BRONX, N.Y. (November 23, 2025) – Mount St. Mary's men's water polo fell to Bucknell in the Conference Fifth Place Game on Sunday morning, losing 14-12 after an overtime thriller. With the loss, the Mountaineers finish the Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference Championships in Sixth place, equaling their best finish set during the 2024 Conference Championships.
 
The Mountaineers started the game down 2-1 through a close opening quarter against the Bison. Alexandros Belesis came up with the only Mount goal of the first as the Greek took advantage of the power play firing the ball into the top left quarter from beyond the five-meter mark.
 
Both Ioannis Skliras and Aaron Tarr opened the second quarter with back-to-back goals, scoring against a even-strength defense 50 make it 5-3 halfway through the period. Skliras scored his second goal of th3 quarter on the counterattack while completing his hat trick from the penalty spot to send the Mount into halftime e down 6-5.
 
Tarr scored his second goal to start the third quarter, capitalizing on a penalty drawn by Skliras to tie the game at 6-6. After drawing the penalty, Skliras scored on the power play before Belesis once Again scored from beyond the five-meter line to end the quarter 9-8 in favor of the Bison.
 
Chrysostomos Valavanis scored during the first possession of the fourth quarter, dispatching the ball from the holeset into the left corner of the net. Bucknell and the Mount traded goals back and forth, including two goals from William Matthews flying into the net for the last wo minutes of the forth before Belesis scored the tying goal with 25 seconds left on the clock, forcing overtime. The Mountaineers were not able to capitalize on offense during the two overtime periods, falling to the Bison in the end.
 
Skliras notched four goals against the Bison while notching two steals and two drawn exclusions. Belesis recorded a hat trick while dishing out two assists and recording three completed steals. And Tarr recorded two goals in the match while recording a completed steal and four assists. Along with his two goals, Matthews recorded five completed steals against Bucknell. In net, Sherif Hosni completed 14 saves while notching an assist and completing five steals of his own.
 
 
Bucknell 14, Mount St. Mary's 12

Team                          1    2    3    4   OT   F 
Mount St. Mary's              1    4    3    4   0   12
Bucknell                      2    4    3    3    2   14
 
Goals: Skliras 4, Belesis 3, Tarr 2, Matthews 2, Valavanis 1
 
Saves: Hosni 14