ERIE, Pa. – The McKendree University women's water polo closed out the 2022 regular season here Sunday by posting a hard-fought 14-11 win over Gannon University in the final match of the WWPA Conference Weekend at the Hallman Aquatics Center.
 
With the win, McKendree improves to 15-5 on the season, while Gannon falls to 9-12. Both teams will now turn their attention to the WWPA Championships, which are scheduled for April 22-24 in Fresno, Calif.
 
In Sunday's match, McKendree jumped out to a 7-1 lead with 5:17 left in second quarter and then survived a comeback by the Knights as they closed within two goals twice in the fourth period, but the Bearcats scored three straight goals after Gannon got within 11-9 to help lead them to the win and finish 2-1 on the weekend.
 
Senior center Abigail Burton (Chino, Calif./Chino) paced the Bearcats with four goals and an assist, while graduate student utility player Jaleh Moaddeli (Newport Beach, Calif./GWU) added three goals, two assists and four steals. Junior attacker Courtney Smith (Stockton, Calif./Sonoma State) and senior attacker Carley Manuel (Lantana, Texas/Guyer) each had two goals and combined for three steals in the win.
 
The Bearcats jumped in front 5-0 in Sunday's match as five different Bearcats scored a goal during the opening flurry that spanned the almost the entirety of the opening quarter. Following those five goals by the Bearcats, Gannon got on the board with one second left in the period on a goal by Julia Kreidinger.
 
McKendree's lead grew to 7-1 thanks to back-to-back goals by Manuel and Burton to open the second period, but Gannon became their comeback as they scored three straight goals to pull within 7-4 with 2:48 left in the period. Smith, though, would give the Bearcats an 8-4 lead at the half.
 
Gannon would outscore the Bearcats, 3-2, in the third period to pull within 10-7 heading into the final period.
 
In the fourth period, Jade Strickland scored just 33 seconds into the period to pull the Knights with 10-8, but Burton would tally a goal for the Bearcats just 17 seconds later to give the visiting team an 11-8 lead.
 
Strickland would once again score for the Knights to drop McKendree's lead to 11-9 with 6:45 left in the match. Following Strickland's goal, Burton (twice) and senior attacker Maddy Bolton (Alta Loma, Calif./Los Osos) would score three successive goals for the Bearcats to give the Bearcats some cushion at 14-9.
 
Kreidlinger and Nicole Wiemken would score two goals in the final minute for Gannon to cap the scoring.  
 
Strickland and Kreidlinger each had four goals for Gannon in the loss.
 
The Bearcats held a 38-23 edge in shots and were 2-for-6 on power play chances, while Gannon was 3-for-9 on power plays.
 
Freshman Sydney Kane (Bradley, Ill./Bradley-Bourbonnais) played all 32 minutes in goal for the Bearcats and recorded eight saves and a steal to pick up the win.
 
Molly Sebunia took the loss in net for the Knights as she played all 32 minutes and allowed 14 goals and had six saves.
 
McKendree Goals: Burton 4, Moaddeli 3, Manuel 2, Smith 2, Bolton 1, Borelli 1, and Reich 1.
McKendree Assists: Rodrigue 3, Moaddeli 2, Scanlon 2, Burton 1, Hall 1.
McKendree Saves: Kane 8