CALIFORNIA – The men's water polo team could not handle Concordia University Irvine on the road, but picked up an exhibition win over Cuesta College on Thursday, October 2nd.
GAME ONE vs. Concordia Irvine
BOX SCORE
Score: McKendree University 7, Penn State Behrend, 18
Record: Bearcats 4-5, 0-0 WWPA | Golden Eagles 9-9, 0-0 WWPA
HOW IT HAPPENED
CUI made it tough for McKendree to get their offense going as they deposited the game's first five goals. It was not until two seconds remaining in the first quarter of play when freshman attacker Alexandros Prokopis (Palaio Faliro, Greece) finally got the Bearcats on the board with a connected shot at the net.
The second period presented a similar situation with only junior attacker Armand Le Goff (Reims, France) finding the back of the net for his team's only goal in the eight-minute period as McKendree found themselves down 2-7 at halftime.
McKendree picked up their pace in the third quarter after being in an eight-goal deficit, where Prokopis, Le Goff, and junior center defender Yannick Robertson (St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago) helped ignite a 4-3 Bearcat run to inch closer to the opposition's lead. Yet, as the final quarter of play started winding down its final minutes, the doors closed for McKendree to enact a comeback as they fall to the WWPA-foe in a non-conference matchup, 7-18.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
• Prokopis, Le Goff, and Robertson each contributed with two goals as all three also collected a steal while the former two dished out an assist.
• Freshman attacker Jayden Del Campo (Winnipeg, Canada) was the lone other scorer for McKendree with one goal, along with one steal.
• Graduate goalkeeper Gennaro Pecoraro (Pesaro, Italy) was the lone man in the goal for the Bearcats in the match, as he came away with nine saves and four takeaways.
GAME TWO vs. Cuesta
BOX SCORE
*Note: this is an exhibition match; as all individual and team stats do not officially count
Score: McKendree University 15, Cuesta College 14
Record: Bearcats 4-6, 0-0 WWPA | Cougars 8-8, 1-0 WSC
HOW IT HAPPENED
McKendree scored six goals in the first quarter and then deposited three goals in each of the second, third, and fourth periods, as they outlasted the Cuesta Cougars, 15-14 in a neutral-site exhibition.
UP NEXT
McKendree will be back in action tomorrow, October 3rd, when they participate in day one of the Gary Troyer Tournament, as they face off against No.7 University of California San Diego at 3:30 PM CT and then take on T-No.13 California Baptist University at 7:15 PM CT.
Neither game will be streamed live or on demand. However, live stats will be provided for all tournament games via The FOSH.
Make sure to keep up with McKendree University Water Polo on X (Twitter) and Instagram. #NCAAwaterpolo
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