AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. - The men's water polo team made an impressive start to its 2025 campaign with a hard-fought loss to (RV) United States Air Force Academy and a victory against the University of California, Merced in day one of the Rare Air Invitational on Saturday, September 6th.
GAME ONE vs. Air Force
BOX SCORE
Score: McKendree University 14, United States Air Force Academy 20
Record: Bearcats 0-1, 0-0 WWPA | Falcons 6-1, 0-0 WCC
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Bearcats had Air Force's work cut out for them in the early goings, as they quickly evaporated a three-point deficit with a three-goal run of their own behind contributions from junior attacker Armand Le Goff (Reims, France), junior center defender Yannick Robertson (St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago), and freshman attacker Alexandros Prokopis (Palaio Faliro, Greece). Le Goff and Robertson would continue to answer the Falcon output in the first quarter with the hosting institution leading by just one at the break.
The Falcons would not make things any easier for McKendree since the second period of play would come around, but Robertson would make the most of any opportunities by scoring four of the team's next six goals.
A last-second goal by sophomore utility Joshua Gibson (Nassau, Bahamas) in the third quarter put the Bearcat deficit back to just four, but a quad of netted goals from Air Force in the midst of the fourth period of play lessened the comeback hopes for the team in purple and gold.
Robertson tacked on one more scoring possession to earn himself a double hat-trick, but it would not be enough for his squad, who would fall to the Falcons 14-20.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
• Robertson led the Bearcats with six points, all of which were goals on seven attempts along with two drawn exclusions.
• Le Goff followed with a pair of goals and a trio of assists for five points.
• Prokopis contributed two scores, an assist, and a drawn exclusion to the box score.
• Goalkeepers Gavin Haight (Jenison, Mich.) and Gennaro Pecoraro (Pesaro, Italy) each split cage guarding responsibilities evenly at 16:00 minutes each, with the former coming away with six saves and the latter with four. Pecoraro also came away with three steals.
GAME TWO vs. UC Merced
BOX SCORE
Score: McKendree University 17, University of California, Merced 14
Record: Bearcats 1-1, 0-0 WWPA | Bobcats 0-3, 0-0 WWPA
HOW IT HAPPENED
The solid team effort in the loss to Air Force propelled McKendree towards success in game two of the Rare Air Invitational, going against WWPA newcoming member UC Merced, despite the match not counting towards conference record.
Le Goff became the point of emphasis early on for the Bearcat squad, giving his guys their first two points of the game while the Bobcats took slight control at the end of the first quarter 4-3.
Defense stood out more efficiently for McKendree in period number two as they did not allow a single point on the board for the Bobcats. All the while, the purple and gold took advantage of their stoppages and netted six unanswered goals in the quarter with Robertson and Prokopis each providing two scores each within, while senior attacker Kris Eyolfson (Winnipeg, Canada) notched his second goal of the game and first since the end of the first period.
A scoring possession by Gibson early in the third quarter of play extended the Bearcat run to 8-0 and put his team up comfortably 10-4. UC Merced was able to halt the run momentarily, but the Bearcats would continue making their presence felt and scored another three straight goals to extend their lead to eight.
UC Merced turned on the jets in the back-half of the third period and enacted on an unforeseen 8-2 offensive run to cut the Bearcat lead to just two points with two and a half minutes remaining.
After scoring the squad's first pair of goals in the game, Le Goff ended with two back-to-back dagger scores late in the final quarter of play, which would earn McKendree their first victory of the 2025 season, beating the Bobcats 17-14.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
• Le Goff went 4-for-6 on shot attempts against UC Merced while adding an assist in the process
• Five other bearcats contributed at least two goals in the win.
• Haight and Pecoraro again each spent 16:00 minutes in the cage again as the former tallied eight saves and the latter came away with seven.
• McKendree led in the assist category, 12-9.
UP NEXT
McKendree will be back in action tomorrow, Sunday, September 7th, for day two of the Rare Air Invitational as they will face DIII No.5 Whittier College at 10:50 AM CT and then California State University, Fullerton at 3:20 PM CT at the Cadet Natatorium in Air Force Academy, Colorado.
Both games can be watched for free on the Air Force Falcons YouTube channel and live stats will be provided on The FOSH.
Make sure to keep up with McKendree University Water Polo on X (Twitter) and Instagram. #NCAAwaterpolo
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