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No. 2 Utah Upends No. 15 Illinois-Chicago in National Collegiate Club Championship First Round
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- No. 2-nationally ranked the University of Utah received pairs of scores from seven different players to defeat the No. 15-ranked University of Illinois-Chicago 16-3 in the opening round of the 2009 Men's National Collegiate Club Championship at the University of Florida. The Utes advance to play No. 3 Florida International University in the second round tomorrow at 10:10 a.m.
The game will mark the first meeting of two teams in the Top Three during the second round in the history of the National Collegiate Club Tournament. Whomever wins the game has a chance of meeting No. 5 Michigan State University in the semifinals for a berth in the title game if the Spartans can handle the winner of a first round game between No. 18 Yale University and No. 11 University of Texas.
Illinois-Chicago will next be in action at 6:20 p.m. tonight as the Flames will take on Columbia University, a 15-13 loser to No. 3 Florida International University in the first round.
The game was all Utah as the Utes opened up a 11-1 lead by halftime to coast to victory and keep their hopes of the program's first National Title alive.
In cage, Sam Thomas (Jr., Salt Lake City, Utah) and Ian Cobb (Fr., Salt Lake City, Utah) combined to make 10 saves for Utah, while Tyler Rayome (Sr., Mundelein, Ill.) stopped five shots for UIC.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | -- | Final | |
| No. 15 University of Illinois-Chicago | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | -- | 3 |
| No. 2 University of Utah | 3 | 8 | 4 | 1 | -- | 16 |
Utah Goals: Parker
Finlonson (2); Victor Gappmaier (2); Matt Clark (2); Tyler Pool
(2); Christian Hayes (2); Danny Bradley (2); Brent Weldon; Stuart
Beckwith; Ben Robson
UIC Goals: Aaron Fleischhacker; Joe Kamper; Andrew Peterson
Saves: Utah - Sam Thomas (8), Ian Cobb (2) ; UIC - Tyler Rayome (5)
Exclusions: Utah - 3 ; UIC - 12
Advantage Opportunities: Utah - 6-for-12 ; UIC - 1-for-3
Sprints: Utah - 3-for-4 ; UIC - 1-for-4
