LEWISBURG, Pa. — The McKendree University men’s water polo team opened play at the 2022 Bucknell University Invitational with two losses as the Bearcats fell versus Mount St. Mary’s University, 11-10, and Wagner College, 14-9.
In its opening game of the Bucknell Invitational, McKendree got three goals each from junior center Breno Tebet (Sao Paulo, Brazil/Golden West College), fifth-year senior attacker Nico Rodriguez (Bogota, Colombia/Ovideo) and fifth-year senior attacker Tony Sunagawa (Chino Hills, Calif./Chino Hills) in suffering at setback versus Mount St. Mary’s.
McKendree led 9-8 heading into the final quarter, before the Mount outscored the Bearcats, 3-1 in the fourth quarter to post the come-from-behind win.
The Bearcats jumped in front 2-0 in the opening two minutes with goals by Rodriguez and Sunagawa, before the Mount rallied to score four of the final six goals of the opening period to take a 5-4 lead.
In the second quarter, McKendree used back-to-back goals from Tebet in the final two minutes of the first half to take a 6-5 lead.
Sunagawa gave the Bearcats a 7-5 lead on his second goal of the game just 65 seconds into the third quarter, before the Mount rallied to score three goals in the period to cut McKendree’s lead to 9-8 after the first three periods.
In the fourth period, Sunagawa gave the Bearcats a 10-8 lead just 27 seconds into the period, but the Mount netted the final three goals of the game to seal the win. Mount’s final two goals were scored by Tommaso Baldineti, who finished with four goals in the win for the Mount.
The win was the first ever for Mount St. Mary’s against McKendree as the two teams are now 1-1 all-time in the series.
In the second game of the day against Wagner, the Bearcats got nine goals from seven different players, including two goals each from Tebet and Rodriguez.
Wagner jumped in front 5-2 after the first quarter with the goals by the Bearcats coming from Rodriguez and freshman attacker Justice Lamboy (Santee, Calif./West Hills).
The Bearcats, though, rallied to score three times in the second quarter to cut Wagner’s halftime lead to 6-5, including Rodriguez and sophomore attacker Jespyn Bishop (Brighton, Colo./Brighton) scoring the final two goals of the frame.
Wagner scored three of the four goals in the third quarter to take a 9-6 lead heading into the final eight minutes of regulation. The Bearcats lone goal in the quarter came from freshman center Cale Koester (New Lenox, Ill./Lincoln-Way Central).
The fourth quarter was a high scoring affair as the two teams combined for eight goals, including five from Wagner.
Sunagawa opened the scoring to cut Wagner’s lead to 9-7, but the Seahawks reeled off four straight goals to expand their margin to 13-7. A goal by Tebet stopped Wagner’s run, but the Seahawks added two more goals to take a 14-8 scoreboard advantage with 1:14 left on the clock. The Bearcats capped the scoring with 19 seconds left on a goal by Lamboy to close within 14-9 prior to the final horn.
Release courtesy McKendree University Athletics Communications
