 |  |
Bucknell Stops Princeton 9-7 in CWPA Southern Division Action
PRINCETON, N.J. --
Princeton’s comeback fell short as the women’s water
polo team fell 9-7 to Bucknell on Saturday, March 28 at DeNunzio
Pool.
Down by four, 7-3, Princeton battled back to score the next three
goals to make it 7-6 with 3:05 remaining in the game. The Bison
extended their lead by two with just over a minute to play but the
Tigers didn’t have enough time to claw their way back.
The Tigers got on the scoreboard first when Lauren
Brunner scored a five-meter goal at 7:01. Bucknell’s
Shana Palencia evened the scoring with a 6x5 goal with help from
Aubrey Rowe at 6:24. Kandis Canonica
couldn’t find an open teammate but found room for the shot
that went high over the shoulder of goalie Kristen
Ward. The Bison added another when Rowe went end-to-end to
make it 3-1 after the first quarter.
The teams traded goals throughout the second quarter. After
Bucknell’s Valentina Rozas tallied a goal,
Princeton’s Cayley Bowles answered when she
collected a cross-pool pass for the score. The Tigers cut their
deficit back to one, 4-3, at 3:12, after working the ball around in
the offensive end and Helen Meigs found the
net. Hallie Kennan made it 5-3 with a man-up
goal at 2:42. Princeton had its own man-up opportunity late in the
second quarter but an errant pass with 35 seconds left wound up in
the hands of a Bison. Coming down the other end of the pool,
Palencia chipped the goalie to give Bucknell a 6-3 lead at the
break.
A similar shot at 7:30 of the third quarter, gave the Bison a 7-3
lead, but the Tigers wouldn’t give up. Meigs had a hard shot
bounce off the goalie Brittany Connell’s
forearm and Phoebe Champion ripped a shot that
Connell had to leap out of the water to stop less than a minute
later. Meigs tested Connell again with four minutes to play in the
quarter, but the hardnosed goalie was there again to make the
snag.
Meigs and Champion teamed up to for what was arguably the
prettiest goal of the day at 3:12. Meigs fed Champion the ball who
was right out in front of the goal, and Champion quickly maneuvered
a behind the back shot to make it 7-4.
With 1:30 remaining in the quarter, Ward made a spectacular save
herself, when she tipped a shot by Sarah
Hutchinson up and over the net.
The Tigers made it 7-5 with 12 seconds left with a 6x5 goal by
Brunner from Champion.
The goalies were once again on display for the first half of the
fourth quarter. Connell stopped a Tanya Wilcox
shot but Princeton immediately got the ball back and Connell
stopped the very next shot from Claire Jacobson at
close range. Ward made back-to-back saves in the fifth minute to
keep her Tigers in the game.
Princeton cut the lead to 7-6 when Hutchinson grabbed a long pass
up the pool and swam with the ball to the goal and beat Connell
one-on-one with 3:05 left to play.
Palencia shot around her defender to make it 8-6 Bucknell at 1:45
and Rowe put the game out of reach with a five-meter goal at
1:11.
Meigs gave it one last effort for the Tigers, scoring a 6x5 goal
with 25 seconds to play, to set the final score at 9-7.
Ward finished the day with seven saves. Meigs led the team with
two goals and two assists each, while Brunner and Champion had two
points apiece.
Princeton 1-2-2-2 –- 7
Bucknell 3-3-1-2- – 9
Release courtesy Princeton Athletic Communications
