ERIE, Pa. – The McKendree University men's water polo team will return to action this weekend as they participate in the 2022 CWPA Division II Championships being held at Cathedral Prep's Hallman Aquatics Center and hosted by Gannon (Pa.) University. The CWPA Division II Championships is being run in conjunction with the Division III Championship which Penn State Behrend is hosting.
At the two-day event, which will determine the East Coast Division II Champion, the Bearcats will begin play on Saturday, Oct. 22 with a 11:40 a.m. ET game against Salem University, before facing host Gannon at 7:40 p.m. ET on Oct. 22 and then concluding the championships with an 8 a.m. ET game on Sunday, Oct. 23 against Mercyhurst.
McKendree comes into this year's CWPA Division II Championships sporting a 2-14 overall record and an 0-7 in the MAWPC after going 0-3 at the Morgantown Conference Crossover on Oct. 8-9.
The Bearcats have lost 11 straight since picking up a 21-12 win over Mercyhurst at the Bucknell Invitational on Sept. 18.
Leading the way offensively for the Bearcats is fifth-year senior attacker
Nico Rodriguez (Bogota, Colombia/Oviedo) as he has scored 27 goals and has added 34 assists this season. In addition to Rodriguez, freshman
Cale Koester (New Lenox, Ill./Lincoln-Way Central) has added 23 goals and junior center/utility player
Breno Tebet (Sao Paulo, Brazil/Golden West College) has had 21 goals.
Graduate student
Josh Carlson (New Lenox, Ill./Lincoln-Way West) has had 16 goals and 13 assists on the year, while sophomore center/utility player
Schuyler Cramer (Thornton, Colo./Horizon) has had 13 assists and has added seven goals.
Defensively, sophomore attacker
Jespyn Bishop (Brighton, Colo./Brighton) leads the way with 17 steals, while junior goalkeeper
Jimmy Cronin (Naperville, Ill./Metea Valley) has added 15 assists and has made 154 saves on the season.
ABOUT THE OPPONENTS
Salem, who are the reigning CWPA Division II Championships runner-up, comes into the weekend sporting a 9-11 overall record and a 3-4 mark in the MAWPC. Salem is a high scoring team as they have scored 299 goals on the season with Nikola Krstonosic leading the way with 79 goals and 54 assists, while Marko Zivojinovic has scored 52 goals and has added 37 assists. Julen Alonso leads Salem's goalies with 113 saves, while Duarte Costa has had 75 saves.
Gannon, who has won four straight CWPA Division II Championships, including capturing last year's title with a 14-9 win over Salem in the championship game, enters the weekend sporting a 4-12 overall record and a 1-6 mark in the MAWPC. Alex Kotskar leads his team in goals with 60 on the season and is followed by Drago Marjanovic with 26 goals. Gannon has two goalies that split time this season as Alvaro Marco has an 18.01 goals allowed average, while Jacob Hollo has a 16.00 goals allowed average. Marco has played 302 minutes and Hollo has played 216 minutes in goal.
Mercyhurst comes into the weekend sporting a 2-14 overall record on the season and the Lakers have lost three straight games since picking up 16-11 win at home against Penn State Behrend. Danilo Vujovic leads the way offensively for Mercyhurst with 34 goals, while Reed Bearden has added 14 goals. Teagan Thomas leads in assists with 13 and has added 12 goals. Tony Golin has recorded 165 saves in goal for the Lakers.
UP NEXT FOR McKENDREE
McKendree will return home to the McKendree Metro Rec Plex pool in O'Fallon, Ill., for host the final CWPA Weekend of the 2022 season. At the CWPA Conference Weekend, the Bearcats will host Gannon and Mercyhurst on Saturday, Nov. 5 at 2:30 and 7 p.m., before facing Salem on Sunday, Nov. 6 at 10:30 a.m.
