LEBANON, Ill. – The McKendree men's water polo team returns to action this weekend as they play six games in four days in and around Southern California.
The Bearcats open their West Coast trip on Thursday, Sept. 30 with a 12 p.m. CT exhibition game against Westcliff University in Irvine, Calif., before playing four games in two days at the Gary Troyer Invitational and then concluding the road trip with a 1 p.m. CT game on Sunday, Oct. 3 at the University of La Verne.
At the Gary Troyer Invitational, which is being played in La Verne, Los Angeles and Claremont, the Bearcat will open the event on Friday, Oct. 1 against Biola University at 2:45 p.m. CT in La Verne, Calif., and then face Concordia (Calif.) University at 7:45 p.m. CT in Claremont, Calif., before facing both Fresno Pacific and Santa Clara on Saturday, Oct. 2. The Fresno Pacific game is scheduled for an 11 a.m. CT start in Claremont, while the game with Santa Clara is scheduled for 4 p.m. CT in La Verne.
LAST TIME OUT RECAP
McKendree comes into their West Coast trip sporting a 3-3 overall record and a 1-0 mark in the Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference-West Region after posting a 2-1 record last weekend in Erie, Pa. The Bearcats opened league play with a 20-5 win over Washington & Jefferson last Saturday, before earning a 14-6 victory over Mercyhurst University. McKendree ended its three-game trip to the Keystone State with a 15-10 loss on Sunday to Gannon (Pa.) University.
On the season, senior
Nico Rodriguez (Bogota, Colombia/Oviedo) leads the Bearcats in scoring with 19 goals. (The stats from the Washington & Jefferson game have yet to be posted). In addition to Rodriguez, graduate student
Uros Pelemis (Belgrade, Serbia/Fresno Pacific) has scored 13 goals, while senior
Matthew Haygood (Chino Hills, Calif./Chino Hills) is third with nine goals and is tied for the team lead in assists with three.
Fifth year senior
Ori Scanlon (Orlando, Fla./Olympia) has played every minute in goal this season for the Bearcats and has recorded 23 saves and is allowing 13.27 goals per game.
SCOUTING WESTCLIFF UNIVERSITY
Westcliff comes into Thursday's exhibition game with McKendree sporting a 1-8 overall record with their only win being a 10-7 victory over Biola at the Triton Invitational on Sept. 4. The Warriors have lost seven straight games since that win over Biola. Westcliff last played on Sept. 24 as they earned a 13-11 home exhibition win over Grossmont College.
SCOUTING BIOLA UNIVERSITY
Biola, who plays at home on Thursday against Cal Baptist before facing the Bearcats on Friday, enters the weekend sporting a 1-7 overall record with its only win being a 12-8 win at home on Sept. 15 over Westcliff University. Since that win, the Eagles have dropped three straight, including losses to nationally-ranked foes – UC-San Diego (25-4) and Santa Clara (19-7).
Biola has a balanced offensive attack so far this season as five players have scored five or more goals, including Kenny Wulf and Nolan Rapp leading the way with eight goals each. Wulf leads the team in assists with six and points with 14. As a team, they are averaging 6.6 goals per game, while allowing 17.1 goals per game. Mitchell Carpenter has played all but 16 minutes in goal this season for the Eagles and he has allowed 100 goals and made 69 saves in seven games.
SCOUTING CONCORDIA (CALIFORNIA)
Concordia (California) comes into the weekend with a 2-5 overall record and the Eagles have dropped three of their last four games with the lone win being an 11-8 win at home against Westcliff. The Eagles are scheduled to face Cal Baptist in a 7 p.m. PT game on Thursday and then will open the Gary Troyer Invitational against Ottawa (Ariz.), before facing McKendree.
SCOUTING FRESNO PACIFIC
Fresno Pacific comes into play this weekend sporting a 2-8 overall record, including picking up a 16-6 win over over Biola in their most recent action on Sept. 25. That win snapped a two-game losing skid for the Sunbirds, both of which came at Air Force.
On the season, Fresno Pacific has scored 118 goals and picked up 53 assists and are averaging 11.8 goals per game. Leading the way is Bodhi Bowden, who has scored 43 goals and dished six assists for a total of 49 points. Eugenio Maldonado and Thilo Popp are second and third in goals as they have scored 21 and 20 goals respectively. Clay Maroney has played most of the way in goal and has allowed 146 goals and recorded 96 saves in nine games.
SCOUTING SANTA CLARA
Santa Clara comes into this weekend's action sporting a 6-4 overall record as the Broncos have won just two of their last five games with the wins coming against Biola (19-7) last time out and against the University of Redlands, 20-12. The Broncos opened the 2021 campaign with four straight wins.
SCOUTING UNIVERSITY OF LA VERNE
The University of La Verne comes into action this weekend sporting a 2-9 overall record and the Leopards have lost two straight games and five of its last seven games overall with the lone win being a 15-11 win against Westcliff.
UP NEXT FOR McKENDREE
Following its trip to California, the Bearcats will return home to O'Fallon, Ill., and the McKendree Metro Rec Plex to host two days of MAWPC-West Region games next weekend (Oct. 9-10). McKendree will open the weekend on Oct. 9 with a conference game against Salem University on Oct. 9 at 9 a.m. and then will face Augustana College at 12 p.m. and Gannon (Pa.) at 7 p.m. On Sunday, Oct. 9, the Bearcats will face Mercyhurst in its final conference game of the season.
