LEBANON, Ill. – The McKendree men's water polo team returns to the state of Pennsylvania for the second consecutive weekend as they play four Mid Atlantic Water Polo Conference games at the Erie Conference Crossover Weekend event hosted by Mercyhurst University and held at the Hallman Aquatic Center in Erie, Pa.
 
McKendree (2-3) opens its weekend with games on Saturday, Sept. 24 against George Washington, Bucknell and Johns Hopkins at 9 a.m. ET, 2:20 p.m. ET and 7:40 p.m. ET respectively, before concluding the weekend with an 11:40 a.m. ET game on Sunday, Sept. 25 against Mount St. Mary's.
 
LAST TIME OUT RECAP
McKendree comes into the weekend sporting a 2-3 overall record after going 1-3 at last weekend's Bucknell Invitational. The Bearcats opened the two-day event hosted by Bucknell with an 11-10 loss to Mount St. Mary's, before falling 14-9 to Wagner to close the first day of action. On the second day of the event, Bucknell picked up an 8-7 win over the Bearcats, before McKendree scored a season high 21 goals in a 21-12 win over Mercyhurst.
 
For the four games last weekend, three Bearcats – fifth-year senior attacker Nico Rodriguez (Bogota, Colombia/Oviedo), fifth-year senior attacker Tony Sunagawa (Chino Hills, Calif./Chino Hills), and junior center Breno Tebet (Sao Paulo, Brazil/Golden West College) – each scored eight goals, while freshman center Cale Koester (New Lenox, Ill./Lincoln-Way Central) tallied four goals.
 
Defensively, junior goalkeeper Jimmy Cronin (Naperville, Ill./Metea Valley) recorded 50 saves and five steals in 3.5 games for the Bearcats. For his efforts, Cronin was named the MAWPC Defensive Player of the Week.
 
SCOUTING GEORGE WASHINGTON
George Washington comes into the weekend sporting a 6-1 overall record, but GWU hasn't played since picking up a 15-9 win on Sept. 11 against Iona at the Princeton Invitational. In fact, GWU has won six straight games since opening the season on Sept. 3 with an 18-10 loss at the Navy Open to then 11th-ranked Princeton.
 
Theodoros Pateros, who was named the MAWPC Player of the Week on Sept. 13, leads the way offensively for GWU with 30 goals and has added eight assists for 38 points. In addition to Pateros, Mateus Stellet, who was named the MAWPC Rookie of the Week on Sept. 13, has scored 13 goals and has had nine assists for 22 points and Michael Wheeler has added 10 goals and a team-leading seven steals.
 
Luca Castorina, who was named the MAWPC Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 13, has allowed 68 goals, but has recorded 74 saves, four steals and six assists and has a .521 save percentage.
 
The two teams have met just once in the pool as GWU picked up a 16-6 at the 2018 MAWPC Conference Tournament in the Bronx, N.Y.

SCOUTING BUCKNELL
Bucknell comes into the weekend sporting a 5-6 overall record after posting a 3-1 record at last weekend's Bucknell Invitational. At their own invitational, the Bison picked up wins over Johns Hopkins (15-7), McKendree (8-7) and Wagner (11-9) and suffered a 10-7 loss to No. 16 Fordham.
 
Aleska Stefanovic leads the offensively for the Bison with 28 goals, including three goals in all but two of Bucknell's contest this season. In addition to Stefanovic, Andu Vlasceanu and Hasan Mogultay has each scored in double figures on the season as Vlasceanu has scored 12 goals and Mogultay has had 10 goals.
 
On the season, Bucknell has scored over 100 goals on the season as they have outscored their opponents, 106-92 to date. They have scored 32 of their goals in the first quarter.
 
Adrien Touzot has played a majority of the season in goal for Bucknell as he has allowed 92 goals and has made over 20 saves on the year.
 
Bucknell and McKendree are meeting for the second straight weekend as the Bison picked up a 8-7 win over Bearcats at the Bucknell Invitational.
 
SCOUTING JOHNS HOPKINS
Johns Hopkins comes into the weekend sporting a 5-5 overall record after splitting their two games last weekend at the Bucknell Invitational. At the Bucknell Invitational, the Blue Jays fell 15-7 to Bucknell, before picking up a 14-7 win over Mercyhurst.
 
On the season, JHU is paced offensively by 26 goals and 17 steals from Emerson Sullivan. In addition to Sullivan, Jayden Kunwar has added 17 goals and five assists for 22 points and Ian Raley has had 12 kills and four assists for 16 points. Five Blue Jays have scored 10 or more goals on the year.
 
Kyle Pearson has played all but 16 minutes in goal for the Blue Jays as he has allowed 128 goals and made 104 saves and has picked up 17 steals and four assists.
 
Johns Hopkins won the only-ever meeting between the two schools as the Blue Jays picked up an 18-6 win in the MAWPC Conference Tournament that was held in Bronx, N.Y.
 
SCOUTING MOUNT ST. MARY'S
Mount St. Mary's enters the weekend having posted a 4-3 overall record, including a 2-2 mark at last weekend's Bucknell Invitational. At the event, the Mount earned wins over both McKendree (11-10) and Mercyhurst (17-13) and lost to Fordham (17-13) and Salem (20-9).
 
Leading the way offensively for Mount St. Mary's is sophomore Tommaso Baldineti, who has scored 32 goals on the year, including tallying 15 at last weekend's Bucknell Invitational. In addition to leading in goals scored, Baldineti also leads in assists with 16 and is tied for the team lead in steals with 10.  
Joseph Maxson earned 20 saves to lead the way in goal for the Mount. In the win against Mercyhurst, Frederick Brown made his debut and recorded three saves in the win over the Lakers.
 
The two teams have split the first two matchups in the series as the Bearcats picked up a 22-12 win in Morgantown, W.Va., on Feb. 14, 2021, while the Mount picked up an 11-10 win over the Bearcats at the Bucknell Invitational.
 
UP NEXT FOR McKENDREE
Following its four MAWPC games in Erie, Pa., this weekend, the Bearcats will remain on the road as they travel to the Los Angeles, Calif., area to compete in the Gary Troyer Invitational held at four different venues around the Los Angeles area. At the event, McKendree will open with a 10 a.m. PT game on Sept. 30 against Biola and then face Westcliff on Sept. 30 at 4:40 p.m. ET, before concluding the event on Oct. 1 against Cal Lutheran at 9 a.m. PT and Ottawa (Ariz.) University at 12 p.m. ET.