CARTHAGE, Wis. – McKendree University returned to action here Saturday by winning two games against Carthage College at the Koenitzer Aquatic Center on the Carthage College campus.

The Bearcats opened the day with a 24-5 win over the Firebirds and then took the second game, 25-7, to improve to 5-1 on the season. Carthage falls to 0-6 with the two losses.

For the day, the Bearcats took a total of 54 shots and scored 49 goals on those 54 shots, including senior center Abigail Burton (Chino, Calif./Chino) recording a total of eight goals, while junior attacker Courtney Smith (Stockton, Calif./Lincoln) had seven goals and graduate student utility player Jaleh Moaddeli (Newport Beach, Calif./GWU) and senior attacker Carley Manuel (Lantana, Texas/Guyer) each had six goals.

Overall, a total of 16 different Bearcats scored goals in the two games against the Firebirds.

GAME 1 – McKENDREE 24, CARTHAGE 5
Moaddeli and senior center defender Danielle Borelli (Laguna Beach, Calif./Laguna Beach) each score two goals each in the opening six-plus minutes of the first period to jump in front 4-0, before Sydney Logan added a goal for Carthage with 49 seconds left in the period to give McKendree a 4-1 lead after one period.

The Bearcats scored eight goals in the second period to hold a 12-1 lead at the half. In the period, Smith scored three consecutive goals to open the period, while freshman attacker Hailey Price (Gilbert, Ariz./Highland) scored two goals late in the period.

McKendree would add six more goals in the third period to lead 18-3 after three periods. In the period, the Bearcat goals came from Manuel, Borelli, Price, Smith (2) and Burton.

Freshman center Sofia Dominguez (Long Beach, Calif./Woodrow Wilson) and Moaddeli each scored two goals in the fourth period as the Bearcats outscored the Firebirds, 6-2 in the period to cap the scoring.

Smith and Moaddeli combined for nine goals, while Borelli and Price added three goals. Kasper, Burton and Dominguez each had two goals.

Sophomore Rio Tomlinson (Okemos, Mich./Okemos) and sophomore Kaitlyn Kasper (Thomasville, Ga./Thomasville) each played 16 minutes in goal for the Bearcats as Tomlinson allowed three goals and made five saves, while Kasper made three saves and allowed four goals.

Five different Firebirds scored in the game.

Evelyn Kajohn and Gabrielle Pavesich each played 16 minutes apiece in goal as Kajohn allowed 12 goals and made four saves, while Pavesich allowed 12 goals and made two saves.

GAME 2 – McKENDREE 25, CARTHAGE COLLEGE 7
Meanwhile, in the second game, the Bearcats outshot the Firebirds 24-12 and scored 25 goals, including six from Burton, five from Manuel and three from Rodrigue. Scanlon, Dominguez, Smith and Moaddeli each added two goals in the win.

McKendree scored seven goals in the first period, including a flurry of five consecutive goals to close the period to take a 7-1 lead after the opening period.

The lead grew to 14-3 at the half as McKendree tallied another seven goals in the second  period to lead 14-4 at the half. In the period, Smith scored two of her team's seven goals in the period.

Carthage and the Bearcats would combine for seven goals in the third period to push its lead to 18-7.

McKendree would complete the scoring in the third period by tallying seven goals, including three consecutive goals from both Manuel and Burton, while Dominguez and Rodrigue added goals in the period.

Burton led the way with six goals on six shots, while Manuel had five goals and junior center/utility player Katelyn Rodrigue (Brentwood, Calif./Heritage) tallied three goals. Moaddeli, Smith, Dominguez and junior utility player Shoshana Scanlon (Orlando, Fla./Olympia) each had two goals in the win.

Much like the first game, Tomlinson and Kasper each shared time in goal as they played 16 minutes each as Tomlinson allowed three goals and made five saves, while Kasper allowed four goals and made three saves.

Logan paced Carthage with four goals. Kajohn and Pavesich each played 16 minutes in goal as Kajohn allowed 14 goals and made three saves, while Pavesich had three saves and allowed 11 goals.

McKendree returns to action next weekend as they play five games in a span of three days in California. The Bearcats open its California trip with a 9 a.m. CT game on Thursday, March 3 at Occidental College, before beginning play in the Claremont Convergence Tournament on Friday, March 4 with games at 12 p.m. CT against Biola and at 6:15 p.m. CT against Cal State-Northridge, before facing Occidental and Caltech on Saturday, March 5 at 12:20 p.m. CT and 4:20 p.m. CT respectively.