ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – The women's water polo team fought their way back into the win column after vanquishing the Vikings of DIII No.5 Augustana College in an overtime thriller at the Anne Greve Lund Natatorium on Saturday, February 28th in Rock Island, Illinois.
Score: McKendree University 14, Augustana College 11 (OT)
Record: Bearcats 4-7, 0-0 WWPA | Vikings 6-2, 1-0 CWPA
HOW IT HAPPENED
After Augustana struck first with a five-meter penalty shot one minute into the match, McKendree responded with force and netted in three straight, with two of such coming by way of senior attacker Dylan Murphy (Carlsbad, Calif.). The Vikings took back momentum with a power play goal to end the first quarter as they flip the script in the second quarter by scoring three more while junior attacker Shanelle Márquez (Madrid, Spain) tacked on her second goal of the game already, while senior Jazmine Sandoval (Westminster, Calif.) dropped in her ninth of the season.
After the game got knotted up with a 5-5 score at halftime, the same story from the opening moments of action presented itself with the Vikings striking first just 17 ticks into the second half, but the Bearcats would notch three goals unanswered to take a two-point lead. A 4-1 run by Augustana bled its way into the final minutes of regulation in the fourth period with a 10-9 edge. With 1:23 left on the game clock, Murphy became the hero in hostile waters by taking advantage on a man-up opportunity to tie the contest and force overtime in Rock Island.
Augustana began the first of two extra periods with a goal, but it would be the last they would get for the rest of the day, as Márquez and Murphy, along with leading scorer Bella Morquecho (Chicago, Ill.) boosted the squad to four unanswered scores to bring home the 14-11 overtime victory back to O'Fallon.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
• Murphy and Márquez each tabbed a game-high four goals each in the win, as the former collected a field block while the latter dished out a pair of assists.
• Morquecho also got on the board with a hat-trick of three goals, plus two steals.
• Sandoval, senior attacker Joey Rebelo (Montreal, Québec, Canada), and junior utility Hailey Munoz (Murrieta, Calif.) all got one goal in the contest.
• Freshman goalkeeper Delaney Judkins (La Grange, Ill.) played all 38:00 minutes in the net and came away with 11 saves and a pair of takeaways.
• McKendree outshot Augustana 29-28.
• The Bearcats move to 2-0 on the season against the Vikings, and 9-1 all-time in program history
UP NEXT
McKendree will be back in action for their West Coast trip, starting on Thursday, March 5th to face RV Villanova University and the host No.23 California State University, Northridge in the CSUN Mini Invite. Afterwards, on Friday and Saturday, the team will take part in the Convergence Tournament to play four games, all of which be held at the Haldeman Pool in Claremont, California.
Live streaming and live stat destinations are to be determined.
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