BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — No. 12-ranked Bucknell University received four goals by Player of the Tournament/Rookie of the Tournament Rade Joksimovic and 14 saves from goalie/Player of the Game Charlie Niehaus as the Bison captured the inaugural Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) crown on Sunday, November 20, 2016, for the program’s first league championship since capturing the 1980 Eastern title with an 11-5 defeat of No. 18 George Washington University at home in Kinney Natatorium.
Tied 2-2 after the opening quarter of play, the Bison dominated the second and third quarters with 4-1 and 3-0 advantages on the scoreboard to build leads of 6-3 and 9-3 by halftime and going into the fourth quarter, respectively, to control play for the majority of the game.
George Washington jumped on the scoreboard first 22 seconds into the game as Bogdan Petkovic hit the back of the net with a shot at 7:38 of the first quarter. Nate Hunter responded at 5:44 to even the damage at one-all, but Pierce Deamer dropped in another go-ahead score for GW via a man-up blast with 2:11 on the clock to put the Bison in another hole.
Tommy Stupp stopped the bleeding for Bucknell by beating Colonials’ goalie Matt Taylor with a sinking shot at 1:54 to balance the scoreboard at two-all through eight minutes of action.
GW went back in front at 3-2 as Duke Becker hit the back of the cage 26 seconds into the second quarter, but Joksimovic posted the equalizer at 6:26 on a penalty shot prior placing the Bison ahead to stay with a man-up tally at 4:43. Even-strength strikes by Ratimir Babic and Sean Daley with 4:06 and 2:51 remaining until halftime provided the Bison a 6-3 lead at the break.
Bucknell kept its foot down for the duration of the third quarter as Hunter hit for a man-up tally at 7:22, Cooper Dolan delivered another advantage marker at 4:59 and Jeff Hagen hurled in a natural score with 15 seconds left to make it 9-3 going into the fourth quarter.
For George Washington, the lead and the play of Niehaus would prove too much to overcome in a quarter as Bucknell patiently worked the ball to minimize the amount of time the Colonials had to chip away at the margin.
Atakan Destici and Noah McKinne Braun tried to invigorate the George Washington attack for one final run at the Bison as the duo put away shots at 6:00 and 3:44, respectively, to close within 9-5.
However, Joksimovic – who previously claimed Player and Rookie of the Year honors in the MAWPC-East Region for his regular season performance, swished tallies at 2:57 and 22 seconds to close out the victory and put the Bison on top of the heap for the first time since the Carter administration.
For the Bison, Hunter finished with a pair of goals, while Babic, Hagen, Daley, Dolan and Stupp stuffed in single scores.
George Washington received single goals by Deamer, Petkovic, McKinnie Braun, Destici and Becker to account for the squad’s offensive output. Taylor took the loss in cage with seven saves.
