The men’s water polo team kicked off their season in Providence, R.I. for the Bruno Classic Sept. 2-3. The Bison entered the tournament ranked No. 14 in the CWPA Preseason Polls.

The Orange and Blue opened their first game of the tournament on Saturday against the No. 5 Pacific Tigers. Although Cullen Jacuzzi ’20, Cooper Dolan ’20, Logan Schofield ’20, and Tommy Stupp ’18 all scored goals, the Bison were only able to get 9 shots on goal and subsequently lost 23-5.

The Bison rebounded against the No. 19 St. Francis Brooklyn Terriers. Dolan led the Orange and Blue to a victory with seven goals. Caio Jordao ’21, Marko Djordjevic ’19 and Rade Joksimovic ’20 scored goals as well. They won the game 12-11.

The next day, the Bison wrapped up the tournament playing No. 7 Pepperdine, followed by No. 16 California Baptist.

The Bison lost 15-9 in their first game against the Pepperdine Waves. The Waves started the game with an early 5-0 lead and never looked back. Joksimovic, Dolan, and Jeff Hagen ’18 all scored multiple goals but Pepperdine’s offense proved too potent.

“We had a really challenging first weekend, playing four teams in the top 20. We started off slowly but ended the weekend playing really well. We have a lot of first-years getting used to the college game, and once we all get used to playing together, we should be in good shape,” Hagen said.

The Bison put on an impressive performance against the California Baptist Lancers later in the afternoon, but ended up falling short, losing 14-13. The Lancers opened the game with a 4-0 lead but the Bison quickly bounced back, scoring the next five goals. Both teams netted two goals in the second quarter. In the third quarter the Bison struggled, losing the lead and falling behind 13-12. Joksimovic, Dolan, Djordjevic, Hagen, Schofield, Matt Blackwell ’21, and Jared Stanley ’21 all scored goals. Charlie Niehaus ’18 had a strong performance in the goal with seven saves.

Dolan had a strong presence at the Bruno Classic, scoring 12 goals in four games.

The Bison will be back in action at the Princeton Invitational Sept. 9-10. They are scheduled to play UCLA, St. Francis Brooklyn, and Harvard.