LEBANON, Ill. - The men's water polo team jumps right back into action this Saturday, October 19th in the home state of Illinois, yet they will stay on the road as they take on Augustana College. This only match of the weekend for McKendree will be at the Anne Greve Lund Natatorium in Rock Island, Illinois, and is set to start at 2:00 PM Central Time.
The matchup against the Vikings will be the sixth meeting all-time between the two teams from the Land of Lincoln. In what would be considered a "perceptible" rivalry, the history is somewhat leveled as McKendree currently leads the series 3-2 dating back to the first meeting in the 2021 season. However, Augustana has won the last two as both are the only collegiate men's water polo varsity programs in the state.
BEARCATS CURRENTLY
The Bearcats are coming off a bye week after playing five games in a three-day span in California. They started out by facing NAIA-member Westcliff University in an early morning matchup but could not keep up the pace in the second half and eventually fell 19-12. McKendree spent the next two days competing in the highly esteemed Gary Troyer Tournament, beginning with 16th-ranked Loyola Marymount University and Concordia University Irvine on day one, followed by Fresno Pacific University (Calif.) and California Lutheran University on the second day. The Bearcats lost all four contests in the tournament and left the West Coast empty-handed.
Up to this point on the season, both sophomore Yannick Robertson (Trinidad and Tobago) and freshman Joshua Gibson (Nassau, Bahamas) lead the team in total goals with 24 each with Robertson dishing out six assists as well. Junior James Ramey (St. Louis, Mo.) is not too far behind, as he himself has contributed 22 goals on the year and is tied for first on the team in steals with senior Jespyn Bishop (Brighton, Colo.) with both having 12. Fifth-year Jimmy Cronin (Naperville, Ill.) has been the only one in the cage for the 11 official matchups for the Bearcats, saving the ball 111 times and allowing 198 goals (35.9 save percentage).
McKendree is embarking on the match at 0-11 with yet to play an official WWPA contest. The Bearcats also have an exhibition win over Saddleback College back in late September.
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
Augustana College | Saturday, October 19th, 2:00 PM CDT
Last Matchup: L, 5-11 on 9/14/2024 | RECAP | BOX SCORE
Augustana is coming home off a very successful trip last weekend in Washington, Pennsylvania where they won all four of their matchups against fellow members of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF), including 53 goals combined last Sunday against Penn State Behrend and Wheaton College (Mass.). The Vikings surfaced to #10 in the CWPA Division III Top 10 on Wednesday, October 16th as they were placed to finish first in the MPSF East. They are currently 8-5 overall on the season and are 4-0 in MPSF action with the aforementioned wins.
Junior Stevan Rasic (Park Ridge, Ill.) is a slight second in the conference in total goals with an abundance of 44. Rasic's running mate, senior Colin McDowell (Hudsonville, Mich.), is inserted sixth in the MPSF in exclusions drawn with 22. The person guarding the net is none other than junior Declan Hutton (Bedfordview, South Africa), who leads the entire federation with 129 saves along with a top-three rank save percentage (60.0%). He also is fourth in the MPSF in total steals with 27 while his friend on the defensive end, junior Oskar Bannister (Bainbridge Island, Wash.) lends a hand with seven field blocks thus far.
TUNE IN-FO
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TEAM ROSTERS: [McKendree] [Augustana]
TEAM SCHEDULES: [McKendree] [Augustana]
TEAM STATISTICS: [McKendree] [Augustana]
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