LEBANON, Ill. – The men's water polo team will finally start conference play this weekend, as they venture off to the Mountain State for the newly formed WWPA West Virginia Showdown, hosted by Salem University on October 24th and 25th at The Bridge Sports Complex in Bridgeport, West Virginia. 

The Bearcats will start off by facing Gannon University for their first conference matchup of the season on Saturday at 1:30 PM CT, and will then face old WWPA-foe Mercyhurst University at 4:00 PM CT. Then, on Sunday, McKendree will vie with the host Salem at 7:00 AM CT to put a bow on the show-down. 

All contests can be streamed live and on-demand for free on the WWPA Network, with live stats also provided for every game via The FOSH.  

MEET ME AT THE USUAL SPOT... IN ST. LOUIS 

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 Augustana College to put a bow on the event. On day one, the Bearcats pulled away in an exhibition match against Mt. San Antonio College [16-14] after being down and tightly contested all throughout, as they fell later in the day to DIII No.4 Johns Hopkins University [10-20], where the team could not catch up with the Blue Jays after hosting their senior recognitions. For day two, McKendree rebounded with another exhibition win versus Saddleback College [19-11] where they pulled of a few impressive scoring runs, and ended with a thrilling victory over DIII RV Augustana College [14-13] where sophomore attacker Alexandros Prokopis (Palaio Faliro, Greece) fired in the game-winning goal with one second remaining on the clock to beat their in-state rival Vikings.  

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. 

CROWD-PLEASERS 

In official-counted games, senior attacker Armand Le Goff (Reims, France) led with 12 points of five goals and seven assists with three drawn exclusions and one field block, as Prokopis followed with 10 points of five scores and five dished assists. Senior center Yannick Robertson (St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago) powered in a team-best nine goals on 15 shot attempts (60.0%) while drawing two exclusions and taking the ball away twice. Redshirt junior goalkeeper Gavin Haight (Jenison, Mich.) played in one official game, which he won against Augustana and recorded 10 saves on a 43.5 save percentage, along with two steals and one credited assist.  

TEAM TOPPERS 

• SHOTS – Alexandros Prokopis (108) 
• GOALS – Yannick Robertson (55) 
• ASSISTS – Armand Le Goff (40) 
• POINTS – Alexandros Prokopis (86) 
• SHOOTING % – Yannick Robertson (57.9%) 
• DRAWN EXCLUSIONS – Tie; Alexandros Prokopis, Armand Le Goff (27) 
• STEALS – Gennaro Pecoraro (26) 
• FIELD BLOCKS – Armand Le Goff (20) 
• SPRINTS WON – Emiliano Martinez (12) 
• SPRINT % – Emiliano Martinez (70.6) 
• SAVES – Gennaro Pecoraro (140) 
• SAVE % – Gennaro Pecoraro (43.6%) 

LOOKING AHEAD 

After the WWPA West Virginia Showdown comes to a close, McKendree will turn their attention to the WWPA Erie Classic hosted by Gannon University on November 7th and 8th for the team's second conference weekend. This will come after a bye weekend for the Bearcats. 

The team will open against Salem for a second straight time bright and early at 8:00 AM CT on Saturday, followed by Mercyhurst at 1:00 PM CT in the afternoon. The Bearcats will close out the event with the host Gannon at 8:30 AM on Sunday. 

All games are expected to be streamed live and on-demand for free on the WWPA Network, with live stats also provided for every game via The FOSH. 

TUNE IN-FO 

DATE	TIME (CT)	HOME (DARK) TEAM	AWAY (WHITE) TEAM	LIVE STATS	WATCH LIVE
10/24/26	1:30 PM	Gannon	McKendree	STATS	WATCH
10/24/26	4:00 PM	Mercyhurst	McKendree	STATS	WATCH
10/25/26	7:00 AM	Salem	McKendree	STATS	WATCH

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