Water polo to get back at it against Bucknell

The water polo team got a well-earned two weeks of resting up. Now, deep in the middle of its season, the men’s water polo team looks to push its winning streak to three as they hit the road to take on the Bucknell Bisons.

The Tigers (9-3 overall, 2-0 CWPA), currently holding the no. 11 ranking in the NCAA, are raring to go, eager to get another shot at the CWPA Championships after coming so close last season. They look in solid form after opening up league play with wins against Johns Hopkins and George Washington two weeks ago.

While some might think that playing the weekend immediately after earning two straight victories could help keep the momentum, there seem to have been just as many benefits to having more time in DeNunzio Pool. According to senior center Thomas Nelson, the weekend off not only gave his team a well-earned break but also allowed them prepare better.

“We front-loaded our season with a bunch of games — people get tired, people get sick. Having two weeks off gives … a little of time to recuperate,” Nelson explained. “At the same time, we’re able to practice a little bit harder knowing we wouldn’t have a game this past weekend.”

As the Tigers rest up, one thing they hope to maintain is their strong distribution of the workload on offense. The balance in scoring is certainly one reason to which they can attribute success — four different players this year have put in 20 or more goals on the season. Nelson pointed out that continuing this style of play will be crucial as postseason draws ever closer.

“You take a look at our scoring — I’ve scored a good amount, but it’s spread out across the entire team,” Nelson said. “A lot of the guys on the team are scoring a lot of goals.”

Certainly it will help as the team prepares to play a familiar rival in Bucknell. The Bisons (8-3, 1-1), having lost three close games to the Tigers last season, will more than likely be ready for revenge. The fact that the game is on the Bisons’ turf certainly makes the game more daunting — the Bisons are currently on a five-game win streak in their own pool.

“We definitely know this team well. It’s always an exciting match playing against them, especially at their pool,” Nelson remarked. “The biggest thing is that we go in running our offense, and we’re going to stick to our plan … We’ll play our game, and adjust to whatever they’re doing.”

Indeed, sticking with their game plan and playing the way they know how will be critical as the CWPA championships begin to come into full view for the Tigers. This rings all the more true for this team after last year’s heartbreaking loss to Brown in the game to secure the NCAA bid.

“We had a really good season, and it [was] really frustrating to play one of our worst games of the season right when it mattered most,” Nelson said. “Definitely it’s weighing heavily on our minds. … We felt like we should have won it last year, and we definitely want to get back on top.”