LEBANON, Ill. – After a week of rest, the men's water polo team will hop right back in the pool for one game as they head up north, where they will face DIII No.10 Augustana College in an in-state matchup on Saturday, September 20th. 

The Bearcats will take on the Vikings at the Anne Greve Lund Natatorium in Rock Island, Illinois, at 2:00 PM CT in what will be the seventh meeting all-time between the two. 

The match can be viewed for free live and on demand on the Viking Sports Network (YouTube) at youtube.com/@augieathletics/streams. Live stats will also be provided for fans and family to follow via The FOSH at thefosh.net/. 

View the "TUNE IN-FO" to see all details and specific destinations. 

SCOUTING THE LAST OUTING 

McKendree went 1-and-3 in their last outing at the Rare Air Invitational in Colorado. They split the first day on September 6th with a loss to (RV) United States Air Force Academy [14-20], but were able to follow up with a win against University of California, Merced [17-14] to give Head Coach Miguel Figueras his first-ever victory at the helm. 

On day two, the Bearcats fell in both games, first to DIII No.5 Whittier College [12-16], and then to California State University, Fullerton [9-24]. 

SOMETHING IN THE AIR 

Despite the record at the invitational in McKendree's last outing, a few Bearcats showed the league some promise with some valiant efforts in the waters. 

Junior center defender Yannick Robertson (St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago) picked up where he left off last season by putting in no less than two goals in each outing and ending up with 14 total on 21 shot attempts (66.7%), including a double hat-trick performance against (RV) Air Force. He also drew at least a pair of drawn exclusions in every game thus far, giving him 11 overall. 

Newcomer and junior attacker Armand Le Goff (Reims, France) made quite the impression in the team's first few competitions. He followed closely behind Robertson with a dozen scoring possessions on 26 attempts (46.2%) as he netted five goals in the team's first season-win over UC Merced. The French native was also only two drawn exclusions less than Robertson's 11, coming at nine. Le Goff added to his point total with five assists in the invitational. 

McKendree gave effort on the defensive end as well, as goalkeepers Gavin Haight (Jenison, Mich.) and Gennaro Pecoraro (Pesaro, Italy) split their time evenly at 64 minutes each. Haight earned a 1-1 record in the tournament with 29 saves on a 49.2 save percentage, along with a pair of takeaways. Pecoraro saved the ball 20 times with him guarding the cage on 31.3% and stole the ball seven times. 

Other notable defensive impacts include Le Goff and sophomore utility Joshua Gibson (Nassau, Bahamas) each putting up three field blocks and senior utility James Ramey (St. Louis, Mo.) registering six steals, three of which came against the Falcons.  

TEAM TOPPERS 

LOOKING AHEAD 

After a single game at Augustana, the Bearcats will venture off to Erie, Pennsylvania for the Penn State Behrend Invitational from Saturday, September 27th, to Sunday, September 28th. 

There, McKendree will match up against Penn State Behrend, Washington & Jefferson College, and Mercyhurst University. 

TUNE IN-FO 

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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