WASHINGTON, Pa. – The men's water polo team was able to pick up their first handful of wins on the season and did so in seamless fashion during the W&J Invitational on the campus of Washington & Jefferson College on September 5th and 6th in Pennsylvania.
GAME ONE vs. Michigan State Club Team [Exhibition]
BOX SCORE
Score: McKendree University 15, Michigan State University 8
Record: Bearcats 0-6, 0-0 WWPA | Spartans 0-0
HOW IT HAPPENED
The first game of the W&J Invitational not only was presented as a warm up for what is to come later in the event, but a great opportunity to build some much-needed momentum.
Attackers Alexandros Prokopis (Palaio Faliro, Greece) and Armand Le Goff (Reims, France) kept McKendree afloat throughout the first half, with both chucking in two goals apiece with five scoring possessions from their supporting cast to take a commanding 9-3 lead at halftime.
A scoreless third quarter allowed Michigan State to creep back to within three points as both sides headed into the final period. After a fourth consecutive goal by the Spartans, the Bearcats eventually protected their lead by scoring six unanswered in an approximate three-minute span, headlined by once again Le Goff and Prokopis with another pair each, plus freshman utility Jonas King (Oviedo, Fla.) capping off the run with back-to-back goals of his own.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
• Prokopis and Le Goff each had four goals to lead both sides in scoring, with the former adding an assist, two drawn exclusions, and a pair of steals. The latter also had an assist to go with four takeaways.
• King supplemented with two successful shots of his own, plus a field block.
• Redshirt junior goalkeeper Gavin Haight (Jenison, Mich.) manned the cage all morning and had nine saves and four steals.
• McKendree shot 15-for-31 (48.4%) and went 2-2 on sprints
*NOTE: Statistics and results from this game do not officially count towards team records.
GAME TWO vs. Wheaton (Mass.)
BOX SCORE
Score: McKendree University 23, Wheaton College (Mass.) 13
Record: Bearcats 1-6, 0-0 WWPA | Lyons 0-2, 0-0 MPSF
HOW IT HAPPENED
It was surely a memorable one for the first-ever meeting between the two programs on Saturday evening, with the Bearcats getting the first laugh.
McKendree wasted no time building a monumental lead, as it stood at 7-0 before the five-minute mark eclipsed in the first quarter. This time, along with le Goff and Prokopis, sophomore attacker Jayden Del Campo (Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada) got the early hat-trick within that span.
After a 2-1 Lyons run to get their first points on the board, and with Le Goff sandwiched in between the two with his second goal of the game, McKendree tacked on another four unanswered with some of Head Coach Miguel Figueras' second and third platoon members getting some immense reps in scoring the ball.
The back-and-forth appeared throughout the game and into the quarter, but the Bearcats did not relinquish their prized lead as they came away with a 10-point 23-13 lead.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
• Del Campo, King, and senior attacker Emiliano Martinez (Mexico City, Mexico) each finished with a hat-trick of three goals, as Del Campo also tacked on two assists.
• Prokopis, Le Goff, senior utility Rowan Daughtrey (Commerce City, Colo.) and junior utility Kevin Kehoe (Chicago, Ill.) all had deposited two goals each, with Prokopis and Kahoe assisting three and two times, respectively.
• Graduate goalkeeper Gennaro Pecoraro (Pesaro, Italy) guarded the cage for all 32 minutes and produced 10 saves, three steals, and dished out a pair of assists
• McKendree shot 23-for-40 (57.5%) and went 3-1 on sprints
• Bearcats assisted on 18 of their 23 goals (78.3%) of their goals.
• The 23 total points mustered by McKendree is the most since putting up 23 against Washington & Jefferson College on October 26th, 2025.
• The team's 23 steals are the most in a game for the Bearcats on record within the past five seasons
GAME THREE vs. Connecticut College
BOX SCORE
Score: McKendree University 19, Connecticut College 11
Record: Bearcats 2-6, 0-0 WWPA | Camels 1-4, 0-0 MPSF
HOW IT HAPPENED
It would be the 'Armand Le Goff Show' to start out game three of the invite, as the Frenchman tabbed a hat-trick in the first period alone, with the help of senior center Yannick Robertson (St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago) to start up 4-1.
Robertson would get his second goal in the midst of quarter number two, as Prokopis returned to the fold and got two of his own. A 5-0 spurt by the Bearcat offense, headlined by Robertson, Prokopis, and junior utility Tristan Grimett (Johannesburg, South Africa) propelled them to a 13-5 lead.
After Connecticut responded with two scores of their own, another 5-0 run presented itself with Martinez connecting on a pair, while Kehoe, King, and freshman utility Ben Meier (Aurora, Ill.) chipped in one for themselves.
The Camels would then go with four straight into the net to put an end to the game, but it would not be enough to match McKendree, who would win handily 19-11.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
• Le Goff and Robertson led the way with four goals each, as Robertson did so on 100% shooting while Le Goff converted on six attempts with one assist.
• King registered his second consecutive hat-trick of three goals, and drawing one exclusion, plus one field block.
• Prokopis finished with two goals, but had an immense five assists to tie his career-high, as he also tabbed three steals and three exclusions drawn.
• Pecoraro ended the match with eight saves, five steals, and a career-high three assists.
• McKendree shot 19-for-35 (54.3%)
• Bearcats assisted on 15 of their 19 goals (79.0%) of their goals.
GAME FOUR vs. Penn State Behrend
BOX SCORE
Score: McKendree University 21, Penn State Behrend 15
Record: Bearcats 3-6, 0-0 WWPA | Lions 1-2, 0-0 MPSF
HOW IT HAPPENED
It would take a few minutes for the Bearcats to find their footing, as PSB sank in the game's first two goals, before Le Goff and Del Campo answered to tie the game after scoring on back-to-back possessions.
From there, McKendree would keep building their lead as the Lions kept chipping in a goal after every few made by the Bearcat offense. Le Goff tacked on two more to receive a hat-trick while Grimett would get his first career hat-trick before halftime, as Daughtrey and Junior utility Joshua Gibson (Nassau, Bahamas) each dropped in a pair to lead 13-7 at the break.
The Lions were able to tame McKendree for a few moments into the start of the second half by starting a 4-1 run to be down by just three. Yet, the tides would turn back in the Bearcats' favor thanks to a 5-0 spurt made into a subsequent 7-1 run where Le Goff added two more goals to his arsenal as Prokopis found the back of the net three more times, including the last two of the stretch to help seal a 21-15 victory and end the W&J Invitational unblemished.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
• Le Goff went 5-for-5 on shots, as he also tallied a trio of assists for eight points, while picking up two steals, one field block, and one drawn exclusion.
• Prokopis followed with four goals from his hands to go with four assists, one steal, and an exclusion drawn.
• Grimett and Gibson each had three goals to make the hat-trick count stand at four for the Bearcats, as the former had an assist and two steals, while the latter had one steal.
• Haight stayed in the cage the whole game and had nine saves and one takeaway.
• McKendree shot 21-for-37 (56.8%) and went 2-2 on sprints
• Bearcats assisted on 13 of their 21 goals (61.9%) of their goals.
UP NEXT
McKendree will be back in action next weekend on Saturday, September 12th, as they face their in-state rival Augustana College at the Anne Greve Lund Natatorium in Rock Island, Illinois at 1:00 PM CT.
Game coverage, including live streaming, live stats, and tickets, will be publicized in the coming days over at mckbearcats.com.
Make sure to keep up with McKendree University Water Polo on X (Twitter) and Instagram. #NCAAwaterpolo
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