual Baptist) returned the spread to six at 10-4 before halftime by slipping a ball into the twine with 58 ticks on the clock.
Anna Plante (So., Mill Valley, Calif./Tamalpais) drew first blood in the third quarter by corkscrewing a shot into the goalmouth three minutes into the second half to shave the Bears’ spread down to five at 10-5. The teams exchanged tallies over the remainder of the frame with Golub (2:43), South Africa Olympian Boati Motau (Jr., Johannesburg, South Africa/Roedean School South Africa) (58 seconds) and Madeleine Poissonnier (30 seconds) punching in points to set the scoreboard at 12-6 in favor of the Rhode Island program through 24 minutes.
Sierra Martin (Sr., San Diego, Calif./The Bishop’s School) (4:23) and Motau (3:43) wrapped up the scoring in the fourth quarter as Brown’s lead expanded (13-6) and contracted (13-7) within 40 seconds to establish the final differential between the teams.
For Bucknell, Schraa (three) and Motau (two) combined for five goals, while Plante and Monaghan flushed solo scores to support a five save effort by netminder Tamara Torkos (Fr., Budapest, Hungary/Boldog Adolf Kalping Katolikus Altalanos, Gimnazium es Sportigin).
Claire Poissonnier (four), Golub (three) and Madeleine Poissonnier (two) accounted for nine of Brown’s 13 goals with Tidrenczel, Martin, Washer and Palmer notching single scores. Roxanne Hazuka (So., La Jolla, Calif./La Jolla) earned the win with four saves.
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| Bucknell University |
3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | – | 7 |
| Brown University | 5 | 5 | 2 | 1 | – | 13 |
| Brown Goals: | Claire Poissonnier (4); Sophie Golub (3); Madeleine Poissonnier (2); Hanna Tidrenczel; Sierra Martin; Cleo Washer; Ella Palmer | |||||
| Bucknell Goals: | Bella Schraa (3); Boati Motau (2); Anna Plante; Isabelle Mongaghan | |||||
| Saves: | Brown – Roxanne Hazuka (4) ; Bucknell – Tamara Torkos (5) | |||||
| Exclusions: | Brown – 11 ; Bucknell – 6 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | Brown – 2-for-6 ; Bucknell – 1-for-11 | |||||
| Sprints: | Brown – 3-for-4 (1st, 2nd, 4th) ; Bucknell – 1-for-4 (3rd) | |||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | YC – Brown (Head coach Felix Mercado, one second left in 2nd Q); YC/RC – Brown (Head coach Felix Mercado, 52 seconds left in 4th Q); YC – Bucknell (Head coach John McBride, 40 seconds left in 4th Q) | |||||
| Officials: | Stephanie Villalobos, Steve Redding | |||||
Bucknell University’s Boati Motau (#4) eyes an opening for a pass
Bucknell University’s Caitlin Stott (#7)
Brown University’s Sophie Golub (#4)
Brown University’s Aubrie Anderson (#17) looks for a pass as Bucknell University’s Boati Motau (#4) defends
