Water polo washed away by Division 1 Bucknell Bisons

By: Ming Wen

Posted: 9/20/07

The Hopkins Blue Jays were given a cold reception by the Bucknell Bisons in an 11-8 loss Saturday afternoon, despite a brave second-half rally that cut the Bison's lead to just one. The match brought the Blue Jay's record to 2-6 for the season. The Bisons now hold seven wins and one loss.

Bucknell took an early 5-1 lead in the first quarter, with their junior center forward Alex Lampley scoring twice. The match stalemated in the second quarter, as both teams found the back of the net only once. On the Hopkins side it was junior utility Josh Kratz with the honors, and for Bucknell it was senior center back Josh Sunday. At halftime the score was 6-2, with Hopkins still trailing by four. The Jays were fed up with playing poorly and vowed to change the course of events in the next two quarters.

The Blue Jays offense revved up after the half, as junior defender Alex Bond scored his first goal of the season to cut the Bisons' lead to three. Senior captain and utility Sean McCreery followed up with a goal, shaving the Bisons' lead to just two. Bucknell senior center back Josh Sunday responded with his second goal of the match to make it a 7-4 game. The two teams engaged in an intense slugging match throughout the third quarter. The Jays stayed in good form but could not overcome their deficit as the quarter left the Jays trailing the Bisons six to eight.

The final quarter would prove to be crucial to the Jays, as junior defender Kyle Gertridge roared back with his third goal of the season, reducing the Bison's lead to just one with 3:30 left on the clock. "After that goal we felt as though we had all the momentum going into the last couple minutes," Gertridge said.

This would prove to be the high-water mark for the Jays; as mistakes on Hopkins' side allowed Bucknell to score two goals in quick succession, restablishing their three-point lead. Senior captain and utility Chris Hemmerle would put up one more for the Jays, but the end result was 11-8 in favor of Bucknell.

"Bucknell scouted us out and were matched up pretty well," McCreery said.

"Bucknell got us in the first couple minutes, Gertridge said, adding, "We play well once the game picks up some speed. All we need to do from now on is get the ball rolling from the opening whistle."

The Blue Jays Water Polo team is currently ranked second among division three teams, and 20th in the nation. Don't let their 2-6 record fool you, though - the Jays are taking on the division one teams like Bucknell regularly and giving those teams quite a fight.

With this challenge in mind, McCreery said, "It's been a very good experience facing D1 teams. We have a very tough schedule this year."

After a rough start, some wonder if there's hope for the rest of the season. "I prefer to be losing close games right now rather than losing them at the end of the year during championships," McCreery said.

Later in the season the Jays hope to take home the D3 title at Claremont Convergence Tournament, where they will be in for quite a challenge against the nation's top D3 water polo teams. Hopkins heads to the clear pools of New Jersey at noon on Sunday, Sept. 23 to face off against #15 Princeton. Their next home game will be on Oct. 2, versus George Washington University at 7 p.m.