LEBANON, Ill. – The men's water polo team will look to continue their momentum after a schedule break for two consecutive weekends, as they are set to compete in an eight-game stretch out in sunny California, including a four-game slate at the annual Gary Troyer Tournament in the latter half.
The Bearcats will land on the West Coast Wednesday morning and will look to sprint things off later that evening at California State University, Fullerton in an 8:00 PM CT tilt. The next day, on the first day of October, will feature three contests for McKendree with first a designated non-conference matchup at Concordia University Irvine at 12:00 PM CT. Then, the team will head westward towards the golden sand of Huntington Beach and Ocean View High School to face No.11 Loyola Marymount University at 3:00 PM CT and then Cuesta College in an exhibition bout at 5:45 PM CT.
The last four games of the trip will take place in two different locations as part of the long-running Gary Troyer Tournament. Day one on Friday, October 2nd will be held at the De Mandel Aquatics Center on the campus of DIII No.10 Occidental College, as McKendree will vie against the Tigers first at 4:00 PM CT and will then take on DIII No.7 University of La Verne at 7:45 PM CT. Day two of the event will have the Bearcats in Claremont at the Haldeman Pool of Pomona-Pitzer, and will battle DIII No.6 California Lutheran University at 11:45 AM CT and later against DIII No.2 University of Redlands at 3:30 PM CT to cap it off.
Live and on-demand streaming will be available only for the Cal State Fullerton (ESPN+), Concordia Irvine (WWPA Network), and Occidental (FloSports) games via the respective subscription purchases required. Live stats will also be provided via The FOSH for all McKendree's contests, excluding the pair of games held at Huntington Beach (LMU and Cuesta). Tickets can be purchased online for the CUI matchup over at cuigoldeneagles.com.
SCOUTING THE LAST OUTING
McKendree has now won four straight regular-season games for the first time since 2022, in light of their most recent 15-8 victory over then-DIII No.10 Augustana College, held at the Anne Greve Lund Natatorium on Saturday, September 12th in Rock Island, Illinois. The Bearcats broke open a close game with a 6-0 scoring surge spanning the second and third quarters to sink the Vikings for the fifth time ever and to lead the overall series 5-4.
The Bearcats have yet to face a conference opponent.
COMMANDED AND CONQUERED
Senior attacker Armand Le Goff (Reims, France) powered the offense with a double-hat trick, netting six goals on eight shots while adding two assists and a pair of field blocks.
Senior center Yannick Robertson (St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago) contributed four goals on six shots, and sophomore attacker Alexandros Prokopis (Palaio Faliro, Greece) dished out a team-high four assists alongside two goals.
Graduate goalkeeper Gennaro Pecoraro (Pesaro, Italy) anchored the defense by recording a season-high 17 saves, finishing just one stop shy of his career-high.
TEAM TOPPERS
• SHOTS –
Armand Le Goff (45)
• GOALS –
Armand Le Goff (23)
• ASSISTS –
Alexandros Prokopis (18)
• POINTS – Tie;
Armand Le Goff,
Alexandros Prokopis (38)
• SHOOTING % –
Kevin Kehoe (83.3%)
• DRAWN EXCLUSIONS –
Alexandros Prokopis (13)
• STEALS –
Gennaro Pecoraro (15)
• FIELD BLOCKS – Tie;
Armand Le Goff,
Jonas King (5)
• SPRINTS WON –
Jayden Del Campo (3)
• SPRINT % –
Nathan Weintraub (66.7%)
• SAVES –
Gennaro Pecoraro (65)
• SAVE % –
Gennaro Pecoraro (38.2%)
LOOKING AHEAD
After the trip to California and the Gary Troyer Tournament, the Bearcats will make their season home debut for the inaugural Meet Me in St. Louis Invitational on October 10th and 11th inside the McKendree Metro Rec Plex in O'Fallon, Illinois.
McKendree will welcome the likes of Salem University, Augustana College, Johns Hopkins University, Mt. San Antonio College, and Saddleback College to compete in the event. All event information can be found on the Tournament Central page.
Video streaming for all games both live and on demand can be viewed for free on the WWPA Network. All contest live stats are available to track on The FOSH.
TUNE IN-FO
| DATE |
TIME (CT) |
HOME (DARK) TEAM |
AWAY (WHITE) TEAM |
LIVE STATS |
WATCH LIVE |
| 9/30/26 |
8:00 PM |
Cal State Fullerton |
McKendree |
STATS |
WATCH |
| 10/1/26 |
12:00 PM |
Concordia Irvine |
McKendree |
STATS |
WATCH |
| 10/1/26 |
3:00 PM |
Loyola Marymount |
McKendree |
NO LIVE STATS |
NO STREAM |
| 10/1/26 |
5:45 PM |
Cuesta |
McKendree |
NO LIVE STATS |
NO STREAM |
| 10/2/26 |
4:00 PM |
Occidental |
McKendree |
STATS |
WATCH |
| 10/2/26 |
7:45 PM |
La Verne |
McKendree |
STATS |
NO STREAM |
| 10/3/26 |
11:45 AM |
California Lutheran |
McKendree |
STATS |
NO STREAM |
| 10/3/26 |
3:30 PM |
Redlands |
McKendree |
STATS |
NO STREAM |
Make sure to keep up with McKendree University Water Polo on X (Twitter) and Instagram. #NCAAwaterpolo
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