BRONX, N.Y. — The McKendree University men’s water polo team concluded its 2022 season with a Seventh Place finish at the 2022 Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference Championship (MAWPC) following a 13-8 win over Division III No. 8-ranked Johns Hopkins University at the Col. Francis B. Messmore Aquatic Center on the campus of Fordham University.
With the victory, the Bearcats finish the season with an 8-19 record and ended the season winning six of its last nine games, including going 2-2 at the MAWPC Conference Championships. JHU concludes its season with an 11-25 record.
In the contest, McKendee jumped out to a 5-1 lead after the opening quarter and led 9-2 at half against the Division III Blue Jays. JHU outscored the Bearcats, 6-4 in the second half to shrink the final difference to five at 13-8.
Junior center/utility player Breno Tebet (Sao Paulo, Brazil/Golden West College) led the way offensively with three goals, while graduate student attacker Josh Carlson (New Lenox, Ill./Lincoln-Way West), sophomore attacker Jespyn Bishop (Brighton, Colo./Brighton), fifth-year senior attacker Tony Sunagawa (Chino Hills, Calif./Chino Hills) and fifth-year senior attacker Nico Rodriguez (Bogota, Colombia/Oviedo) each had two goals in the season finale.
The Bearcats jumped out to a 5-0 lead thanks to three goals from Tebet and single tallies by Bishop and freshman center/utility player Cale Koester (New Lenox, Ill./Lincoln-Way Central). JHU scored with 2:54 left in the opening eight minutes to cut McKendree’s lead to 5-1.
Rodriguez got the scoring started in the second quarter with a goal just 33 seconds into the period to give the Bearcats a 6-1 lead. After JHU used a goal by Emerson Sullivan to cut McKendree’s lead to 6-2, the Bearcats used goals from Carlson, Bishop and Sunagawa to take a 9-2 lead at the half.
The Bluejays netted three consecutive goals to open the third quarter and cut the Bearcats lead to 9-5. However, Sunagawa stopped the run with a goal at the 3:26 mark to give McKendree a 10-5 lead. Following a goal by Ian Raley, Carlson capped the scoring in the third quarter to give McKendree an 11-6 lead heading into the final eight minutes.
Rodriguez and junior center defender Adam Serrano (Riverside, Calif./Poly) opened the fourth quarter with goals to give the Bearcats a 13-6 advantage with 3:11 left in the game. JHU received goals in the final two minutes from Raley and Kami Eslami to establish the final score.
Sunagawa and Rodriguez each had three assists in the game, whlile Carlson, Bishop, Serrano and sophomore attacker Schuyler Cramer (Thornton, Colo./Horizon) each added an assist in the win.
Defensively, Carlson had two steals, while Bishop, Sunagawa and Tebet each had a steal.
McKendree won three of the four sprints with Carlson earning two of those three wins, while Bishop had the other win.
Raley had three goals to pace Johns Hopkins.
Junior goalie Jimmy Cronin (Naperville, Ill./Metea Valley) collected 11 saves and had an assist in the win for the Bearcats.
JHU goalie Kyle Pearson notched seven saves in cage for the Blue Jays.
Release courtesy McKendree University Athletics Communications
