Offense struggles in 14-6 loss to Bucknell

ORANGE, Calif. – For two quarters, the Chapman University women’s water polo team played NCAA Division I Bucknell University even. Unfortunately for the Panthers, they struggled in the first and fourth quarters as Bucknell won 14-6 on Wednesday afternoon at the Allred Aquatics Center.

After falling behind 5-0 in the first quarter, Chapman (4-7) strung together four-straight goals to get within one score with 1:45 remaining in the first half. Freshman utility Rachel Graham and sophomore 2MO Arielle Worthington each scored two goals during the run. With 53 seconds remaining in the half, Bucknell got its lone second-quarter goal from sophomore utility Amanda Skonezney to push their lead to 6-4.

The momentum shifted in favor of Bucknell (8-7) in the third quarter when goalie Brittany Connell blocked a five-meter penalty shot from Worthington which would have brought Chapman to within one score. The Bison then scored eight of the final 10 goals in the game as they pushed their lead to as many as nine scores in the fourth quarter.

Chapman managed just 16 shots on goal against Bucknell’s pressuring defense, tying a season low. 10 different players scored for Bucknell while four different players had two goals.

Score by Quarters                     1          2          3          4          Final  
Bucknell (8-7)                            5          1          3          5            14
Chapman (4-7)                           1          3          1          1            6       

BU Goals: McNally (2), Murao (2), Prickett (2), Skonezney (2), Canonica, Kennan, Morgan, Paledncia, Rozas, White
CU Goals: Graham (2), Worthington (2), Marganian, Martin

Boxscore: http://chapmanathletics.com/sports/wwaterpolo/2009-10/stats/bu-cu.pdf