On Saturday, Oct. 26, Bucknell Bison Men’s Water Polo fell to George Washington in a hard match but bounced back with a dominant win against the Johns Hopkins Blue Jays. The next day, a close contest occurred between Bucknell and Navy, where the Bison narrowly fell. With their win this weekend, head coach John McBride became tied with Dick Russell’s record for most coaching victories in Bucknell Men’s Water Polo history with a whopping 223 wins. 

In the first game, George Washington began with an early 7-4 lead but David Dumitru ’27, the Bison’s goalie, sparked the energy with an epic goal, ending the first half. Hasan Mogultay ’25 and Matt Ryckman ’25 led this attack, scoring two goals each. Teammates Jack Murad ’26, Shay Gillearn ’25, Tyler Hedblad ’28, Aleksa Stafanovic ’26 and Sean Tunnicliff ’27 additionally tallied up points for Bucknell during the second half. 

Turning to the defense, Dumitru saved 14 of George Washington’s shots, also accounting for two steals. Ryckman and Jack Dillane ’28 both earned five ejections. Ian Shultz ’26 and Jovan Udovicic ’28 combined for five steals and five assists, projecting the Bison to a dangerous attacking position. Though they fought hard, the Bison men fell short, scoring 10-12, a George Washington win. 

The Bison then had a strong win against Hopkins. Stefanovic netted five goals, and Ryckman racked up three. Tallying directly behind, Tunnicliff, Gillearn and Hedblad all scored two goals each with Mogultay and Greg Nordheim ’27 then adding one each. Establishing dominance when entering the water, Ryckman netted back-to-back goals, with Gillearn notching one directly after. At the end of the first half, the Bison led 11-4. Defensively, the Bison had, yet again, a winning performance. Dumitru held his own with 15 saves. Gillearn led with three steals, followed by Mogultay and Hedblad, each with two. Gillearn was on a roll, recording four assists, the same as Murad, with Stefanovic also adding three. Maxime Touzot ’26 and Ryckman drew seven ejections. The Bison came out victorious, winning with a score of 16-10 over the Blue Jays. 

Stefanovic performed well in the final game of the weekend against Navy scoring first and leading the attack with nine goals. Udovicic, Ryckman, Hedblad and Mogultay backed their teammate, each tallying one. This was a close match, with no team running away with a large lead. Again, there was a great showing of Bucknell’s strong defense, but not enough to pull out the win. This close matchup ended with a score of 13-14, a Navy Midshipmen win.  

While this weekend was tough, there were still some victories: John McBride became tied for most wins in Bucknell history for Men’s Water Polo, a strong offense prevailed with many team members tallying up points and a dominant defense stood tall, with Dumitru blocking countless shots. 

Catch this team on Friday Nov. 1, at 7 p.m. against Mount St. Mary’s.