Mercyhurst University-vs.-McKendree University Scoresheet (MAWPC-West Championship – Game #5)
ERIE, Pa — Goalie Ori Scanlon (Sr., Orlando, Fla./Olympia) made seven saves to keep No. 4 seed Mercyhurst University at bay for most of the game and lead No. 1 seed/Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC)-West Region regular season champion McKendree University back to the title game with a 15-9 defeat of the host Lakers at the Winter 2021 MAWPC-West Championship.
Courtesy the victory, McKendree punches its ticket back to the MAWPC-West Championship for the third consecutive year and locks up an automatic berth to the Winter 2021 MAWPC Championship at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., on Saturday-Sunday, March 6-7. The victory of the MAWPC Championship earns the league’s automatic bid to the Winter 2021 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Men’s Water Polo Championship at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.
The Bearcats – which became the first program other than Gannon University to win the MAWPC-West regular season title thanks to a 13-11 victory over the Golden Knights – will seek to capture the program’s second MAWPC-West crown. The 2018 MAWPC-West victor via a 13-12 defeat of Salem Univeristy, this marks the third consecutive year McKendre will battle for the crown as the squad dropped a 15-14 game in overtime to Gannon last year at the annual site of the MAWPC-West Championship – the David M. Hallman III Aquatics Center.
McKendree – which previously finished fifth (2017), first (2018) and second (2019) in the program’s three prior MAWPC-West Championship appearances – went to work against the 2016 MAWPC-West Champion Lakers to earn another shot at the league crown.
Pedro Osorio (Sr., San Bernardino, Calif./Cajon) extended the Bearcats’ claws in the first three and a half minutes of the game by slashing his way to the cage for strikes at 5:34 and 4:41 to stake McKendre to a 2-0 lead. Matthew Haygood (Jr., Chino Hills, Calif./Chino Hills) and Andrew Serrano (Sr., Riverside, Calif./Summit View) padded the margin to 4-0 with consecutive goals at 3:37 and 2:03, respectively, as the visitors took command of the game and never looked back.
Mercyhurst extinguished McKendree’s offensive firestorm with 1:27 remaining on the first quarter clock courtesy a man-up conversion by Derek Kagen (So., San Diego, Calif./Clairemont) to move the Lakers within three at 4-1.
Jackson Spencer (Jr., O’Fallon, Mo./Fort Zumwalt West) inflated the lead back to four (5-1) with a power-play score of his own (53 seconds), but Dylan Shaffer (Sr., Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif./Tesoro) stroked in a response with an advantage tally for the Lakers at the 29 seconds mark to make it 5-2.
It marked the last time Mercyhurst was within three goals of the Bearcats for the remainder of the contest.
Following 2:08 of back-and-forth water polo with neither team able to solve the other’s second quarter adjustments, McKendree found the solution in a big way.
Osorio (5:52), Nico Rodriguez (Jr., Bogota, Colombia/Oviedo) (3:27) and Haygood (2:06) dented the twine with back-to-back-to-back blasts prior to Andrew Serrano swishing a man-up chance with 1:17 remaining in the first half to make it a 9-2 game heading into the break.
Mercyhurst attempted to climb back into the game as Michael Gutman (Jr., Columbus, Ohio/Saint Charles Prep) and Aleksa Vucurovic (Jr. Novi Sad, Serbia/Cy Fair) opened the second half with strikes at 7:47 and 7:14, respectively, to close within five at 9-4.
Haygood put an end to the run by completing a hat-trick at 5:42 to return the lead to six (10-4), but Kagen (5:23) and Gutman (3:28) trimmed Mercyhurst’s deficit down to four (10-6).
McKendree delivered its own mini-run to stop the bleeding as Abraham Allen (Sr., Webster Groves, Mo./Webster Groves) and Josh Carlson (Jr., New Lenox, Ill./Lincoln Way West) ticked off tallies at 2:00 and 1:33, respectively, to enlarge the lead back to six at 12-6.
The teams traded scores over the remainder of the third quarter as Mathieu Davis (Jr., Montego Bay, Jamaica/Wolmer’s Boys’ School) buried an even-strength goal (51 seconds) prior to Rodriguez cashing in on a man-up bid with 11 seconds on the clock to lock the scoreboard at 13-7 after 24 minutes.
The Bearcats put the game out of reach in the first half of the fourth quarter as Michael Rojas (Fr., Cali, Colombia) and Adam Serrano (Fr., Riverside, Calif./Summit View) rifled home shots at 5:46 and 3:51, respectively, to make it 15-7.
Mercyhurst shaved a pair of goals off the final margin prior to the closing horn as Davis (2:00) and Gutman (17 seconds) converted on man-up chances to establish the 15-9 conclusion.
For McKendree, Haygood and Osorio both scored three times. Andrew Serrano and Rodriguez chipped in pairs, while Adam Serrano, Carlson, Allen, Rojas and Spencer each found the back of the cage once.
Gutman led the way for Mercyhurst with three scores. Davis (two), Kagen (two), Shaffer (one) and Kagen (one) completed the Lakers’ scoring.
In cage, Nash Greeven (Jr, Vista, Calif./Cathedral Catholic) made 12 saves in taking the defeat.
The result forwards McKendree and Mercyhurst into the championship (1:30 p.m.) and third place (11:15 a.m.) games on Sunday, February 28, against either No. 2 seed Gannon University or No. 3 seed Mount St. Mary’s University.
McKendree was undefeated against both Mount St. Mary’s (22-12 W, February 14) and Gannon (13-11 W, February 13) during the regular season, while Mercyhurst was winless versus Gannon (9-6 L, February 6) and Mount St. Mary’s (10-7 L, February 6).
Mercyhurst will aim to complete a run of first-second-third-and fourth marks as the Lakers have previously wrapped up the MAWPC-West Championship in first (2016), second (2017) and fourth (2018, 2019) place.
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| McKendree University |
5 | 4 | 4 | 2 | – | 15 |
| Mercyhurst University | 2 | 0 | 5 | 2 | – | 9 |
| Mercyhurst Goals: | Michael Gutman (3); Mathieu Davis (2); Derek Kagen (2); Aleksa Vucurovic; Dylan Shaffer | |||||
| McKendree Goals: | Matthew Haygood (3); Pedro Osorio (3); Nico Rodriguez (2); Andrew Serrano (2); Adam Serrano; Jackson Spencer; Michael Rojas; Abraham Allen; Josh Carlson | |||||
| Saves: | Mercyhurst – Nash Greeven (12) ; McKendree – Ori Scanlon (7) | |||||
| Exclusions: | Mercyhurst – 6 ; McKendree – 11 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | Mercyhurst – 4-for-11 ; McKendree – 2-for-6 | |||||
| Sprints: | Mercyhurst – 4-for-4 ; McKendree – 0-for-4 | |||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | None | |||||
| Officials: | Jason Grubb ; Elijah Fellers | |||||
McKendree University’s Abraham Allen (#6) lines up a shot as Mercyhurst University’s Aleksa Vucurovic (#4) defends
Mercyhurst University’s Teagan Thomas (#8) attempts to stop a shot by McKendree University’s Nico Rodriguez (#10)
Mercyhurst University’s Nash Greeven (#1) tries for a save against McKendree University
Mercyhurst University’s Mathieu Davis (#9) lobs a shot over McKendree University’s Pedro Osorio (#14) towards goalie Ori Scanlon (#1C)
