This past weekend the Bison men’s water polo team faced two tough opponents. On Saturday Oct. 30, the Orange and Blue honored their seniors before a victorious match against Mount St. Mary’s. 

During the game Jack Otto ’22, Bence Fazekas ’22, Jack Lewis ’22 and Josh Yardley ’22 all contributed offensively for the Orange and Blue, netting at least one goal, making it a memorable senior day for the group. 

The Bison were able to upend Mount St. Mary’s with a 12-9 win, maintaining a lead for the majority of the game. The Orange and Blue had an array of goalscorers including Hasan Mogultay ’25, Andu Vlasceanu ’23, Shay Gillearn ’25, Ethan Jones ’24, Yardley, Fazekas and Lewis. Otto had an excellent performance in goal to keep the Mount’s scoring to a minimum, making six saves on the day. 

On Sunday the Bison fell by a one goal margin to Fordham after a quick turnaround following Saturday’s game. After starting out the game slow, the Orange and Blue fought back to cut their deficit to only two goals by halftime. 

The Bison had excellent momentum starting the second half after Matt Ryckman ’25 and Liam Stott’s ’24 goals right before halftime. 

Late in the fourth quarter the Bison secured a two goal lead, however Fordham netted two goals in the final 47 seconds of play to send the game into overtime. The Rams scored in sudden death overtime to secure the win, but the Orange and Blue fought until the final whistle.

Otto spoke on the weekend, explaining “senior day was amazing, it was a very nice day and a great way for Bence and I to celebrate all we had accomplished in our four years together at Bucknell. We were able to collect a win over a conference opponent and continue to build momentum as we move towards the championship season. Our game Sunday was quite the nail-biter, and although we lost in sudden death, we battled back in a rowdy environment and that will most definitely help us at the end of the season playing in the important games.”

The Bison host two more MAWPC games next weekend at Kinney Natatorium against Navy and Johns Hopkins. Both matches are on Nov. 7, with the match against Navy at 10 a.m. while the match against Johns Hopkins is at 3 p.m.