CLAREMONT, Calif. – The men's water polo team concluded its four-day trip in the Golden State of California with a win over DIII No.5 Whittier College after falling to No.19/DIII No.1 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges on Saturday, October 4th, in the Gary Troyer Tournament in Claremont, California.
GAME ONE vs. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps
BOX SCORE
Score: McKendree University 13, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges 26
Record: Bearcats 4-9, 0-0 WWPA | Stags 9-4, 1-0 SCIAC
HOW IT HAPPENED
It was an eventful first quarter as any with 14 combined goals between the two squads. A power play score from junior attacker Armand Le Goff (Reims, France), along with one from senior utility Riccardo Vettore (Padua, Italy), began the game with the opposing Stags up 3-2. CMS would then go on to knock in four straight in the next few minutes, but McKendree was right there to respond with a 3-1 run behind Le Goff, junior center defender Yannick Robertson (St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago, and senior attacker Quinten Gallagher (St. Louis, Mo.), but would still be down 5-9 at the end of the period.
The second quarter of play saw CMS continue to build on its lead, as Le Goff and Robertson continued to keep the Bearcats afloat and within reach, with the former already registering a hat-trick. Robertson tacked on two more goals later in the third quarter with senior utility James Ramey (St. Louis, Mo.) and sophomore utility Joshua Gibson (Nassau, Bahamas) outscored the Stags 4-3 in the final seven minutes in the third period to trail 12-19.
As much fight McKendree had, CMS would close all doors shut of an opportunity to comeback, and keep the Bearcats at bay, 26-13.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
• Robertson led all McKendree scorers with four goals in the game on seven shots (57.1%) along with drawing an exclusion and recording a steal.
• Le Goff came away with another hat-trick of three goals while also tallying an assist, a steal, and a pair of drawn exclusions.
• Gibson deposited a pair in the setback, plus a steal.
GAME TWO vs. Whittier
BOX SCORE
Score: McKendree University 17, Whittier College 13
Record: Bearcats 5-9, 0-0 WWPA | Poets 10-5, 1-1 SCIAC
HOW IT HAPPENED
Still searching for their first official win of the West Coast trip, the Bearcats came out hot with a 5-1 run that was initiated by Gibson on back-to-back possessions, while Robertson capitalized on a 5-meter penalty shot and the freshmen attackers Alexandros Prokopis (Palaio Faliro, Greece) and Jayden Del Campo (Winnipeg, Canada) handled the rest. Yet, Whittier was right there to respond, as they went on a 7-2 spurt that put them up with a one-score lead heading into halftime.
McKendree would revive their momentum in the third quarter with enacting a 4-1 run within the period's first four minutes to go ahead by a trio. The Poets would follow by sneaking in a couple into the back of the net to keep the game close as both team started heading into the final eight minutes of regulation.
With both teams knotted up at 11 apiece, the Bearcats would light it up against the Poets with no letting up, as Prokopis spearheaded a 6-2 spurt in the final quarter of play, and earned his team the 17-13 win against Whittier– their first official victory during their current trip in the Golden State of California.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
• Prokopis led all Bearcat scorers with four goals and rounded out with a drawn exclusion, a steal, and a field block.
• Gibson earned a hat-trick in the win while also tallying an assist and a takeaway.
• Graduate goalkeeper Gennaro Pecoraro (Pesaro, Italy) logged all 32 minutes of action and saved the ball seven times, along with a pair of steals. Pecoraro also scored a last-second goal towards the end of the fourth quarter.
UP NEXT
McKendree will net be in action next weekend, October 11th and 12th, as they will host their annual WWPA Bearcat Clash at the McKendree Metro Rec Plex in O'Fallon, Illinois and will feature five teams and 10 games across the two days.
All matches will be broadcast live and on demand for free on the WWPA Network, as live stats will also be provided via The FOSH. The Bearcats' Senior Night game will be against Salem University at 3:00 PM on Saturday.
Make sure to keep up with McKendree University Water Polo on X (Twitter) and Instagram. #NCAAwaterpolo
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