O'FALLON, Ill. – The McKendree University men's water polo club team went 3-for-3 here Saturday as the Bearcats collected three wins on the first day of Missouri Valley Division Championship at the McKendree Rec Plex Pool.
 
With the three wins, McKendree improves to 3-1 on the season and will conclude the weekend event with an 11:30 a.m. match on Sunday, Oct. 16 against Missouri S&T.
 
At Saturday's opening day of the Missouri Valley Division Championships, the Bearcats opened with a 23-7 win over Saint Louis, before picking up a 21-4 win over the University of Missouri and then earning a forfeit win over the University of Indianapolis.
 
McKENDREE 23, SAINT LOUIS 7
The Bearcats led 3-0 after the first period and held a 4-0 lead early in the second period when SLU scored its first goal just 83 seconds into the period. The Bearcats, though, would score eight of the final 10 goals in the period to lead 12-3 at the half.
 
In the third period, McKendree outscored the Billikins, 6-3 to hold a 19-6 lead heading into the final period, before McKendree scored four of the final five goals to post its 16 goal victory.
 
Graduate student utility player Uros Pelemis (Belgrade, Serbia/Fresno Pacific) and senior attacker Ethan Hansen (St. Louis, Mo./Oakville) each had six goals, with Hansen scoring three of McKendree's seven goals in the third period.
 
In addition to Pelemis and Hansen, junior center CJ Brushwood (Gresham, Ore./Sam Barlow) added five goals and graduate student utility player Michael Rojas (Cali, Colombia/Salem University) had four goals. Junior attacker Vlad Puskovitch (West Chester, Pa./The Episcpoal Academy) had two goals.
 
In addition to his four goals, Rojas had five assists, while Puskovitch and Hansen each had three assists in the win.
 
Defensively, the Bearcats picked up 12 steals with Puskovitch collecting four and Rojas tallying three.
 
Sophomore Benton Fonner played all 32 minutes in goal and made 12 saves and allowed seven goals, along with picking up two assists and a steal.
 
SLU got two goals from Alex Antoniv in the loss.
 
McKENDREE 21, MIZZOU 4
In the second game of the day, McKendree scored over 20 goals for the second consecutive game as they led 6-1 after one period and led 12-1 at the half. McKendree outscored the Tigers, 9-3, in the second half.
 
Brushwood paced the Bearcats offense with eight goals, including scoring five of McKendree's six goals in the second period, while Pelemis finished with six goals and Puskovitch added four goals.
 
Pelemis led the way with six assists, while Puskovitch added five assists in the win.
 
Defensively, the Bearcats had 16 steals in the match as Puskovitch and sophomore attacker Luke Schmidt each had five assists, while Hansen chipped in with four assists.
 
Fonner played all 32 minutes in goal and recorded 14 saves, allowed four goals and three assists.
 
McKENDREE 5, INDIANAPOLIS 0 (Forfeit)
The Bearcats would close out Saturday's first day of action by earning a 5-0 forfeit win over Indianapolis, who was scheduled to participate in this weekend's event, but did not show up to compete.

Here are the complete results from Saturday's first day of action.
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)       

Here is Sunday's complete schedule
9 a.m. - Missouri S&T vs. Saint Louis
10:15 a.m. - Mizzou vs. Indianapolis
11:30 a.m. - McKendree vs. Missouri S&T
12:45 p.m. - Mizzou vs. Saint Louis