ERIE, Pa. – The McKendree University women's water polo team returns to action this weekend by playing three in two days here as part of the Curtis Robinette Memorial Invitational hosted by Mercyhurst University and held at the Hagerty Event Center – Hallman Aquatics Center.
The Bearcats will open with two games on Saturday, Feb. 19 as they face Penn State-Behrend at 11:30 a.m. ET and Mount St. Mary's at 3:15 p.m. ET, before concluding the event with a 9 a.m. ET game on Sunday, Feb. 20 against Villanova.
LAST TIME OUT RECAP
McKendree comes into the weekend fresh off a 20-9 win in its season opener last Saturday at home against Augustana (Ill.) College.
In the win over the Vikings, the Bearcats got multiple goals from four different players, including an eight goal and two assist performance from graduate student utility player
Jaleh Moaddeli (Newport Beach, Calif./GWU). In addition to Moaddeli's eight goals, junior center/utility player
Katelyn Rodrigue (Brentwood, Calif./Heritage) added four goals and an assist, while freshman center
Sofia Dominguez (Long Beach, Calif./Woodrow Wilson) had three goals and senior attacker
Carley Manuel (Lantana, Texas/Guyer) had two goals in the win.
The 20 goals were the most scored in a season opener by the Bearcats since tallying 23 goals in the 2020 opener against Wittenberg University. In addition, the 20 goals were the most scored by the Bearcats since scoring 28 points against Penn State-Behrend at the Washington & Jefferson Invitational on Feb. 22, 2020.
In the game, McKendree recorded 28 shots and had 16 steals in the win.
Freshman goalie
Sydney Kane (Bradley, Ill./Bradley-Bourbonnais) played all 32 minutes in goal and recorded eight saves, had three steals and allowed nine goals for a .471 save percentage.
SCOUTING PENN STATE-BEHREND
Penn State-Behrend begins its 2022 season this weekend at the Curtis Robinette Invitational as they open the season with a game on Friday against Mount St. Mary's.
Last season, the Lions posted a 3-5 record and return an All-American in Shannon Young, who scored a team-high 14 goals and added five assists a season ago en route to earning Honorable Mention ACWPC All-American honors and was also a CWPA Second-Team All-Conference selection.
SCOUTING MOUNT ST. MARY'S
Mount St. Mary's comes into the weekend having already played eight games on the season as the Mount has posted a 3-5 overall record, including going 0-4 at last weekend's Princeton Invitational.
Freshman Rebecca Valentine leads the way offensively for the Mount on the season with 22 goals, while sophomore Ana Luisa Cotta has recorded 15 goals on the year. Freshman Robyn Currie leads the way in steals with 12 and shares the assist lead with goalkeeper Samantha Bright as both have had nine on the year.
Bright has been the primary goalie this season for the Mount and she has recorded 71 saves and had a 54 percent stoppage rate on the year.
SCOUTING VILLANOVA
Villanova comes into the weekend sporting a 2-5 overall record on the season, including going 2-1 at last weekend's Princeton Invitational. At the Princeton Invitational, Villanova lost its first game, 15-7 to No. 22 Harvard, before picking up a 14-3 win over Mount St. Mary's and an 11-8 win over Saint Francis University.
UP NEXT
Following its three games in Erie, Pa., this weekend, the Bearcats will return to action next Saturday, Feb. 26 as they play two games at 2 and 5 p.m. in Kenosha, Wis., against Carthage College.
