McKendree University women's water polo concluded play here Saturday in the Convergence Tournament by posting back-to-back wins over Occidental and Caltech at the De Mandel Aquatics Center.
The Bearcats (8-3) opened the second day of action at the event with a 12-4 win over Occidental, before concluding the event with a 20-1 win over Caltech.
In Saturday's two games, senior attacker Carly Manuel (Lantana, Texas/Guyer) led the way with eight goals and five assists for a total of 13 points, while senior center Abigail Burton (Chino, Calif./Chino) added five goals and two assists for a total of seven points, while junior Courtney Smith (Stockton, Calif./Lincoln) had four goals and two assists for a total of six points. Several other Bearcats had three or more goals on the day as senior attacker Maddy Bolton (Alta Loma, Calif./Los Osos) had four goals, while freshman center Sofia Dominguez (Long Beach, Calif./Woodrow Wilson), senior center defender Danielle Borelli (Laguna Beach, Calif./Laguna Beach) and junior utility player Shoshana Scanlon (Orlando, Fla./Olympia) each had three goals in the two wins.
GAME 1 RECAP – McKENDREE 12, OCCIDENTAL 4
Borelli scored the first two goals of the game for the Bearcats as the two teams were tied at the first eight minutes of play.
The Bearcats, though, would score four of the five goals in the second period to lead 6-3 at the half. Burton, Dominguez, Manuel and Bolton would score the Bearcats' goals in the period.
McKendree's goal scoring flurry continued in the third period as they outscored the Tigers, 3-0, to take a 9-3 lead after 24 minutes of play.
Bolton, Manuel and Dominguez would score the first three goals of the fourth period to give the Bearcats a 12-3 lead. Koko Butcher capped the scoring on a goal with 53 seconds left in the game.
Manuel finished with three goals and three assists for six points, while Bolton added three goals and an assist for four points and Dominguez and Borelli each scored twice in the win.
Occidental got goals from four different players in the loss.
McKendree held a 26-19 edge in shots against the Tigers.
Freshman Sydney Kane (Bradley, Ill./Bradley-Bourbonnais) played all 32 minutes in goal for the Bearcats and allowed four goals, while collecting five saves.
Allison Smith and Alexandra Move shared time in goal for Occidental as Smith allowed nine goals and made three saves and had two steals, while Move allowed three goals and had three saves.
McKendree Goals: Manuel 3, Bolton 3, Borelli 2, Dominguez 2, Burton 1, Smith 1.
McKendree Assists: Manuel 3, Bolton 1, Borelli 1, Dominguez 1, Smith 1
McKendree Saves: Kane 5
GAME 2 RECAP – McKENDREE 20, CALTECH 1
The Bearcats scored 20 straight goals to conclude the Convergence Tournament with a 20-1 win over Caltech.
Manuel and Burton combined for nine of those 20 goals, while Scanlon and Smith each had three goals in the victory. For the game, nine Bearcats scored at least one goal in the game and 11 Bearcats had at least one assist.
Burton, Manuel, Kane and junior center/utility player Katelyn Rodrigue (Brentwood, Calif./Heritage) each had two assists in the game against the Beavers.
Kane and sophomore Kaitlyn Kasper (Thomasville, Ga./Thomasville) each split time in the cage as each played one shutout frame for the Bearcats. For the match, those two picked up six saves, totaled three assists and allowed just one goal, which came with 1:34 left in the game from Caltech's Amanda Plyapanee.
The Bearcats got six goals in the opening period as Smith scored two of those six goals.
McKendree added another six goals in the second period, including Manuel scoring three straight goals to give the Bearcats a 10-0 lead. Borelli and Scanlon scored the Bearcats' final two goals of the second period to give McKendree a 12-0 halftime lead.
Four different Bearcats scored goals in the third period to give the Bearcats a 16-0 lead heading into the fourth.
Burton scored the first two goals of the fourth period, before Scanlon and Manuel scored the next two goals to give McKendree a 20-0 lead.
The Bearcats outshot Caltech, 31-12 and had a 62.5 shot percentage. Manuel took seven of those shots, while Scanlon and Burton each had four shots in the win.
Emma Gurcan and Plyapanee combined for seven of the Beavers' 12 shots.
Zoe Rock played all 32 minutes in the cage for Caltech and recorded eight saves and allowed 20 goals.
McKendree Goals: Manuel 5, Burton 4, Scanlon 3, Smith 3, Borelli 1, Dominguez 1, Guzman 1, Reich 1, Rodrigue 1.
McKendree Assists: Burton 2, Kane 2, Manuel 2, Rodrigue 2, Bolton 1, Borelli 1, Dominguez 1, Guzman 1, Hall 1, Kasper 1, Smith 1.
McKendree Saves: Kane 5, Kasper 1
The Bearcats will return to action next Saturday, March 12 as they travel to Rock Island, Ill., for a 1 p.m. game at Augustana College. The Bearcats opened the 2022 season with a 20-9 win over Augustana on Feb. 12.
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