O'FALLON, Ill. – The McKendree University men's club water polo team will make a return trip to the Men's National Collegiate Club Championships following a 20-10 win over Missouri S&T here Sunday morning at the McKendree Rec Plex Pool in the final game of the Missouri Valley Division Club Championships.
 
McKendree went 3-0 on the weekend to repeat as the Missouri Valley Division champions and earn its repeat trio to the National Championships, which are scheduled for Nov. 11-13 at the Chehalem Aquatic and Fitness Center in Newberg, Ore., and will be hosted by Oregon State University.
 
With this weekend's three wins, the Bearcats improve 7-1 on the season.
 
In Sunday's final game against the University of Missouri, the teams got off to a strong start as a combined 14 goals were scored in the opening period as McKendree led, 10-4, after the first seven minutes.
 
Junior center CJ Brushwood (Gresham, Ore./Sam Barlow) scored four of those 10 goals, while graduate student utility player Michael Rojas (Cali, Colombia/Salem University) and sophomore attacker Ethan Gray (St. Louis, Mo./Pattonville) each had two goals in the opening period.
 
Both teams scored twice in the second period as McKendree held a 12-6 lead at the half and then each team scored two more goals in the third period to lead 14-8 after three periods.
 
Graduate student utility player Uros Pelemis (Belgrade, Serbia/Fresno Pacific) scored four of his game-high seven goals in the fourth period as the Bearcats outscored the Tigers, 6-2, to seal its victory.
 
In addition to Pelemis' seven goals, Brushwood finished with six goals, while Rojas, Gray and senior attacker Ethan Hansen (St. Louis, Mo./Oakville) each had two goals. The other Bearcat goal was scored by sophomore attacker Luke Schmidt (St. Louis, Mo./Oakville).
 
Rojas added seven assists, while Gray, Hansen and junior attacker Vlad Puskovitch (West Chester, Pa./The Episcopal Academy) each had two assists in the win.
 
The Bearcats finished the game with six steals as Pelemis had two of those six steals.
 
Sophomore goalie Benton Fonner (St. Louis, Mo./Lindbergh) was solid again in the net as he recorded six saves, while allowing just 10 goals.
 
Meanwhile, in Saturday's two games, the Bearcats won one game by forfeit (5-0) and collected a 23-1 win over Missouri S&T in the opening game of the championships.
 
Against S&T, the McKendree scored 10 goals in the first period and led 12-0 at the half, before scoring seven goals in the third period to lead 19-1. In the fourth period, McK scored four goals to seal the 22-goal win over the Miners.
 
Brushwood had a monster offensive game against the Miners as he scored 11 goals, added two assists and three steals in the victory. In addition to Brushwood, Rojas and Schmidt each scored four goals, while Pelemis tallied three goals and Hansen added a goal to cap the scoring.
 
Rojas finished with 11 assists, while Pelemis, Fonner, Gray and Schmidt each had two assists in the win.
 
Defensively, the Bearcats collected 14 steals in the win as Pelemis had five of those 14 steals and Rojas added four steals and Fonner had two steals.
 
Fonner recorded 16 saves and allowed just one goal in 28 minutes of action. He also had two assists and one steal.
 
The Bearcats will begin play in the 2022 CWPA National Collegiate Club Championships on Friday, Nov. 11 at 1:40 p.m. against the New York Division champion. The Bearcats are seeded sixth in this year's championships. The championships run through Nov. 13 with the first place match scheduled for 12:45 p.m. that day.
 
Here are the complete results from this week's Missouri Valley Division Championships.

Saturday, Oct. 29
McKendree 23, Missouri S&T 1
Saint Louis 12, Missouri 11 (OT)
McKendree 5, Saint Louis 0 (Forfeit)
Missouri 12, Missouri S&T 7     
Sunday, Oct. 30
Missouri S&T 17, Saint Louis 8