O'FALLON, Ill. – McKendree University men's water polo concluded the first day of two-day home conference weekend schedule here Saturday by picking up wins over both Gannon University and Mercyhurst University at the McKendree Rec Plex Pool.

With the two wins, McKendree improves to 5-16 overall and 2-7 in the Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference and will conclude the weekend with a 10:30 a.m. game on Sunday, Nov. 6 against Salem (W.Va.) University, who also went 2-0 in Saturday's action.

The Bearcats opened the day with a 14-10 win over Gannon (Pa.) University, before earning a 19-11 win over Mercyhurst (Pa.) University.

In its win over Gannon, four Bearcats scored multiple goals in the win as freshman center/utility player Cale Koester (New Lenox, Ill./Lincoln-Way Central) led the way with three goals, while graduate student attacker Josh Carlson (New Lenox, Ill./Lincoln-Way West), fifth-year senior attacker Tony Sunagawa (Chino Hills, Calif./Chino Hills) and junior center/utility player Breno Tebet (Sao Paulo, Brazil/Golden West College) each scored two goals. Overall, in the game, nine different Bearcats scored at least one goal.

Fifth-year senior Nico Rodriguez (Bogota, Colombia/Oviedo) had nine assists, while Carlson added two assists for the Bearcats.

Defensively, junior center defender Adam Serrano (Riverside, Calif./Poly) had four of McKendree's 11 steals.

Junior goalkeeper Jimmy Cronin (Naperville, Ill./Metea Valley) recorded seven saves in the win over the Golden Knights.

Gannon (6-14, 1-7 MAWPC) was paced offensively by two goals each from Drago Marjanovic and Vlad Mickic.

Alvaro Marco and Jacob Hollo each split time in goal for Gannon.

After the two teams were tied at 2-all after the first period, the Bearcats scored five of the eight goals in the second period to take an 8-5 halftime lead. Koester scored three of McKendree's five second period goals.

In the third period, McK outscored Gannon, 6-3, to take a 14-8 lead heading into the final period. All the goals were scored by six different players.

GU would win the fourth period, 2-1 to set the final margin. The Bearcats' lone goal in the period came from senior center defender Connor Pulido (Chicago Ridge, Il./Richards).

Meanwhile, against Mercyhurst (2-19, 0-9 MAWPC), the Bearcats were led by five goals from Koester. In addition to Koester's five goals, sophomore attacker Jespyn Bishop (Brighton, Colo./Brighton) added three goals, while Carlson and Tebet each scored two goals in earning its third win this season over the Lakers.

Four Bearcats had two assists each in the game as the Bearcats with two assists were freshman center/utility player Dylan Veccio (Miami, Fla./Belen Jesuit Prep), sophomore attacker/utility player Schuyler Cramer (Thornton, Colo./Horizon), sophomore center defender Alex Napawan (Chesterfield, Mo./Parkway Central) and freshman Kris Eylofson (Winnipeg, Manitoba/Sanford Collegiate).

Defensively, Carlson, Cramer and Serrano each had two steals as the Bearcats finished with eight steals in the game.

Cronin recorded 12 saves in goal and added three assists in the win.

Mercyhurst was paced by three goals from Owen Hardner, while Teagan Thomas, Brennan Cumby and Benjamin Villareal each had two goals for the Lakers.

McKendree led 6-2 after the first period Carlson and Bishop each scored two goals for the Bearcats. The Bearcats would hold a 11-2 lead at the half after scoring five times in the second period.

The Bearcats added five more goals in the third period, including four goals from Koester in the period to take a 17-5 lead heading to the fourth period. Mercyhurst would attempt to rally in the fourth period as they scored six times, but McK would add two more goals to cap the scoring as McK used goals in the final period Eylofson and freshman attacker/utility player James Ramey (St. Louis, Mo./Ladue Horton Watkins).

Here are the day one results from the McKendree Men's Water Polo Conference Weekend Games