LEBANON, Ill. - The men's water polo team is in for a hefty weekend when they travel east to participate in the annual WWPA Erie Classic hosted from Friday, October 25th to Sunday, October 27th, with all matches being played at the Hallman Aquatics Center in Erie, Pennsylvania.
This will be the second installment of the classic, as it was formed for Gannon University to host the Eastern division of the Western Water Polo Association (WWPA) and as well as to bring in a couple of non-conference opponents to the table. The Bearcats fared well in the 2023 Erie Classic by notching two wins over Gannon and now NCAA Division I member Mercyhurst University after dropping the first contest to Salem University. This year, each team will face four opponents within the three-day span.
BEARCATS CURRENTLY
McKendree is coming off a comeback loss to in-state opponent Augustana College, who was ranked #10 in the Collegiate Water Polo Association Men's Varsity Division III Top 10. The two teams fought back and forth to regain the lead that the Bearcats had with two minutes remaining until the Vikings punched in two goals to seal the victory. Sophomore Yannick Robertson (Trinidad and Tobago) finished the game with five goals, three steals, and a drawn exclusion. Fellow sophomore Isaac Demski (Eastvale, Calif.) contributed with a goal, four assists, four steals, and two drawn exclusions.
The Bearcats have been more of a defensive presence as of late, as junior Riccardo Vettore (Padova, Italy) and freshman Joshua Gibson (Nassau, Bahamas) are both tied for fifth in the WWPA in field total field blocks with eight each. Junior James Ramey (St. Louis, Mo.) is tied for third in the conference in sprint wins with 16. Robertson is continuing his stellar season with 29 goals up to this point with Ramey and Gibson not too far behind with 25 and 23 each. Demski has been a Swiss Army Knife this year, doing everything he possibly can in the pool, totaling 12 goals, 12 assists, eight steals, and 16 drawn exclusions. Fifth-year Jimmy Cronin has been inside the cage all season, ranking fourth in the WWPA in total saves with 125. He has a 37.7 save percentage on the year.
McKendree is heading into the classic 0-12, but they did pick up an exhibition win over Saddleback College back in late September.
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
Gannon University | Friday, October 25th, 6:30 PM EDT
Last Matchup: L, 12-15 on 11/4/2023 | 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.
Salem University | Saturday, October 26th, 10:00 AM EDT
Last Matchup: L, 12-16 on 11/19/2023 | RECAP | BOX SCORE
The Salem University Tigers are having a successful season, currently 12-3 overall, winning their last five straight and going 11-1 in the past 12. They recently came out of the Harvard Invitational, sweeping all four opponents played including a narrow one-point win over Bucknell University in their last game. The Tigers also went 4-0 in their own tournament, the Salem Invitational back in mid-September.
Salem has a duo force inside with junior Marko Zivojinovic (Belgrade, Serbia) and senior Nikola Krstonosic (Becej, Serbia), who both are top two in the conference in total goals with 67 (4.5 gpg) and 64 (4.9 gpg) respectively. They are also both in the top three in the WWPA in assists with Zivojinovic placed third and Krstonosic marked first. The net is vastly shared amongst the Tigers, but senior Duarte Costa (Lisbon, Portugal) has spent the most time within five games, collecting 66 saves and giving him a 41.2 save percentage. He also has an abundant 10 assists and 11 steals.
Penn State Behrend | Saturday, October 26th, 2:00 PM EDT
Last Matchup: W, 19-4 on 9/23/2023 | RECAP | BOX SCORE
Penn State Behrend will be looking for some consistent winning on their end of things as they are coming off a 13-10 win against Washington & Jefferson College on October 13th. The Lions, who hail from the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) started the year 2-0 after going 3-0 against high-level club teams in the preseason. They went 2-2 in the conference event in mid-October with wins over the Presidents as well as Wheaton College (Mass.) with setbacks to Austin College and Augustana College.
Penn State Behrend's freshman Atticus Bowman (Albuquerque, N.M.) leads the entire federation in total assists by a large margin with 46 as he is also sixth in total points (goals + assists) with 51. Freshman Nick Thompson (Hudsonville, Mich.) plays tough, garnering 19 total drawn exclusions thus far into the season, ranking ninth in the MPSF. The Lions have two solid goalkeepers in junior Ethan Friedman (Valley Center, Calif.) who is fifth in the conference in total saves with 94, and freshman Andy Zhuri (Houston, Texas) who is seventh in save percentage, coming at (50%).
Mercyhurst University | Sunday, October 27th, 12:00 PM EDT
Last Matchup: W, 20-11 on 11/5/2023 | RECAP | BOX SCORE
McKendree will wrap up the WWPA Erie Classic against Mercyhurst University in their own pool on Sunday. The Lakers are having a tough time as of late, losing 11 matches straight and compiling a current 4-18 record. Before the losing streak, Mercyhurst did pull off three straight wins against Division III opponents in late September. They are also 0-12 in Mid Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) play.
Senior Tony Golin (Dexter, Mich.) is likely to be the presumed goalkeeper in the classic. He has played a total of 48 games in his career and accumulated 491 saves which gives him a 43.6 save percentage. Golin also has added to his defensive arsenal, stealing the ball 52 times. Mercyhurst has two other seniors in JP Kirouac (Lawrenceville, Ga.) and Erich Fuhrman (Erie, Pa.) as well as a graduate student in Danilo Vujovic (Niš, Serbia).
TUNE IN-FO
at Gannon University
WATCH: Click HERE (Free – WWPA)
LIVE STATS: Click HERE
HISTORY: Click HERE
TEAM ROSTERS: [McKendree] [Gannon]
TEAM SCHEDULES: [McKendree] [Gannon]
TEAM STATISTICS: [McKendree] [Gannon]
vs Salem University
WATCH: Click HERE (Free – WWPA)
LIVE STATS: Click HERE
HISTORY: Click HERE
TEAM ROSTERS: [McKendree] [Salem]
TEAM SCHEDULES: [McKendree] [Salem]
TEAM STATISTICS: [McKendree] [Salem]
vs Penn State Behrend
WATCH: Click HERE (Free – PSAC Sports Digital Network)
LIVE STATS: Click HERE
HISTORY: Click HERE
TEAM ROSTERS: [McKendree] [Penn State Behrend]
TEAM SCHEDULES: [McKendree] [Penn State Behrend]
TEAM STATISTICS: [McKendree] [Penn State Behrend]
at Mercyhurst University
WATCH: Click HERE (Free – PSAC Sports Digital Network)
LIVE STATS: Click HERE
HISTORY: Click HERE
TEAM ROSTERS: [McKendree] [Mercyhurst]
TEAM SCHEDULES: [McKendree] [Mercyhurst]
TEAM STATISTICS: [McKendree] [Mercyhurst]
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