Nov. 18, 2007

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - With all seven seniors in the starting lineup together for their final game at Bucknell, the Bison men's water polo team defeated No. 17 Brown 14-13 Sunday afternoon at Blodgett Pool to claim fifth place in the Eastern Championship. The victory was the 20th of the season for Bucknell, its most since 2000.

The fifth-place finish for the Bison, who were 20-13 overall this year, marked their fourth consecutive top-five showing at Easterns. They finished fourth each of the last two years and fifth in 2004.

The Bucknell seniors dominated the scoring column, totaling 11 of the team's 14 goals. Josh Sunday (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) posted a career-high four goals and five points in his final game. Jason Rechel (Columbus, Ohio/Thomas Worthington) added three to finish the season with a team-high 70 goals.

Mark Masterson (Kihei, Hawaii/Marin) and Kyle Roslyn (Philadelphia, Pa./William Penn Charter) also closed out their careers with multiple-goal games as they each found the back of the net twice. Roslyn, who posted his second five-point game of the weekend, also registered a team-high three assists.

Junior Alex Lampley (Reading, Pa./Governor Mifflin) (2 goals) and freshman Richie Hyden (Riverside, Conn./Greenwich) (1 goal) were the only non-seniors to tally goals in Bucknell's highest scoring game against a ranked opponent this year.

Senior Luke Belenky, who had not started a game since Oct. 19 against Navy, stopped seven shots to finish the season with 87 saves. He fell just shy of 300 career saves, totaling 295 in his four years as a Bison.

The game, which was Bucknell's 17th against a ranked opponent this year, featured a comeback by each team. The Bison fell behind 4-2 in the first quarter, but battled back to take an 11-7 advantage entering the final quarter. However, the Bears outscored Bucknell 6-3 in the final stanza for the final one goal difference.

The Bison faced three foes teams at the Eastern Championship this weekend in No. 11 St. Francis (N.Y.), No. 20 Johns Hopkins and No. 17 Brown. They finished the season with a 7-10 record against ranked squads.

Bucknell's 20-win season is its first since 2000 when it went 21-21. In fact, that is the only other time the Bison have won 20 games since going 25-9 and advancing to the NCAAs in 1985.

Following the weekend, both Rechel and Masterson were named to the Eastern Championship All-Tournament Second Team. Both seniors also earned All-Southern Division recognition from the CWPA last week.

BUCKNELL    2 4 5 3 -14
BROWN        4 1 2 6 -13

Goals: Sunday (4), Rechel (3), Masterson (2), Roslyn (2), Lampley (2), Hyden.
Assists: Roslyn (3), Rechel (2), Hyden, Sunday, Lampley.
Ejections Drawn: Roslyn (2), Rechel, Lampley.
Saves: Belenky (7 svs., 13 ga., 32:00 min.).
Steals: Hyden (2), Sunday, Belenky.
Sprints: Rechel (4-4).
Record: 20-13