McKendree University-vs.-Washington & Jefferson College Scoresheet (Game 1)
ERIE, Pa. — McKendree University’s Matthew Haygood (Fr., Chino Hills, Calif./Chino Hills) scored a game-high five goals to net Player of the Game accolades as the Bearcats clawed past Washington & Jefferson College, 18-8, in the opening game of the 2018 Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC)-West Region Championship hosted by Mercyhurst University at the Hallman Aquatics Center.
The Bearcats wasted little time in placing the Presidents in a hole as Ben Brauer (Fr., Duisburg, Germany/Steinbart-Gymnasium Duisburg) sliced home a strike 52 seconds into the game to put McKendree in front to stay.
Michael Krause (Jr., St. Louis, Mo./Saint Louis University), Tony Sunagawa (Fr., Chino Hills, Calif./Chino Hills) and Haygood followed with even-strength markers at the 5:55, 5:24 and 4:52 marks, respectively, prior to Brauer converting on a man-up chance at 2:54 to make it 5-0. Izaya Owotor (Jr., Portland, Ore./David Douglas) closed out the first quarter scoring 32 seconds later by lining in an even-strength score at 2:22 to make it 6-0.
Brad Nelms (Fr., Lake Forest, Calif./El Toro) inflated the margin to 7-0 with a man-up goal at the 6:49 mark of the second quarter prior to Dylan Gwinn (Jr., Baltimore, Md./Mount St. Joseph) answering for Washington & Jefferson by denting the twine with a six-on-five conversion of his own at 6:13 to pull the Presidents within 7-1.
Joseph Mahan (Jr., Corinth, Texas/John H Guyer) returned the lead to seven at 8-1 with a natural tally at 5:34 before Tyler Francis (So., Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) answered at 5:03 to once again inch W&J within six at 8-2.
The teams continued to exchange scoring jabs over the remainder of the first half as McKendree’s Haygood (3:14) and Aaron Jacobs (Fr., Houston, Texas/Jersey Village) (46 seconds) delivered power-play tallies for the Bearcats, while Troy Smith (Sr., San Marcos, Calif./San Marcos) lobbed in a natural score at 2:19 to make it 10-3 by halftime.
McKendree continued to pull away in the third quarter as Haygood led the way with three goals as the Bearcats outscored the Presidents 5-3 to build the lead to 15-6 entering the fourth quarter. The Bearcats closed out the game with a 3-2 scoring advantage over the final eight minutes for the 18-8 final score.
For McKendree, 13 different players tossed in scores as Haygood (five) and Brauer (two) led the way with multi-goal games, while Abraham Allen (So., Webster Groves, Mo./Webster Groves), Mahan, Peter Germuska (Fr., Encinitas, Calif./La Cost Canyon), Adrian Maher (So., Keller, Texas/Keller), Robert Esson (Jr., Huntington Beach, Calif./Huntington Beach), Jackson Spencer (Fr., O’Fallon, Mo./Fort Zumwalt), Sunagawa, Nelms, Jacobs, Owotor and Krause each put away solo markers.
In cage, Ori Scanlon (So., Orlando, Fla./Olympia) earned the start and the win with seven saves for the Bearcats. Marko Vucetic (Jr., Belgrade, Serbia/Redstar Academy) and Bryce Tully (Fr., Yucapia, Calif./Yucaipa) came on in relief to make two saves each as McKendree punches its ticket to a semifinal showdown with No. 1 seed/undefeated/defending MAWPC-West Champion Gannon University at 3:30 p.m.
Across the tank, Smith and Dustin Reinke (Fr., Fresno, Calif./Buchanan) both netted pairs of goals for Washington & Jefferson to accompany solo tallies by Francis, Gwinn, Jason Wright (Fr., St. Louis, Mo./Lindbergh) and Nick Spehar (Jr., Perkasie, Pa./Pennridge).
Between the pipes, Spehar started the game and took the loss. Ian Geister (Jr., Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cumberland Valley) and Francis both stopped three shots in relief as W&J drops into the consolation side of the bracket and will return to the water at 2:00 p.m. versus the loser of a first round game between Salem University and Monmouth College.
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| Washington & Jefferson College | 0 | 3 | 3 | 2 | – | 8 |
| McKendree University | 6 | 4 | 5 | 3 | – | 18 |
| McKendree Goals: | Matthew Haygood (5); Ben Brauer (2); Abraham Allen; Joseph Mahan; Peter Germuska; Adrian Maher; Robert Esson; Jackson Spencer; Tony Sunagawa; Brad Nelms; Aaron Jacobs; Izaya Owotor; Michael Krause | |||||
| W&J Goals: | Troy Smith (2); Dustin Reinke (2); Tyler Francis; Dylan Gwinn; Jason Wright; Nick Spehar | |||||
| Saves: | McKendree – Ori Scanlon (7, 16 minutes), Marko Vucetic (2, 8 minutes), Bryce Tully (2, 8 minutes); W&J – Nick Spehar (0, 8 minutes), Ian Geister (3, 16 minutes), Tyler Francis (3, 8 minutes) | |||||
| Exclusions: | McKendree – 7 ; W&J – 12 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | McKendree – 5-for-12 ; W&J – 4-for-7 | |||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | None | |||||
| Officials: | Hadi Farid, Igor Mernenko | |||||
McKendree University’s Daniel Peralta (#10) checks Washington & Jefferson College’s Will Kitsch (#2)
Washington & Jefferson College’s Tyler Francis (#9) prepares to shoot as McKendree University’s Jackson Spencer (#13) defends
Washington & Jefferson College’s Cam Spicer (#11) looks to pass as McKendree University’s Jackson Spencer (#13) closes in
McKendree University’s Izaya Owotor (#3) looks for an opening as Washington & Jefferson College’s Will Kitsch (#2) defends
