Bison Men’s Water Polo participated in the Bruno Classic last Sat. to open their 2023 season. They competed up North against Harvard, Iona, Brown, and Pacific.

Sat. the Bison took on Iona and co-host Harvard. Against Iona, the Bison went into the second quarter tied 1-1. Action picked up as Walker Butler ’24 came in with two strikes in a row to start off the quarter, putting the Bison ahead. In the final minutes of the half, both teams scored twice. Shay Gillearn ’25 and Doruk Ozar ‘24 responded to those two Iona goals and put the Bison up 8-5 at the half. 

The Bison were able to put four more goals on the board in the third period, giving them an impressive 12-7 lead. Iona was able to close the gap slightly with two goals in the last four minutes. However, the Bison stood strong and prevented Iona from breaking their lead. The Bison won the first match 12-9.

Sat. afternoon, riding a big win against Iona, the Bison faced Harvard. Andu Vlasceanu ’23 was able to put the Bison first on the board just three minutes into the game. They were able to prevent the Crimson from scoring for over five minutes, until Harvard scored twice in 26 seconds, putting them up 2-1 going into the second quarter.

The Bison were able to keep themselves in the game, closing the score as close as 7-5. With three minutes left in the third quarter, Harvard scored six in a row to pull away with the win. The Bison ended up losing 18-7. Aleksa Stefanovic ’26 put up three goals and Matt Ryckman ’25 tallied two throughout the match.

The Bison were back in the water the next morning as they faced Brown. They fell behind 3-1 early on. Stefanovic and Gilearn both scored to help tie the game. 

The second quarter saw minimal action, neither team were able to score for the first five-and-a-half minutes. Brown broke the scoreless quarter with two goals within 28 seconds, sealing the lead for Brown.

By the half, Brown led comfortably, 7-5. The Bison were outscored 4-0 in the third quarter. Brown pulled away with a 12-6 victory.

In the final game of the Bruno Classic, the Orange and Blue faced #6 Pacific. The Tigers were 3-0 in the tournament thus far but the Bison were able to hang around. The Orange and Blue only trailed 5-4 after the first quarter with goals coming from Gillearn and Stefanovic.

Pacific went on a run half way through the second half. The Tigers put up four straight goals, giving them a 9-4 lead. Both teams scored once more before the half.

The Bison managed to bring the score within four goals with about 5:08 left in the third quarter. But Pacific went on yet another run in the final minutes of the game, helping them seal a 17-8 win.

The Bison will be seen back in the water this Saturday against California Baptist in Princeton, N.J..