Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 The Basics
• Scores:
#15 Bucknell-23, Johns Hopkins-14
Johns Hopkins-12, La Salle-11
• Records: JHU (6-15, 2-5 MAWPC) • 10-2, 3-1 MAWPC) • LSU (6-13, 1-8 MAWPC)
• Location: Baltimore, MD • Newton White Aquatics Center
• The Short Story: The Johns Hopkins water polo team split a pair of home Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference matches on Saturday. Hopkins fell to 15^th-ranked Bucknell but then rebounded with a win over La Salle. Senior Finn Banks notched his 300^th career point in the win over the Explorers.
 
How it Happened • Bucknell
• Hopkins jumped out to a 2-0 lead thanks to a pair of Jayden Kunwar goals less than a minute apart. Bucknell got on the board at the 5:06-mark and scored four straight to take a 4-2 lead. Kunwar ended the run by sandwiching a pair of goals around a Bison strike. Bucknell had the final say of the quarter, scoring with 23 ticks left to take a 6-4 lead into the break.
• The teams swapped scores over the first 3:12 of the second and the Bison led 9-7. Bucknell then poured in four unanswered goals to push out to a 13-7 lead with 1:39 left in the quarter. Junior Olin Shipstead trimmed the deficit to five at the half with his second of the game.
• Kunwar opened the third-quarter scoring with a man-up goal just 31 seconds in. But Bucknell answered with a 5-2 run to end the quarter and extend its lead to 18-11. The teams traded goals over a four-minute span as the lead remained at seven. The Bison closed out the game with three straight goals to take the 23-14 win.
 
How it Happened • La Salle
• La Salle struck first, scoring three minutes into the first, but Hopkins answered with goals from junior Nico Ivanov and Kunwar. The Explorers came right back with a man-up goal to tie the game at two. Junior John Murphy put the Blue Jays back on top, starting a three-goal run that saw the home team go up 5-2 with 35 seconds remaining in the first. La Salle had the final say of the quarter however, trimming the deficit to two at the break.
• Hopkins came out firing to start the second, scoring three unanswered to push out to a five-goal lead by the 5:47-mark. La Salle responded with a three-goal spurt of its own to pull back within two with 1:34 left. Shipstead sandwiched a pair around an Explorer goal and the Blue Jays led 10-7 early in the third.
• La Salle put together another three-goal run to knot the score at 10 after three quarters. Banks opened the fourth quarter scoring with his third of the night to put Hopkins back on top. But a man-up goal by the Explorers tied the game again, with 5:05 to play. Ivanov scored what turned out to be the game-winner as the shot clock expired and 3:22 on the game clock. Both teams had chances down the stretch, but the 12-11 score would hold. Junior Max Fleming would make a save with 28 seconds to play to preserve the win.  
 
What it Means
• Hopkins falls to 24-48 all-time against Bucknell as the Bison while the Blue Jays move to 7-0 against the Explorers.
• Banks becomes just the 10^th player in program history to net 300 career points.
 
Inside the Box Score
• Against the Bison, Banks led the Blue Jays with eight points (3g, 5a) and two steals. Kunwar scored a team-best five goals and junior Nico Ivanov added four points (2g, 2a). Fleming finished with nine saves for Hopkins.
• Banks had a team-best five points (3g, 2a) against the Explorers for his ninth hat trick of the season. Ivanov had a team-high four goals and four steals, and now has four hat tricks. Fleming finished with 10 saves and four steals to get the win.
 
Up Next
• Hopkins returns to action on Thursday, October 17 as the Blue Jays host the 14^th-ranked George Washington Colonials. The MAWPC match is slated for a 7:00 pm start at the Newton White Aquatics Center.