GENEVA, Ohio - The two-seed in the East Region McKendree men's water polo fell on the final day of the WWPA Championships in Geneva, Ohio to the three-seed in the east in Salem University in the tournament's fifth-place game at the SPIRE Aquatics Center to close out the Bearcats 2025 season. 

Score: McKendree University 13, Salem University 14 

Record: Bearcats 11-13, 2-2 WWPA | Tigers 16-15, 1-3 WWPA 

HOW IT HAPPENED 

The final game of the 2025 season was an enticing one for both teams on a Sunday morning. Junior attacker Armand Le Goff (Reims, France) and sophomore utility Joshua Gibson (Nassau, Bahamas) gave McKendree their first two points of the game, coming off of power play opportunities. Down by one, sophomore utility Kevin Kehoe (Chicago, Ill.) took it upon himself to regain the lead for the Bearcats as he tipped the ball from the Tiger goalie's grasp off a missed shot into the net and later powered in a shot from in center despite tight coverage. A converted five-meter penalty shot by Salem with 18 seconds left in the first quarter tied the game up at four apiece. 

It would still be a close contest in period number two, where senior utility Riccardo Vettore (Padua, Italy) bounced one inside the cage and freshman attacker Alexandros Prokopis (Palaio Faliro, Greece) followed with another goal with both coming from the left wing to go back up by one. Senior utility James Ramey (St. Louis, Mo.) got his first goal of the tournament with two minutes remaining in the first half as the Bearcats will hold a slight 7-6 lead heading into the break. 

Coming into the third period, Gibson and Prokopis dropped in back-to-back goals to extend their lead to three with momentum starting to display on their side. Yet, it would only last for a little while as Salem went on to respond with four straight goals bleeding into the fourth quarter, which included a pair coming via penalty shots to put the Tigers ahead. 

McKendree would not back down as they answered the Tiger run with two straight from their end of the waters with long-range shots coming from Le Goff and junior attacker Rowan Daughtrey (Commerce City, Colo.) for the Bearcats to take back the one-point edge. But it would be Salem who would get the lasting satisfaction as they went on to a 4-1 run, including the latter two coming in the last 40 seconds of regulation with an empty-net goal. Gibson slung one more in in the final second, but it would not be enough as the Bearcats would fall one point short of a fifth-place finish to the Tigers, 13-14. 

INSIDE THE NUMBERS 

• Gibson and Le Goff each finished their season finales with hat-tricks of three goals each with the former earning an assist and two steals while the latter had drawn a pair of exclusions. 

• Prokopis and Kehoe put in two goals each as Prokopis had a team-high three assists while Kehoe had the same number in drawn exclusions. 

• Vettore, Daughtrey, and Ramey rounded out the Bearcat scoring with each tabbing in a goal. 

• Graduate goalkeeper Gennaro Pecoraro (Pesaro, Italy) manned the cage the entire contest, tying a season-high 14 saves along with a trio of takeaways. 

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM 

At the conclusion of the tournament, the WWPA recognized a two-team all-tournament honoree list with junior center defender Yannick Robertson (St. Augustine, Trinidad & Tobago) earning a spot on the All-Tournament Second Team. Within the championships event, Robertson totaled two points with both coming via goals on five shot attempts (40.0%) as he supplemented with three drawn exclusions, two steals, and a field block. 

UP NEXT 

This will conclude the 2025 season for McKendree University men's water polo. We would like to congratulate the team on a great season and give a big thank you to all those who followed all year long! 

The 2026 season schedule will be posted at the start of next fall, along with roster updates and other news within the next several months. 

Make sure to keep up with McKendree University Water Polo on  X (Twitter) and Instagram. #NCAAwaterpolo 

For more updates and information on Bearcat Athletics, please continue to visit McKBearcats.com and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. 
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