BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — Nico Rodriguez (Jr., Bogota, Colombia/Oviedo) and Matthew Haygood (Jr., Chino Hills, Calif./Chino Hills) of McKendree University combined for 32 goals, 14 assists, 13 steals and 8 drawn exclusions during a 4-0 league weekend to garner notice as the February 15 Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) Co-Players of the Week.
Competing at The Aquatic Center at Mylan Park in Morgantown, W.Va., the Bearcats duo combined to power McKendree to victories over Washington & Jefferson College (24-6 W), Gannon University (13-11 W), Mount St. Mary’s University (22-12 W) and Mercyhurst University (17-11 W) to stake the program’s claim for the No. 1 seed at the MAWPC-West Region Championship on Saturday-Sunday, February 27-28, at the Hallman Aquatics Center in Erie, Pa.
Rodriguez accounted for 13 goals, eight assists, eight steals and a pair of drawn exclusions during the games on Saturday-Sunday, February 13-14. He opened the four-game stand with five goals versus W&J and a pair versus Gannon on February 13. On Valentine’s Day, his shots kissed the back of the cage four times versus Mount St. Mary’s and twice against Mercyhurst.
The offensive output nearly matched Rodriguez’s total from last season as he previously notched 14 goals in 2019 and 11 in 2018.
Haygood, who picks up his second co-Player of the Week award after previously sharing the October 14 laurel in 2019 with La Salle University’s Luke Waechter, led all Bearcats during the weekend with 19 goals, six assists, six drawn exclusions and five steals.
On February 13, he put away a pair of strikes against W&J prior to pumping in four scores versus Gannon. He wrapped up the quartet of contests with seven scores versus Mount St. Mary’s and six more in helping to upend Mercyhurst.
The pairs six goals against Gannon helped McKendree make history as it snapped a 29-game conference regular season win streak by the Golden Knights. The loss marked Gannon’s first-ever regular season defeat in MAWPC-West competition as the Golden Knights previously stood at 27-0. Including the prior Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA)-Southern Division-West Region, Gannon was 29-0 entering the game versus league opponents in conference/regular season action dating back to a 12-11 loss at Mercyhurst University on October 9, 2015.
In addition, the loss terminated a nine-game overall MAWPC-West winning streak (including the MAWPC Championship) stretching back to a 12-9 loss to McKendree on November 3, 2018 when the Bearcats clawed past the Golden Knights in the semifinals of the MAWPC-West Championship at the David M. Hallman Aquatic Center in Erie.
February 15 Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference Player of the Week Honor Roll:Hans Zdolsek (Fordham University); Andrew Miller (Iona College); Jason O’Donnell (Mount St. Mary’s University); Payton Comstock (United States Naval Academy); Chris Edwards (Washington & Jefferson College)
