ROCK ISLAND, Ill. - The men's water polo team was unable to cap off a monumental comeback against DIII No.10 Augustana College on Saturday, September 20th at the Anne Greve Lund Natatorium in Rock Island, Illinois.
Score: McKendree University 12, Augustana College 14
Record: Bearcats 1-4, 0-0 WWPA | Vikings 1-3, 0-0 MPSF
HOW IT HAPPENED
After nearly two full weeks without any competition, McKendree showed no rust as junior attacker Armand Le Goff (Reims, France) and senior utility James Ramey (St. Louis, Mo.) dropped in a shot each to take a 2-1 lead in the opening minutes of the match. The offense would quiet down for an extended moment until Ramey tacked on his second goal in the game, but the Vikings utilized their home advantage to hold a 7-3 advantage heading into halftime
Down but not out, Le Goff and freshman attacker Alexandros Prokopis (Palaio Faliro, Greece) would take matters into their own hands as they started clawing their way back in with a 3-1 run, earning the former a hat-trick. Over-physical defense found its way into the waters shortly after, and led to both sides seizing opportunities on 5-meter penalty shots, with the Bearcats capitalizing on two in the third quarter alone. Junior center defender Yannick Robertson (St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago) was able to fire in a last-second shot before the period had expired to pull his squad within one point.
Augustana opened up the final period of play with their 11th goal of the contest, extending their lead to two, but Prokopis and fellow attacker, senior Quinten Gallagher (St. Louis, Mo.), tied the game up for the first time since its opening minute of action as the Bearcats found their momentum down a crucial stretch. The Vikings once again refrained McKendree from going ahead with the host putting in another goal, yet Robertson would respond 17 seconds later to knot up the game once more with 3:07 remaining on the game clock.
A few opportunities presented themselves for the Bearcats to take advantage, however, those opportunities would eventually sail off with Augustana chipping in a pair of clinching scoring possessions and stopping the McKendree run short with the home team winning 14-12.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
• Prokopis and Le Goff led the Bearcat squad with a hat-trick each, with the former tallying an assist, two drawn exclusions, and four steals, while the latter finished with a trio of steals and one field block.
• Robertson and Ramey each scored in a pair as Robertson collected a steal in the process.
• Goalkeepers Gavin Haight (Jenison, Mich.) and Gennaro Pecoraro (Pesaro, Italy) each split their time guarding the cage evenly at 16:00 minutes each, with Haight finishing his day with seven saves as Pecoraro concluded with five.
• McKendree outshot Augustana 38-35.
• The Bearcats had the advantage in steals, 16-11.
UP NEXT
McKendree will be back in action next weekend (9/27-9/28) when they head to Erie, Pennsylvania to compete in the Battle of the Bay tournament with matchups against the host Penn State Behrend and Washington & Jefferson College on Saturday and then face off against old WWPA-foe Mercyhurst University on Sunday.
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