LEWISBURG, Pa. – The McKendree University men's water polo team opened play here Saturday with two losses on the first day of the Bucknell Invitational held at the Kinney Natatorium.
McKendree opened the day with an 11-10 loss to Mount St. Mary's, before falling 14-9 to Wagner College.
With the two setbacks, McKendree fall to 1-2 on the season and will conclude the event on Sunday, Sept. 18 as they face Bucknell University at 8 a.m. ET and then faces Mercyhurst (Pa.) University at 12 p.m. ET.
MOUNT ST. MARY'S 11, McKENDREE 10
In its opening game of the Bucknell Invitational, McKendree got three goals each from junior center
Breno Tebet (Sao Paulo, Brazil/Golden West College), fifth-year senior attacker
Nico Rodriguez (Bogota, Colombia/Ovideo) and fifth-year senior attacker
Tony Sunagawa (Chino Hills, Calif./Chino Hills) in suffering its hard-fought 11-10 loss to Mount St. Mary's.
McKendree led 9-8 heading into the final period, before the Mount outscored the Bearcats, 3-1 in the fourth period to post the come-from-behind win.
The Bearcats jumped in front 2-0 in the opening two minutes with goals by Rodriguez and Sunagawa, before the Mount rallied to score four of the final six goals of the opening period to take a 5-4 lead.
In the second period, the Bearcats used back-to-back goals from Tebet in the final two minutes of the period to take a 6-5 lead at the half.
Sunagawa gave the Bearcats a 7-5 lead on his second goal of the game just 65 seconds into the third period, before the Mount rallied to score three goals in the period to cut McKendree's lead to 9-8 after the first three periods.
In the fourth period, Sunagawa gave the Bearcats a 10-8 lead just 27 seconds into the period, but the Mount would score the final three goals of the game to seal the win. Mount's final two goals were scored by Tommaso Baldineti, who finished with four goals in the win for the Mount.
The win was the first ever for MSM against McKendree as the two teams are now 1-1 all-time against each other.
WAGNER 14, McKENDREE 9
In the second game of the day against Wagner, the Bearcats got nine goals from seven different players, including two goals each from Tebet and Rodriguez in suffering a setback to the Seahawks.
Wagner jumped in front 5-2 after the first period with the goals by the Bearcats coming from Rodriguez and freshman attacker
Justice Lamboy (Santee, Calif./West Hills).
The Bearcats, though, rallied to score three times in the second period to cut Wagner's halftime lead to 6-5, including Rodriguez and sophomore attacker
Jespyn Bishop (Brighton, Colo./Brighton) scoring the final two goals of the period.
Wagner, though, would score three of the four goals in the third period to take a 9-6 lead heading into the final period. The Bearcats lone goal in the period came from freshman center
Cale Koester (New Lenox, Ill./Lincoln-Way Central).
The fourth period was a high scoring affair as the two teams combined for eight goals, including five from Wagner. In the period, Sunagawa opened the scoring to cut Wagner's lead to 9-7, but the Seahawks reeled off four straight goals to take a 13-7 lead. A goal by Tebet stopped Wagner's run, but the Seahawks would add two more goals to take a 14-8 lead with 1:14 left. The Bearcats would cap the scoring with 19 seconds left on a goal by Lamboy.
