This past Sunday, Men’s Water Polo took on Mercyhurst at home in what would end up being a presiding 20-5 victory for the Bison. Bucknell controlled the game behind a red-hot first quarter and a great defensive performance.
Bucknell scored on all but three of its offensive possessions in the first quarter alone, which featured eight different goal scorers.
Hasan Mogultay ’25 kicked off the Bison offense with a goal just 32 seconds into the contest. The Orange and Blue would go on to score six more goals in the next four and a half minutes of action, putting the game out of reach early on. After allowing Mercyhurst to score once, Jack Bruce ’25 and Tyler Hedblad ’28 found the net to make the score 9-1 after the first quarter.
Aleksa Stefanovic ’26 recorded six goals on just eight shots to go along with three assists, leading the Bison in the scoring column. Three of these goals came in the second quarter alone, capped off with a goal with three seconds remaining on the clock after David Dumitru ’27 assisted it. This made the score 14-2 at the half.
Bucknell slowed down offensively in the second half, but the team’s elite defense kept Mercyhurst from ever having a chance to come back in this one. Dumitru tallied 15 saves to lead the defensive charge.
Jovan Udovicic ’28 and Mogultay each notched a hat trick, and Shay Gillearn ’25 and Maxime Touzot ’26 scored two goals of their own. Bruce, Hedblad, Matt Ryckman ’25 and Greg Nordheim ’27 all scored as well.
“Defense is the key to our success,” Stefanovic said. “A strong performance on defense really set the foundation for our team, and it helped us secure the win by limiting their opportunities. We focus on improving our defensive performance day by day to keep getting better.”
The Orange and Blue are now 6-6 overall and 3-1 in the Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference. The five goals Bucknell allowed were the fewest they have allowed since 2022, and this improved their home record to 4-1 on the season.
Next up, the Bison take on George Washington and Johns Hopkins on Saturday, Oct. 12, and Navy along with Mercyhurst once again on Sunday, Oct. 13.
