The Bison men’s water polo team traveled to Cambridge, Mass. Oct. 14-15 to compete in the Harvard Invitational against Wagner, Brown, St. Francis Brooklyn, and Princeton. Coming into this weekend, the Orange and Blue were on a nine-game win streak, 6-0 in the MAWPC, and seeded no. 18 in the Collegiate Water Polo Association’s weekly poll.

In the first game of the two-day tournament, the Bison took down conference rival Wagner. The Bison led the Seahawks by one point with nine seconds remaining when Wagner found the back of the net to even the score. However, five seconds later, Rade Joksimovic ’20 converted on a time-out play to give the Bison a one-goal lead, proving to be enough to take home the victory.  Joksimovic had three goals in the triumph over Wagner, while Tommy Stupp ’18 led the team with two assists.

In their second game of the day, the Bison took down no. 15 Brown to increase their winning streak to 11 games, the sixth time in the program’s history that a winning streak has entered the double digits. After trailing the Bears for three quarters, Logan Schofield ’20 tied up the game with 6:13 left in the final quarter. Joksimovic followed suit by scoring twice in a row to give the Orange and Blue a 6-4 lead. Joksimovic led the Bison in goals, while Jared Stanley ’21 posted three assists in the victory.

On the second day of the Invitational, the Bison fell to no. 12 ranked St. Francis Brooklyn and no. 11 ranked Princeton. Against the Terriers, Joksimovic brought the Bison within one point with 3:43 remaining, but Botond Kadar of St. Francis Brooklyn converted on a man-up advantage to give the Terriers a 10-8 win. In the second game of the day against Princeton, the Bison were even at halftime. The Tigers broke away in the third quarter, outscoring the Orange and Blue 5-1, which secured their 12-7 victory.

“Going into the weekend, we knew we had four tough opponents in Wagner, Brown, Princeton, and St. Francis Brooklyn. As a team, we understood the importance of the weekend, as our game against Wagner was a conference match-up while the other three teams are all very likely opponents for an NCAA crossover game between the northern and southern east coast conferences,” Logan Schofield ’20 said. “We played well as a team, overcoming both Wagner and Brown on the first day, but the long weekend and mid-season fatigue caught up with us in the second day as we dropped close games to both Princeton and St. Francis. It was a great learning experience for the team and did a great job in preparing us for the upcoming championship season.”

The Bison head to California on Oct. 20-22 to take on Stanford, California Baptist, Loyola Marymount, Santa Clara, and UC Davis in non-conference competitions.