O'FALLON, Ill. – The men's water polo team recently competed in their inaugural Meet Me in St. Louis Invitational over the weekend at the McKendree Metro Rec Plex in O'Fallon, Illinois, with the Bearcats snatching three wins in four games, including a last-second go-ahead goal against DIII RV Augustana College to put a bow on the event.
GAME ONE vs. Mt. SAC
BOX SCORE
Score: McKendree University 16, Mt. San Antonio College 14
Record: Bearcats 6-11, 0-0 WWPA | Mounties 7-8, 2-0 SCC
HOW IT HAPPENED
Despite Mt. SAC leading 5-3 at the end of the first quarter of the exhibition match, senior attacker Armand Le Goff (Reims, France) gave McKendree their first trio to sail in, giving him the early hat-trick. The Bearcats would gain control with a three-point lead after a five-goal spurt to begin period number two, thanks to Le Goff's fourth score and senior center Yannick Robertson (St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago) forcing two in of his own.
The Mounties rebounded with a small 4-1 run to knot it up at nine, but another goal from Le Goff put the Bearcats up with a 10-9 lead a minute before halftime.
Sophomore Alexandros Prokopis (Palaio Faliro, Greece) found his fire again coming off a dominant California trip, as he gave his squad three goals in the second half of action which helped fuel a 6-2 Bearcat spurt, and go ahead by five with under six minutes to go.
The Mounties tacked on three more into the net in the final 2:20 of play, but would come up short, with McKendree pulling off the 16-14 win.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
• Le Goff got the double hat-trick of six goals with three assists and five steals on 75.0% shooting.
• Prokopis hit on four of his eight (50.0%) shot attempts, while dishing a pair of assists.
• Redshirt junior goalkeeper Gavin Haight (Jenison, Mich.) tallied 10 saves with 32 minutes in the cage.
• McKendree shot 16-for-35 (45.7%) and went 2-2 on sprints.
• The Bearcats assisted on 14 of their 16 goals (87.5%)
GAME TWO vs. DIII No.4 Johns Hopkins
BOX SCORE
Score: McKendree University 10, Johns Hopkins University 20
Record: Bearcats 6-12, 0-0 WWPA | Blue Jays 10-6, 0-0 MPSF
HOW IT HAPPENED
It was a tough start for McKendree and their Senior Night game against the No.4 team in Division III, as the Blue Jays set the tone early with a 9-1 advantage with the lone Bearcat goal coming from the freshman utility Jonas King (Oviedo, Fla.) at 2:37 in the first period.
Robertson started getting his team going with their two other goals before halftime, as well as a few minutes into the second half of play. Le Goff tag-teamed the one-two punch with Robertson to keep McKendree within striking distance.
Yet, Johns Hopkins became too much for the Bearcats to handle as they delivered the dagger with a 5-1 run, with King obtaining a second goal of the match, and the Bearcats falling 10-20.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
• Robertson led the offense with four goals on seven shots (57.1%).
• Le Goff earned his second straight hat-trick with three goals and two assists for five points, while drawing a pair of exclusions, plus a field block.
• Graduate goalkeeper Gennaro Pecoraro (Pesaro, Italy) collected 14 saves in 32 minutes of action.
• McKendree shot 10-for-31 (32.3%).
• The Bearcats assisted on all 10 of their goals.
SENIOR DAY
Prior to the game against Johns Hopkins, the program honored seven individuals as part of their Senior Night, including Gavin Haight (Jenison, Mich.), Gennaro Pecoraro (Pesaro, Italy), Emiliano Martinez (Mexico City, Mexico), Armand Le Goff (Reims, France), Rowan Daughtrey (Commerce City, Colo.), Nathan Weintraub (San Antonio, Texas), and Yannick Robertson (St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago), as they gave their time and dedication in all their years at McKendree. Although their time at the institution may come to a close, they will forever be engraved as part of the Bearcat family.
GAME THREE vs. Saddleback
BOX SCORE
Score: McKendree University 19, Saddleback College 11
Record: Bearcats 6-12, 0-0 WWPA | Bobcats 11-9, 0-3 OEC
HOW IT HAPPENED
McKendree dropped in the game's first four goals, with two coming by way of Prokopis, while Robertson and former Bobcat Le Goff got in on the other two. The former of the trio were both from penalty shots by Prokopis. The Greek native continued his scoring affair with five more goals bleeding into the midst of the third quarter.
Several 2-1 spurts followed to help build the Bearcats lead and keep the Bobcats out of reach. Up by six with about three and a half minutes remaining in the game, junior utility Tristan Grimett (Johannesburg, South Africa) chipped in a shot, as sophomore center Tonny Simon (Nassau, Bahamas) converted the 5-meter penalty shot to clinch the 19-11 victory.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
• Prokopis tabbed nine goals in the exhibition win on 13 shots (69.2%), plus three assists, a trio of steals, and an exclusion drawn.
• Robertson finished with three goals and a drawn exclusion.
• Pecoraro contributed 10 saves while supplementing the offense with a pair of assists.
• McKendree shot 19-for-33 (57.6%) and went 4-0 on sprints.
• The Bearcats assisted on 13 of their 19 goals (68.4%)
GAME FOUR vs. DIII RV Augustana
BOX SCORE
Score: McKendree University 12, University of Redlands 13 (OT)
Record: Bearcats 7-12, 0-0 WWPA | Vikings 4-9, 0-0 MPSF
HOW IT HAPPENED
Robertson drew first blood a minute and 41 seconds into play, as Prokopis and senior utility Rowan Daughtrey (Commerce City, Colo.) answered seconds later after a penalty shot from Augie to take the early 3-1 lead.
A 6-2 run by the Vikings put them out in front for the first time in the match, a minute and a half into the second half. However, a 6-1 response by the Bearcat offense, led by a trio from Prokopis swung things back into McKendree's favor to go up by a comfortable four points.
The fourth quarter would become eventful end to the invitational, as the Vikings roared back into contention with a huge 5-1 spurt in less than four minutes of action to tie the game at 13 apiece.
With the ball in Augie territory, the Bearcats drew a crucial exclusion with 16 seconds remaining to go man-up the rest of the way, as Head Coach Miguel Figueras called the timeout to draw a final play. Coming off the quick regroup, McKendree put their play calling into perfection as they passed the ball throughout the perimeter before Prokopis got a grasp of it and fired it to the back of the net to retake a one-point lead before the buzzer sounded.
Officials deemed one second to put back on the clock, as Augie called one last full timeout in hopes to draw up a miracle. However, they were unable to make a dent, as junior utility Kevin Kehoe (Chicago, Ill.) came up with the big field block and keep the game from going into overtime, allowing McKendree to win the in-state battle 14-13.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
• Robertson led the charge with five powerful goals on eight shots (62.5%) to go with two steals and two field blocks.
• Prokopis, with his monumental game-winning goal, had four goals and two assists for six points.
• Haight came away with 10 saves in the game, as he took away two steals and dished out an assist.
• McKendree shot 14-for-38 (36.8%) and went 2-4 on sprints.
• Bearcats assisted on eight of their 12 goals (66.7%) of their goals.
UP NEXT
McKendree will get a bye week before enacting in conference play at the WWPA West Virginia Showdown, hosted by Salem University in Bridgeport, West Virginia, on October 24th and 25th.
All games in the event are expected to be streamed live and on demand for free on the WWPA Network, with live stats also available via The FOSH.
Make sure to keep up with McKendree University Water Polo on X (Twitter) and Instagram. #NCAAwaterpolo
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