NEWBERG, Ore. – The McKendree University men's club water polo went 0-2 here Saturday on the second day of the 2022 Men's National Collegiate Club Championships hosted by Oregon State University at the Chehalem Aquatic and Fitness Center.
In Saturday's action, the Bearcats opened with a 17-11 loss in the quarterfinals against Division III No. 1 ranked WashU, before suffering a 10-8 loss in the consolation round against the University of Colorado to fall into a match-up on Sunday, Nov. 13 at 9 a.m. Pacific against Penn State for seventh place.
With the two losses, McKendree falls to 8-3 overall on the season.
WASHU 17, McKENDREE 11 (Quarterfinals)
Against WashU, the Bearcats were outscored 5-3, 5-3 and 6-1 on the opening three periods to trail 16-7 heading into the final period. In the final period, the Bearcats outscored the Bears, 4-1 to cap the scoring.
Graduate student
Uros Pelemis (Belgrade, Serbia/Fresno Pacific) paced the Bearcats offense with six goals, including two goals each in the second and fourth periods. In addiiton to Pelemis' six goals, junior center
CJ Brushwood (Gresham, Ore./Sam Barlow) and graduate student
Michael Rojas (Cali, Colombia/Salem University) each had two goals in the loss.
Zach Hausner scored four of WashU's five first period goals to give the Bears a 5-3 lead after one period. Brushwood, Pelemis and Rojas scored goals in the opening period for the Bearcats.
Pelemis scored two of McKendree's three goals in the second period, while WashU got two goals from Jake Engelberg and Antonio Mendez to hols a 10-6 lead at the half.
In the third period, WashU scored the first five goals to push its lead to 15-6, before Pelemis tallied his fourth goal of the game with 1:20 left in the period to snap WashU's run. The Bears would cap the period with a goal by Hausner to hold a 16-7 lead after three periods.
Brushwood, Pelemis and junior attacker
Vlad Puskovitch (West Chester, Pa./The Episcopal Academy) scored the first three goals of the fourth period to take a 16-10 lead, before Majeed Lalani capped the scoring for the Bears to take a 17-10 lead with 3:17 left. Pelemis would cap the scoring with his sixth goal of the game with 37 seconds left.
Hausner scored eight goals for WashU, while Engelberg had four goals and Mendez finished with three goals in the win.
Rojas and senior attacker
Ethan Hansen (St. Louis, Mo./Pattonville) each had two assists for the Bearcats.
Defensively, Rojas led the way with two steals, while Puskovitch, Pelemis and sophomore attacker
Luke Schmidt (St. Louis, Mo./Oakville) had one steal each.
Sophomore goalie
Benton Fonner (St. Louis, Mo./Lindbergh) allowed 17 goals, but made 11 saves and had an assist.
Asher Schwartz had six saves and allowed 11 goals for WashU.
|
1st Q |
2nd Q |
3rd Q |
4th Q |
Final |
| No. 12 McKendree |
3 |
3 |
1 |
4 |
11 |
|
Division III
No. 1 WashU |
5 |
5 |
6 |
1 |
17 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Washington (Mo.) Goals: |
Zach Hausner (8); Jake Engelberg (4); Antonio Mendez (3); Matt Deutschmann; Majeed Lalani |
| McKendree Goals: |
Uros Pelemis (6); Michael Rojas (2); CJ Brushwood (2); Vlad Puskovitch |
| Saves: |
Washington (Mo.) – Asher Schwartz (6) ; McKendree – Benton Fonner (8) |
| Exclusions: |
Washington (Mo.) – 13 ; McKendree – 5 |
| Advantage Opportunities: |
Washington (Mo.) – 4-for-5 ; McKendree – 6-for-13 |
| Sprints: |
Washington (Mo.) – 4-for-4 ; McKendree – 0-for-4 |
| Cards/Misconducts: |
None |
| Officials: |
Mark Seidemann, Robert North |
COLORADO 10, McKENDREE 8 (Consolation Round)
In Saturday's second game against the Rocky Mountain Division Champion the University of Colorado, the Bearcats trailed 4-2 at the half, but both teams scored six goals in the second half to help Colorado hold off the Bearcats and earn the win to advance to Sunday's fifth-place game against the University of California.
With the loss, McKendree falls into a 9 a.m. Pacific game against Penn State to determine who finishes in seventh place. Last season, McKendree finished in sixth place overall.
Pelemis got the scoring started with a goal just 74 seconds into the game, but UC tied the game on a goal by Benjamin Budic with 2:04 left in the opening period.
UC would score three goals in the second period, while McKendree's lone goal in the period came from Pelemis, who scored four of McKendree's eight goals in the game.
The Buffs would score the first two goals of the third period to push its lead to 6-2, before two goals by Brushwood brought the Bearcats within 6-4 after three period.
Another Pelemis goal in opening 21 seconds of the fourth period to pull McKendree within a goal at 6-5. UC, though, would record four consecutive goals to take 10-5 lead. The Bearcats would cap the scoring with goals by Brushwood, Pelemis and Rojas in the final period.
In addition to Pelemis's four goals, Brushwood added three goals and Rojas had the other goal for the Bearcats.
Budic had four goals for UC, while Reid Schioldager added two goals in the win for the Buffs.
Fonner played all 28 minutes in goal for the Bearcats as he finished with eight saves, while UC split duties in goal with Devin Riess and Tyler Armstrong. Reiss made five saves and Armstrong had two saves.
|
1st Q |
2nd Q |
3rd Q |
4th Q |
FINAL |
| No. 15 University of Colorado |
1 |
3 |
2 |
4 |
10 |
|
| No. 12 McKendree University |
1 |
1 |
2 |
4 |
8 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| McKendree Goals: |
Uros Pelemis (4); CJ Brushwood (3); Michael Rojas |
| Colorado Goals: |
Benjamin Budic (4); Reid Schioldager (2); Sebastian Vargas; Adam Watson; Max House; Jaden Van Der Woude |
| Saves: |
McKendree – Benton Fonner (8); Colorado – Devin Riess (5), Tyler Armstrong (2) |
| Exclusions: |
McKendree – 8 ; Colorado – 10 |
| Advantage Opportunities: |
McKendree – 2-for-10 ; Colorado – 2-for-8 |
| Sprints: |
McKendree – 2-for-4 (1st, 4th) ; Colorado – 2-for-4 (2nd, 3rd) |
| Cards/Misconducts: |
RC – McKendree (Michael Rojas, postgame) |
| Officials: |
Gene Gill, Mark Seidemann |
