O'FALLON, Ill. – The men's water polo team battled closely once more in their WWPA Bearcat clash, as they came victorious against DIII No.8 Augustana College after faltering to Gannon University in a conference match on Sunday, October 12th at the McKendree Metro Rec Plex in O'Fallon, Illinois.
GAME ONE vs. Gannon
BOX SCORE
Score: McKendree University 14, Gannon University 15
Record: Bearcats 7-10, 1-1 WWPA | Golden Knights 9-7, 2-0 WWPA
HOW IT HAPPENED
Gannon took the early edge in the first quarter of a matchup consisting of two teams who are undefeated in conference play, as they led 3-2. Junior attacker Rowan Daughtrey (Commerce City, Colo.) dropped in his second goal of the game as time expired at the end of period number two where both teams seesawed back and forth on scoring possessions, but the Bearcats would still find themselves down by one as the game could not look to be any more contested.
The Golden Knights began to pull away with their lead at the beginning of half number two with a 5-1 run in the first six minutes of action after the extended break. Attackers freshman Alexandros Prokopis (Palaio Faliro, Greece) and Armand Le Goff (Reims, France) responded with a quick two goals to start bringing back some of their momentum.
The tables would turn in favor of McKendree to start the fourth period, as it was the Bearcats who enacted a 5-1 run to tie the match at 12 apiece, which included a three-goal contribution by the senior utility James Ramey (St. Louis, Mo.). Gannon would not let the home team get any hotter, as they notched in three straight over a crucial three-minute span.
With 1:45 left in regulation, the Bearcats would look to make a final push to at least send the game to overtime with senior utility Riccardo Vettore (Padua, Italy scoring on the last pair of goals for his team but ultimately fell short in the WWPA matchup to the Golden Knights, 14-15.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
• Ramey led all Bearcat scorers with four goals, along with a steal. Vettore followed with a hat-trick on four shot attempts and tallied an assist and a takeaway.
• Daughtrey and Le Goff each contributed two goals, a steal, and a field block to their name in the close setback. Le Goff also added two steals to the stat sheet.
• Graduate goalkeeper Gennaro Pecoraro (Pesaro, Italy) played all 32 minutes for McKendree and finished with 11 saves, a trio of steals, plus an assist.
GAME TWO vs. Augustana
BOX SCORE
Score: McKendree University 19, Augustana College 17
Record: Bearcats 7-9, 1-0 WWPA | Vikings 6-6, 0-0 MPSF
HOW IT HAPPENED
Looking to seek a win of revenge against their in-state rival of Augustana, the Bearcats set the tone well in the first quarter with Le Goff earning the early hat-trick within the team's first five goals of the game, to which they opened with a 5-2 lead. The offense slowed down a bit in period number two, but junior center defender Yannick Robertson (St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago) fired in a pair within the quarter to keep his squad up ahead.
Robertson continued to carry McKendree all throughout half number two with three more scoring possessions to his arsenal to bring him to five goals on the game thus far, as Le Goff added another for his fourth of such. The consistency from the Bearcat offensive game plan has given them a 12-11 lead as they head into the final quarter of regulation.
It would resume to be the Robertson-Le Goff show for the Bearcats as the two teams kept on going back-and-forth at each other in the O'Fallon waters. McKendree found themselves with a one-goal lead with just a hair under two minutes left of game time, as Robertson would cap off his heroic action with two more consecutive shots that found the back of the net and earned his squad the 19-17 as they came victorious in three of their four games played at their WWPA Bearcat Clash.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
• Robertson finished with a career-high nine goals on 14 shot attempts, while also collecting an assist.
• Le Goff concluded with a double-hat-trick of six scoring possessions plus a pair of assists and a takeaway.
• Redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Gavin Haight rounded his day with nine saves and a steal in all 32 minutes of action in the team's victory.
UP NEXT
McKendree will take a weekend off to recharge and will be ready to head east, where they will continue their WWPA-play as they take part in the Salem Invitational in Bridgeport, West Virginia. There, the Bearcats will face conference-foes Salem University and Gannon, as well as Mercyhurst University and Washington & Jefferson College.
The event will take place on October 25th and 26th and will be streamed live and on demand for free on the WWPA Network. Live stats will also be provided via The FOSH.
Make sure to keep up with McKendree University Water Polo on X (Twitter) and Instagram. #NCAAwaterpolo
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