FRESNO, Calif. – McKendree University women's water polo concluded its 2022 season here Sunday afternoon as the Bearcats were outscored 9-2 in the second half of its 14-7 setback to Biola University in the third-place match of the Western Water Polo Championship Tournament at the Fresno State Aquatics Center.
 
The Bearcats and the Eagles were tied at 5-5 at the half, but Biola would outscore the Bearcats 4-2 in the third period and then score five unanswered goals in the fourth period to post the win and take home the third-place trophy. The Bearcats finished fourth in the tournament.
 
With the loss, McKendree concludes the season with a 16-7 record, while Biola finishes the season with a 13-16 record.
 
The 16 wins this season for McKendree are a program record and bettered the old school record for wins of 11 set in 2019. The Bearcats also posted its first winning record in women's water polo in the program's six-year history.
 
In Sunday's game, the Bearcats were outshot 36-24, but held a 17-13 edge in exclusions. Biola, though, won the power play battle as Biola was 6-for-16 (37.5 percent) on the power play, while McKendree was 1-for-12 (8 percent) on power plays.
 
Leading the way offensively for McKendree in Sunday's game was graduate student utility player Jaleh Moaddeli (Newport Beach, Calif./GWU) as she tallied two goals and an assist for three points and added four steals. Five other Bearcats scored one goal in the loss.
 
Senior center Abigail Burton (Chino, Calif./Chino) scored one goal and finished the season scoring at least one goal in every game as she led the team in both goals and points on the year with 52 goals and 56 points.
 
Senior center defender Danielle Borelli (Laguna Beach, Calif./Laguna Beach) got the scoring started as she found the goal just 1:23 into the game. Biola's Rachel Spadt tied the game on her goal with 5:29 left in the opening period.
 
The Bearcats would then score three of the final five goals of the first period to take a 4-3 lead after the opening eight minutes.
 
Moaddeli opened the scoring in the second period on a goal nearly four minutes into the period to give the Bearcats a 5-3 lead. Biola, though, used goals by Maria Roldan Gonzalez and Hanna Jordan to force a 5-all tie at the half.
 
In the third period, Spadt gave the Eagles a 6-5 lead on her goal just 55 seconds into the period, but Burton would come right back and retie the game for the Bearcats on her goal nearly 90 seconds into the period.
 
From that point, Biola's offense kicked into high gear as they scored three of the final four goals of the third period to hold a 9-7 lead heading into the final period. McKendree's final goal of the game came at the 3:32 mark of the third period from junior utility player Shoshana Scanlon (Orlando, Fla./Olympia).
 
Biola added five more goals in the fourth period to cap the scoring.
 
Jordan led the way for Biola with four goals, while Velalie Naranjo added three goals. Gonzalez and Spadt each scored twice for the Eagles.
 
Freshman Sydney Kane (Bradley, Ill./Bradley-Bourbonnais) played all 32 minutes between the pipes for the Bearcats as she recorded 10 saves, made one steal and scored 14 goals.
 
Samantha Rainey played all 32 minutes in goal for the Eagles as she made six saves and allowed seven goals.