O'FALLON, Ill. – The men's water polo team dropped a pair in the WWPA Bearcat Clash on senior day against visiting Salem University and Gannon University on Saturday, November 9th, at the McKendree Metro Rec Plex in O'Fallon, Illinois.
MATCH ONE vs. Salem University
BOX SCORE
Score: McKendree University 13, Salem University 21
Record: Bearcats 2-15, 0-3 WWPA | Tigers 17-3, 3-0 WWPA
HOW IT HAPPENED
The first half of action was electrifying at the McKendree Metro Rec Plex as Salem took control early in the first quarter, notching six goals behind senior Nikola Krstonosic's opening three for his team while giving himself a very early hat-trick. McKendree sophomore Yannick Robertson (Trinidad and Tobago) helped stop the Tigers from getting too hot as he sailed in a couple of goals along with fellow standout teammates, junior James Ramey (St. Louis, Mo.) and freshman Joshua Gibson (Nassau, Bahamas) each getting one off an exclusion and penalty respectively to be behind only 6-4 after freshman Danko Kesic gave Salem two goals in the final three minutes.
In the second period of play, the number of scoring possessions stayed the same, but the Tigers would start to carry away with the lead as they opened up with five straight goals, making it seven straight going back to the end of the first quarter. Junior Marko Zivojinovic for Salem put in a pair for his squad before the Bearcats got back on the board from back-to-back goals from Robertson and Ramey to cut the deficit to five. Zivojinovic and Ramey would battle it out in the final two minutes of the half with the former getting another two shots in while the latter earned himself a hat-trick but would still be down 13-7 at halftime.
The pace would tick down a bit in the third quarter, as the Tigers would put in five goals with two contributed by freshman Ivan Petkovski. McKendree would have to earn their goals against the Salem defense as Ramey continued his hot start to the day with another pair of goals along with Robertson tacking on another one as well. All of their scoring possessions in the period came off of exclusions.
It was the same story, point differential-wise in the fourth and final quarter in game number one, where the Tigers would share the wealth amongst the team as each of the four goals were made by different players. Gibson netted in his second goal of the match for the Bearcats as junior Ricardo Vettore (Padova, Italy) received his first goal since his hat-trick against Westcliff University in early October. Senior Jespyn Bishop also snuck one in for his squad, but would ultimately fall 21-13.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
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McKendree was led by Ramey, who put in five goals, along with an assist, five drawn-exclusions, and two steals.
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Zivojinovic and Kesic both were the leaders for Salem, scoring five goals each as Zivojinovic finished with a drawn-exclusion, a steal, and a field block. Kesic also had two drawn-exclusions and a steal and field block as well.
MATCH TWO vs. Gannon University
BOX SCORE
Score: McKendree University 9, Gannon University 15
Record: Bearcats 2-16, 0-4 WWPA | Golden Knights 15-4, 2-2 WWPA
HOW IT HAPPENED
Both teams came into the final matchup of the WWPA Bearcat Clash slow. Gannon opened up the game with two goals from freshman Dillon Shaw and sophomore Petar Markovic within 30 seconds apart from each other midway through the first quarter. Robertson finally put McKendree on the board with a made shot with 36 seconds remaining to be down only 2-1 at the end of period number one.
Robertson would continue his substantial day in the second quarter, tabbing three more goals to earn himself a second hat-trick of the day. Fellow Bearcat, junior Riccardo Vettore (Padova, Italy), also slung one in for the team. Golden Knight freshman Nikiforos Liantziris notched in back-to-back goals in between the McKendree run as Markovic also put in his second goal of the game. The game would be tied heading into halftime 5-5.
After leading the way for the Bearcats in game number one, Ramey helped push his quad to a two-point lead along with Robertson in the opening minutes in the third quarter. Then, Gannon turned on the jets, as they put in seven straight goals that bled into the fourth period and were initiated by back-to-back scoring possessions by junior Alexandros Kotskar. The Golden Knights would lead narrowly, 10-7 at the end of the third quarter.
With five minutes remaining in regulation, Bearcats' senior Alex Napawan (St. Louis, Mo.) and sophomore Isaac Demski (Eastvale, Calif) put in their first goals of the day, but it would not be enough as Liantziris and his crew sailed away with three more successful shots for Gannon and giving them the 15-9 road win.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
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Demski, Vettore, Napawan, and Ramey each notched in one goal as Demski came away with two assists and Ramey grabbed three steals
SENIOR DAY
Prior to the game, the McKendree University athletic department recognized eight outstanding Bearcat seniors in Cronin, Napawan, senior Benton Fonner (St. Louis, Mo.), senior Blake Wind (Leander, Texas), senior Jespyn Bishop (Brighton, Colo.), senior Eli Grande (San Bernardino, Calif.), senior Luke Schmidt (St. Louis, Mo.), and senior T.J. Joubert (Johannesburg, South Africa). As their time at McKendree may be coming to a close, they will forever be engraved into the Bearcat family.
UP NEXT
Mckendree will be the 3-seed in the upcoming WWPA Championship tournament as they await for the West Region to battle out the 2-seed on their divisional standings next weekend. The tournament will take place from November 22nd to 24th at the William Woollett Jr. Aquatics Center in Irvine, California, and is hosted by conference-member Concordia University Irvine.
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