FULLERTON, Calif. – The men's water polo team made an impressive first several minutes of action but could not contain the force of California State University, Fullerton on Wednesday, October 1st at the Titan Aquatics Center in Fullerton, California.
Score: McKendree University 8, California State University, Fullerton 21
Record: Bearcats 4-5, 0-0 WWPA | Titans 12-7, 0-0 Big West
HOW IT HAPPENED
Despite the score resemblance since the last time these two teams met earlier this season, McKendree improved their composure and playstyle against the NCAA Division I Titans. Sophomore utility Joshua Gibson (Nassau, Bahamas) was a driving force for the Bearcat offense in the early goings as he scored the game's first goal via power play and was later followed suit by freshman attacker Alexandros Prokopis (Palaio Faliro, Greece), who also converted on the man-up goal to lead 2-1. Immediately after, Cal State Fullerton deposited back-to-back goals to take their first lead, but Gibson was right there to answer for his squad and tied the game at three apiece with a minute left in the first quarter.
From that point on, it was all Cal State Fullerton capitalizing on their home waters by sparking a four-goal streak against the Bearcats until Gibson stopped the bleeding just momentarily before the Titans rallied once again. Recent WWPA Offensive Player of the Week, junior attacker Armand Le Goff (Reims, France). Fired in McKendree's next three goals in the match as fellow Bearcat newcomer, freshman attacker Jayden Del Campo (Winnipeg, Canada) gave his team their last scoring opportunity and eventually faltered in the early stages of their long trip, 8-21.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
• Gibson and Le Goff each found the back of the net three times, giving both a hat-trick as the latter rounded out with three drawn exclusions, a steal, and one field block.
• Prokopis shared the wealth well with his fellow Bearcats, aside from scoring one goal, as he dished out a trio of assists and snagged three steals in the process.
• Goalkeepers Gavin Haight (redshirt sophomore; Jenison, Mich.) Gennaro Pecoraro (graduate; Pesaro, Italy) split the cage duties evenly at 16 minutes each. Haight finished with a pair of saves while Pecoraro concluded with five saves and grabbed one steal.
UP NEXT
McKendree will be back in action tomorrow on Wednesday, October 2nd when they face off against Concordia University Irvine at 12:00 PM CT and take on Cuesta College in an exhibition match at 3:30 PM CT in day two of the team's West Coast trip.
The match against the Golden Eagles will be broadcast live and on demand via subscription on the WWPA Network and will be provided with live stats on The FOSH. No stream or live stats will be available for the exhibition game against Cuesta, albeit, a box score will be provided on mckbearcats.com after the match.
Make sure to keep up with McKendree University Water Polo on X (Twitter) and Instagram. #NCAAwaterpolo
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