Bison Women’s Water Polo hosted the Bucknell Invitational this past weekend. They opened the weekend on Saturday with impressive wins against La Salle and Siena. With Saturday’s two victories, the team has surpassed last season’s win total of six.
The first game against La Salle was led by rookie phenom Olivia Hopper ’28 who racked up six goals in the first match. She scored the team’s first three goals. La Salle managed to tie the game at 1-1, but it would not last long as Hopper continued to score. Boati Motau ’25 also added two goals.
La Salle managed to cut the deficit to 5-4, minutes before the second quarter ended. The Bison responded with three straight goals, two coming from Hopper and the third from Hayden Hedstrom ’28.
The Bison continued scoring well into the third period. Caitlin Stott ’27 would be the first to score, then Hopper. Motau and Gwen Kallmeyer ’26 also added goals after a La Salle goal. The Explorers managed to add two more before entering the final quarter of the game. ‘
As the third period began, La Salle added two more points and now only trailed 12-9. The Bison offense continued to dominate, keeping their competitors off their backs. Hagstrom, Stott and Izzy Lippolis ’25 each scored as the clock counted down. The game ended with a Bison victory 15-9.
The momentum from the first game carried on into the second against Siena. Hopper scored two goals to start the first quarter, which was followed by a Siena goal. The Bison then went on a 5-0 run, seeing goals from Ashley Hopper ’28, Sidney Finkler ’25, Kallmeyer, Stott and O. Hopper.
The scoring did not stop for the Bison as they added seven more goals in the second quarter, which greatly contrasted Siena’s one goal. O. Hopper led the charge with three goals of her own. Followed by her sister A. Hopper, Campbell Collins ’27, Motau and Kallmeyer each with one.
In the final quarter of the game, the Bison outscored Siena 5-3. Finkler and Motau added one more each, and Regan Coon ’27 added two to top it all off. The Bison finished with a dominating 19-7 win.
The Bucknell Invitational continued Sunday with victories against Saint Francis and Mercyhurst. The four wins from the weekend increased the team’s winning streak to nine and capped off their third winning weekend.
The day started with a game against Saint Francis, predicted to be the weekend’s headliner. SFU kicked off the game with a goal that was then answered by LeHua Bender ’27. The opponents’ second goal followed and was again answered quickly by Bison Kallmeyer. The Bison wouldn’t lead until the second quarter after a goal from Collins to put them up 3-2. The Red Flash responded with four consecutive goals. Before the halftime buzzer, Finkler found the back of the net.
The third quarter unfolded much like the first two, with both teams swapping goals. The Bison saw goals from O. Hopper and Motau.
The Orange and Blue took control of the final period to edge out the Red Flash. They managed to steal the lead after a 3-0 run. Collins and Bender both scored to tie the game. With 45 seconds left, Collins scored to obtain the lead. However, SFU found an open opportunity to score and tie up the game.
Kallmeyer saved the day with a skipping shot that made it past the SFU goalie and found the back of the net with two seconds left. Saint Francis threw up a prayer but it was denied by Tamara Torkos ’27. The Bison would win 10-9 after an impressive fight.
The Bison’s final game of the weekend was against CWPA competitor Mercyhurst. The Bison took no time to jump to a large 6-0 lead. A. Hopper led the run with three goals and Finkler, Lippolis and Stott each with one. The Orange and Blue continued to outscore their opponent in the following two periods. O. Hopper and Motau each added a goal in the second period.
After the half, Stott scored twice, and Rhys Beutler ’28 and A. Hopper each scored. Ava Bayne ’28 scored the Bison’s only goal of the final quarter and would top off the team’s 13-4 win.
The Bison will be back in action against Brown, Harvard and Princeton in two weeks.
