Bucknell Men’s Water Polo opened its fall season this past weekend in Cambridge, Mass. and Providence, R.I., facing off against Harvard, MIT, Brown and Iona. On Saturday, Aug. 30, the Bison faced Boston natives Harvard and MIT, where they lost 12-15 and 13-14, respectively. On Sunday, Aug. 31 in Providence, they fell short again to Brown, 11-19, but came back to defeat Iona 16-15 to end the weekend on a positive note.

The Orange and Blue started strong against Harvard with an early lead of three goals in the first three minutes. By the second quarter, Harvard came back to tie the score. The squads continued to fight for a lead for the next two periods, but Harvard pulled ahead 11-10 at the end of the third quarter. Tyler Hedblad ’28 led the team with four goals, and Ori Raz ’29 scored his first-ever career goal. Despite Bucknell’s efforts to tie, the Crimson pulled ahead to win the match, 15-12. 

The Bison took on MIT later in the day, where Sean Tunnicliff ’27 led the Bison with four goals. The Orange and Blue once again started hot with a 3-0 lead in the first quarter, but by the third period, the Bison couldn’t find the net. By the end of the fourth, the teams were tied and headed for overtime. Tunnicliff scored his fourth goal to help tie again after Harvard regained the lead, pushing to a second overtime, where MIT stole the victory from the Bison.

On Sunday, the Orange and Blue faced a tough match against Brown. The Bears took a quick four-point lead, until Jovan Udovicic ’28 scored to bring the team back in the game. In the second quarter, the Bison came back to score four more points, but Brown ultimately overcame with a 19-11 victory.

The Bison then played Iona for their final match of the weekend. Tunnicliff led the team once again with three goals, with other points scored by Andrew Hunyady ’29 and Aleksa Stefanovic ’26. Iona captured the early lead, but the Orange and Blue fought back for a tight 16-15 win in the end.

The Orange and Blue will be back in action at the Princeton Invite this weekend against Harvard, Princeton and UCLA.