O'FALLON, Ill. – The McKendree University men's club water polo team concluded play here Sunday in the Missouri Valley Division Championships with a 13-7 victory over Missouri S&T at the McKendree Rec Plex Pool.
 
With Sunday's win, the Bearcats conclude the weekend with a 4-0 record and improved its overall record to 4-1 on the season.
 
In Sunday's match against Missouri S&T, the Bearcats, who are expected to be the No. 1 seed in this year's Missouri Valley Championships later this month that will be hosted by McKendree, jumped out in front 6-0, including holding a 4-0 lead after the first period and led 7-2 at the half.
 
The Miners, though, would open the third period by scoring three of the first four goals of the period to drop McKendree's lead to 8-5. The Bearcats would close the period by scoring the final two goals, including a goal by sophomore goalkeeper Benton Fonner (St. Louis, Mo./Lindbergh) right before the third period buzzer.
 
In the fourth period, McKendree outscored S&T, 3-2, to set the final margin.
 
Graduate student utility player Uros Pelemis (Belgrade, Serbia/Fresno Pacific) and junior center CJ Brushwood (Gresham, Ore./Sam Barlow) each scored four goals. Graduate student Michael Rojas (Cali, Colombia/Salem University) and sophomore attacker Luke Schmidt (St. Louis, Mo./Oakville) each had two goals in the win.
 
Fonner and sophomore attacker/utility player Ethan Gray (St. Louis, Mo./Pattonville) each tallied a goal in the match.
 
McKendree recorded seven assists in the game with Pelemis, Rojas and junior attacker Vlad Puskovitch (West Chester, Pa./The Episcopal Academy) each had two, while Schmidt added the other assist.
 
Pelemis paced the Bearcat defense with five steals, while Puskovitch added three, while Brushwood, Rojas and Gray each had a steal.
 
Fonner played all 28 minutes in goal and recorded six saves, a steal and a goal in the game.
 
McKendree will next be in action on Oct. 29-30 as they host the 2022 Missouri Division Championship Tournament. The Bearcats are expected to be the No. 1 seed and will play at 2:30 p.m. on Oct. 29 against the No. 4 seed. The championship match is scheduled for Sunday. Oct. 30 at 11:20 a.m.

Here are the complete results from this week's Missouri Valley Division games.
Saturday, Oct. 15
McKendree 23, Saint Louis 7
Missouri S&T 5, Indianapolis 0 (Forfeit)
McKendree 21, Mizzou 4
Saint Louis 5, Indianapolis 0 (Forfeit)
Mizzou 14, Missouri S&T 11
McKendree 5, Indianapolis 0 (Forfeit)     
 
Sunday, Oct. 16
Saint Louis 7, Missouri S&T 5
Mizzou 5, Indianapolis 0 (Forfeit)
McKendree 13, Missouri S&T 7
Mizzou 10, Saint Louis 9