CALIFORNIA – The men's water polo team spent their first couple of days under the bright sun of California, where they competed against three programs ranked inside the CWPA Men's Varsity Top 20 and edged out an 18-17 win over Cuesta College in an exhibition bout in their most recent outing.
GAME ONE vs. T-No.20 Cal State Fullerton
BOX SCORE
Score: McKendree University 7, California State University, Fullerton 19
Record: Bearcats 4-7, 0-0 WWPA | Titans 12-8, 0-0 Big West
HOW IT HAPPENED
It took some time for McKendree to finally get on the board, as they were shut out by Fullerton in the first period and got their first goal to sail in a minute and a half into the second via senior center Yannick Robertson (St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago) with freshman utility Jonas King (Oviedo, Fla.) on the follow up 40 seconds after.
The Bearcats would then find themselves on the flip side of a 9-2 Titan run that lasted midway through the third quarter, with attackers Alexandros Prokopis (Palaio Faliro, Greece) and Armand Le Goff (Reims, France) dropping in McKendree's pair.
Unable to cut it close, Prokopis tacked on two more scoring possessions to give him the hat-trick alongside Robertson with his second of the match to conclude day one on the West Coast.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
• Prokopis led with a hat-trick of three goals, plus an assist for four points, along with a steal and a pair of exclusions drawn.
• Robertson contributed two goals with a steal and a drawn exclusion.
• Le Goff and King rounded out the Bearcats' scoring with a goal each, with the former adding an assist.
• Graduate goalkeeper Gennaro Pecoraro (Pesaro, Italy) finished the full game with nine saves and five steals.
• McKendree shot 7-for-22 (31.8%) and went 0-4 on sprints
• Bearcats assisted on three of their seven goals (42.9%) of their goals.
GAME TWO vs. T-No.20 Concordia Irvine
BOX SCORE
Score: McKendree University 11, Concordia University Irvine 17
Record: Bearcats 4-8, 0-0 WWPA | Golden Eagles 10-7, 0-0 WWPA
HOW IT HAPPENED
Prokopis picked up where he left off in the team's previous game by scoring the Bearcats' first with 50 ticks to go in the first quarter after being down by three to CUI. As the Golden Eagles mount their lead to a greater extent, Le Goff and Robertson, along with Prokopis, each found the back of the net in period number two, as they would be down 4-11 heading into halftime.
The second half of action got McKendree fired up and kickstarted a 5-2 run, with three of them coming from the hands of Robertson to mark him at four goals so far in the match with Prokopis scoring once again, and Junior utility Tristan Grimett (Johannesburg, South Africa) sliding one through the defense.
Trailing by eight after a 3-0 spurt by the Golden Eagles, attackers Jacob Orr (St. Louis, Mo.) and Emiliano Martinez (Mexico City, Mexico) got themselves on the scoresheet in the final minute of gameplay.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
• Robertson and Prokopis each earned hat-tricks in the setback, with the former netting four, while the latter ended with three plus an assist.
• Martinez, Grimett, Le Goff, and Orr each tabbed a goal for the Bearcats.
• Pecoraro saved the ball 14 times along with an assist and two steals in 32 minutes of play.
• McKendree shot 11-for-33 (33.3%) and went 1-3 on sprints
• Bearcats assisted on eight of their 11 goals (72.7%) of their goals.
GAME THREE vs. No.14 Loyola Marymount
BOX SCORE
Score: McKendree University 7, Loyola Marymount University 23
Record: Bearcats 4-9, 0-0 WWPA | Lions 9-6, 0-0 WCC
HOW IT HAPPENED
McKendree improved their game strategy against arguably the toughest opponent on their West Coast trip this weekend. They kept up the pace with the Lions by answering on every one or two goals made by the opposition, as Le Goff reached a first quarter hat-trick with Prokopis keeping his momentum going with the Bearcats trailing 4-7 at the end of the period.
After the Bearcats cut the deficit to just two off a successful shot by Robertson 47 seconds into the second quarter of action, LMU went hot and connected on seven consecutive to build themselves a comfortable lead. Orr stopped the bleeding momentarily with a goal midway through the third period before the Lions tacked on three more.
Senior utility Rowan Daughtrey (Commerce City, Colo.) gave McKendree their last goal of the contest off a power play opportunity, as LMU ran away with the 23-7 win.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
• Le Goff ended with three goals for an earned hat-trick.
• Prokopis, Daughtrey, Robertson, and Orr each followed up with one made goal each.
GAME FOUR vs. Cuesta [Exhibition]
BOX SCORE
Score: McKendree University 18, Cuesta College 17
Record: Bearcats 4-9, 0-0 WWPA | Lions 4-8, 0-1 WSC
HOW IT HAPPENED
Looking to get some meaningful reps in a non-counted exhibition, McKendree was favorable to start out with Le Goff and Prokopis continuing a well-rounded start to the eight-game slate out in California by initiating their squad's first two goals in the match. Grimett showcased his IQ with back-to-back conversions on a five-meter penalty shot and a man-up opportunity, plus freshman utility Ben Meier (Aurora, Ill.) getting on the board with a pair.
Leading 8-6 after halftime, King made his second goal of the match, while Prokopis kept riding hot with McKendree's next two goals and Le Goff nailing in two consecutive to build a two point lead after the third quarter.
The duo of Le Goff and Prokopis made a small 3-1 run, with two of them coming from the latter, keeping ahead of the Cougars by a pair. With roughly a minute and a half to go in the game, Cuesta's JT Doughty knotted things up at 17 apiece.
Robertson would play hero by powering a go-ahead shot with 48 ticks left on the game clock to put up the Bearcats by one. McKendree defended their lead from then on and would pick up a thrilling 18-17 win over the Cougars.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
• Le Goff finished with a double-hat-trick of six goals while Prokopis with a plentiful five.
• Grimett, King, and Meier each tabbed two goals in the win, as Robertson's lone goal was the game-winner for the Bearcats.
*NOTE: Statistics and results from this game do not officially count towards team records.
UP NEXT
McKendree will be back in action on Friday, October 2nd as they begin day one of the annual Gary Troyer Tournament with DIII No.8 Occidental College at 4:00 PM CT and DIII No.9 University of La Verne at 7:45 PM CT
Both games will be streamed live and on-demand on FloSports, with live stats available via The FOSH.
Make sure to keep up with McKendree University Water Polo on X (Twitter) and Instagram. #NCAAwaterpolo
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