ANNAPLOLIS, Md. - The men's water polo team has dropped a pair to open up their new season to Mount St. Mary's University (Md.) and The George Washington University in non-conference action on Saturday, September 7th at the Navy Open in Annapolis, Maryland.
MATCH ONE vs. Mount St. Mary's
Score: McKendree University 14, Mount St. Mary's University 18
Record: Bearcats 0-1, 0-0 WWPA | Mountaineers 1-0, 0-0 MAWPC
HOW IT HAPPENED
It was a well-rounded first quarter for McKendree as they showed their camaraderie by spreading the wealth and the ball leading to five goals with each coming from a different player. Junior attacker Quinten Gallagher (St. Louis, Mo.) drew the match's first blood in such a tight opening sequence in the water. Mount St. Mary's would not be too far off as they stroked in four scores, highlighted by two from junior utility player Alexandros Bellesis (Athens, Greece) both. Within a 47-second span.
The second quarter was a flip of the script where the Mountaineers had the playing edge with not so much action until sophomore driver Jack Fox (Jupiter, Fla.) snuck one in at the 6:37 mark. After scoring the last goal in the first quarter, junior utility player James Ramey (St. Louis, Mo.) notched in a couple more in quarter number two to make it three scores straight for his team. Fox and graduate attacker Kiahi Horan (Papamoa, New Zealand) would round out two more scores in the final 1:07 before halftime to tie the game at eight a piece.
The Bearcats came out of halftime with great momentum as Gallagher led the charge with a goal and sophomore center Yannick Robertson (Trinidad and Tobago) notched in two straight to give himself a hat-trick. Mount St. Mary's answered with two scores of their own to cut the lead to one until Robertson halted the run with yet another goal in a stellar quarter. Both teams got another one in the net before McKendree would have a 13-12 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
What seemed to be a match to coming down to the wire at the final quarter of play, the Mountaineers were on fire, putting in five straight goals in the first four and a half minutes and keeping the game out of reach. Freshman utility player Joshua Gibson (Nassau, Bahamas) would start what would be a very impressive day for the newcomer by giving the Bearcats one last shot before falling short in game one of the invitational.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
MATCH TWO vs. George Washington
Score: The George Washington University 21, McKendree University 11
Record: Revolutionaries 2-0, 1-0 MAWPC | Bearcats 0-2, 0-0 WWPA
HOW IT HAPPENED
After a few hours of break time, the Bearcats got back in the pool and started getting back into the grove after GW started out with the first two goals in the game as Gibson would be the first for McKendree on the board, followed by Robertson who was looking to continue his hot streak. The Revolutionaries would close out the first quarter by having junior defender Adonis Vlassis (Athens, Greece) and freshman attacker Antonio Florena (Napoli, Italy) already tallying their second goals of the game.
It was almost all GW in the second quarter of play as they poured in five goals, coming at various times in the period. Gibson was one of the only things standing in their way, as he started heating up before halftime by notching in a couple of scores, earning him a hat-trick before halftime. The Revolutionaries will head into intermission with a 10-4 lead.
Momentum had not shifted coming from halftime for GW as they burst out on a 6-1 run and built their lead behind a couple more goals from Florena. Gibson was again the disruption of the Revolutionaries' run with a score coming in at the 5:06 mark. With 17 seconds remaining of the period, Bearcat senior wing T.J. Joubert (Johannesburg, South Africa) would sneak one in, with McKendree still trailing 16-6.
Both sides played evenly throughout the fourth and final quarter of the game with the Bearcats, ending just how they started the day off by scoring five goals with five different players. GW was ideally the same towards the end except for freshman center Joseph McCreary (Flower Mound, Texas) who put in two of his team's final five and gave them a sizable 21-11 win.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
UP NEXT
McKendree will round out their first invitational of the season with a matchup against the Blue Jays of Johns Hopkins University, this time at Lejeune Hall in Annapolis, Maryland on Sunday, September 8 starting at 8:00 AM ET.
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