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McKendree University Athletics

Schedule

Jimmy Cronin
Concordia University Irvine Athletics
20
Winner UC Merced UCM (0)
19
McKendree MCK (0)
Winner
UC Merced UCM
(0)
20
Final
19
McKendree MCK
(0)
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 OT OT F
UC Merced UCM 1 4 6 3 2 4 20
McKendree MCK 6 3 4 1 1 4 19

Game Recap: Men's Water Polo | | Chase Messer, Assistant Director of Sports Information

Men’s Water Polo Edged in Overtime in Exhibition to UC Merced

Isaac Demski Leads with Four Goals and Four Assists

IRVINE, Calif. – The men's water polo team loses the battle in overtime against the University of California, Merced in an exhibition round of the WWPA Championship Tournament on Saturday, November 23rd, at the William Woollett Jr. Aquatics Center in Irvine, California. 

Score: McKendree University 19, University of California, Merced 20 (OT) 

Record: Bearcats 2-17, 0-4 WWPA | Golden Bobcats 2-24 

HOW IT HAPPENED

McKendree would make a strong start on day two of the WWPA Championship tournament as they notched in the game's first five goals where junior James Ramey (St. Louis, Mo.) was in for two of them. With 39 seconds remaining in the first quarter, UC Merced sophomore Noah Hernandez drew a five-meter penalty on Ramey, to which he converted on the subsequential shot to give his team their first point. Freshman Kevin Kehoe (Chicago, Ill.) responded quickly 18 seconds after to give the Bearcats a 6-1 lead after period number one. 

Things would start to become a little more competitive in the second quarter as Ramey once again opened up the period with its first goal where McKendree would find themselves up six. Golden Bobcat sophomore Camden Peterson struck in two straight minutes after, closing the deficit for his squad. Both teams traded goals in the final four and a half minutes as the Bearcats would still have the lead, but only up 9-5. 

UC Merced would open up their floodgates by pouring in seven shots where Peterson got one to earn himself a hat-trick for the day and fellow Golden Bobcat junior Vincent Labonte and sophomore Tommy Bauer each tabbed in two within that span. For McKendree, junior Ricard Vettore (Padova, Italy), sophomore Yannick Robertson (St. Augustine, Trinidad & Tobago), and sophomore Isaac Demski (Eastvale, Calif.) each grabbed their second goal of the game. The Bearcats would end the third period of play up slightly at 13-11. 

Defense was the focal point of the final quarter of regulation as only four goals were scored in that time. UC Merced freshman Hayden Markell snuck one in 36 seconds into the period to bring his squad within one as Demski later followed with his third goal of the contest to put his team back up two. Within a 28-second span in the midst of the fourth quarter, Peterson came clutch with back-to-back goals to tie it at 14 as the game would head into overtime. 

In the first overtime period, all the action came in the final minute as Labonte slinged a shot in with under a minute remaining. With seven seconds left, senior Alex Napawan (St. Louis, Mo.) tied it up at 15, but Peterson was there on the last second to put the Golden Bobcats up by one. 

As teams switched ends for the final overtime, the two sides went back-and-forth on four goals each with the Bearcats having Demski, Robertson, senior Jespyn Bishop (Brighton, Colo.), and sophomore Rowan Daughtrey (Commerce City, Colo.) scoring for them and Peterson being the only one for UC Merced to score in the second overtime as he would lead his team to a narrow 20-19 win. 

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

  • Demski gave McKendree an all-around effort like he has all season, scoring four goals on 10 shots with four assists and a steal.  

  • Ramey and Robertson each got themselves a hat-trick with three goals each as the latter also had two assists on the day. 

  • Vettore, Daughtrey, and Bishop each had two goals a-piece. 

  • For UC Merced, it was basically all Peterson, where he was able to put in a game-high 10 goals on 14 shot attempts along with an assist and a drawn exclusion. 

  • Fifth-year goalkeeper Jimmy Cronin (Naperville, Ill.) was in the entire game for the Bearcats, as he came away with a solid 11 saves. 

  • The Golden Bobcats shared the load in the net in the match with sophomore Matthew Lloyd also tallying 11 saves in 22 minutes, and sophomore Ethan Stocker going in for the other 16 minutes by snatching four saves. 

  • Despite the loss, McKendree was 8-0 on sprints won/lost. 

  • The Bearcats had a slight 45-42 edge on total shot attempts. 

UP NEXT

Mckendree will wrap up the season tomorrow on Sunday, November 24th when they face Fresno Pacific University in the fifth-place game in the WWPA Championship tournament at the William Woollett Jr. Aquatics Center in Irvine, California. 

For more updates and information on Bearcat Athletics, please continue to visit McKBearcats.com and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. 
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