BRIDGEPORT, W.V. – The women's water polo team could not come away victorious in day one of the Salem Invitational to resume WWPA play, as the team fell to both Gannon University and Saint Francis University on Saturday, March 28th in Bridgeport, West Virginia.
GAME ONE vs. Gannon
BOX SCORE
Score: McKendree University 12, Gannon University 16
Record: Bearcats 8-15, 1-2 WWPA | Golden Knights 8-9, 1-3 WWPA
HOW IT HAPPENED
Gannon controlled the opening minutes of the game by taking a 5-1 early lead with junior center Bella Morquecho (Chicago, Ill.) giving the Bearcats their first goal. Junior attacker Mikayla Brown (Concord, Calif.) ended the first quarter of play with two back-to-back goals to cut the deficit to three.
The match would be knotted up at five apiece after Morquecho and junior utility Hailey Munoz (Murrieta, Calif.) connected inside to begin the second quarter, as Munoz made do with a penalty shot opportunity. Two more scoring possessions by the Golden Knights closed out half number one to go back on top with a 7-5 lead.
Both sides dropped five shots into the cage in the third quarter of action, where Morquecho and Brown each reached a hat-trick with their third goals of the contests, while Munoz clutched in her second with the gap still at a two-point margin.
Gannon put in four straight to begin the final period of regulation to extend their lead to six with a little over three and a half minutes left. With a minute remaining, Munoz made two more shots to give her a team-high four goals on the match, but it would not be enough to overcome the deficit, and would falter 12-16 in the conference game.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
• Munoz led with a season-high four goals on seven shot attempts (57.1%), while also dishing out an assist.
• Brown and Morquecho also finished with a hat-trick of three goals as the former picked up a steal and the latter drew four exclusions.
• The senior attacking duo of Jazmine Sandoval and Dylan Murphy both got a goal to go in with a trio of assist combined between the two.
• Freshman goalkeeper Delaney Judkins (La Grange, Ill.) manned the cage the whole 32:00 minutes and recorded nine saves and four takeaways.
• McKendree outshot Gannon 35-30.
• The Bearcats won the steal battle 10-7.
GAME TWO vs. Saint Francis
BOX SCORE
Score: McKendree University 8, Saint Francis University 22
Record: Bearcats 8-16, 1-2 WWPA | Red Flash 7-9, 0-0 CWPA
HOW IT HAPPENED
SFU dropped in the first two scores of the game before Morquecho rebounded off her hat-trick in the previous game with a floater into the net. McKendree would go back-and-forth with the Red Flash, as Murphy and senior center defender Allie Diller (Grand Ledge, Mich.) gave their squad a couple of responding goals to cut the deficit to one.
The Red Flash would utilize a 7-0 flurry as a turning point in the match to take a 11-3 advantage over the Bearcats before the freshman utility Charlie Monroe (The Woodlands, Texas) made use of a power play situation to close out the first half with a little positive momentum.
Sandoval began the second half of play with a man-up goal of her own, as Morquecho fired another one about a minute later with the score 12-6, favoring SFU. Another 7-0 run by the Red Flash put the Bearcats in a deep hole to dig out of with still five and a half minutes to go in regulation.
The newcomers in Monroe and junior attacker Emma Cramer (Brentwood, Calif.) chipped in a couple more shot but would ultimately fall in their second matchup of the Salem Invitational 8-22.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
• Morquecho contributed two goals on four shot attempts (50.0%) to bring her to five goals in the Invitational thus far.
• Monroe also tabbed two goals in the game.
• Senior attacker Joey Rebelo (Montreal, Québec, Canada) did not register any shot attempts, but did dish out three assists, along with two takeaways.
• Freshman goalkeeper Daisy Wetherholt (Malibu, Calif.) spent the whole game guarding the cage and collected four saves, plus a steal.
• McKendree assisted on 100% of their goals in the contest.
UP NEXT
McKendree will be back in action tomorrow, Sunday, March 29th for day two of the Salem Invitational, where they will take on the host Salem University at 8:00 AM CT and will conclude with Mercyhurst University at 11:00 AM CT.
Both contests can be watched for free live and on demand on the WWPA Network. Live stats will also be provided to the public via The FOSH.
Make sure to keep up with McKendree University Water Polo on Instagram, X (Twitter), and TikTok. #NCAAwaterpolo
For more updates and information on Bearcat Athletics, please continue to visit McKBearcats.com and follow us on Facebook, X (Twitter), and Instagram.
#BearcatsUnleashed
