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Washington University Bests Bowdoin College 13-10 to Capture 2011 Men's Division III Collegiate Club Title
CLINTON, N.Y. -- Led by five goals from Player of the Game Adam Gremp (Gr., St. Louis, Mo.), Washington University in St. Louis built an early lead, survived a comeback bid and rallied to capture the 2011 Men's Division III Collegiate Club Championship over Bowdoin College by a 13-10 final score.
It marks Washington's first National Championship in as many championship game tries, while Bowdoin finishes as the National Runner-Up for the first time in the program's history.
Leading 8-6 at halftime, the Bears saw their narrow lead disappear before the end of the third period as Spencer Vespole (Jr., Montclair, N.J.) found the back of the cage at 6:11 and 4:11 before Edward Googins (Jr., South Portland, Maine) arched in his second goal of the game at 1:52 to knot the score at 9-to-9 entering the fourth period.
Needing a hero to step-up and stave off Bowdoin's explosive offensive and solid defense, Tim Greer (So., Ambler, Pa.) took center stage as he scored on back-to-back man-up chances at 5:52 and 4:59 to return Washington to the lead at 11-9. Gremp tacked on a natural goal at 3:49 and Sandor Kovacs (Gr., St. Louis, Mo.) completed a four-score run by the Bears with his first marker of the day at 1:28 to make it 13-9 and provide all the offense Wash U would need to pick up the win.
Facing a tough climb, the Polar Bears refused to waiver, however, as Vespole broke down the center of the pool and connected on his third tally of the day to complete a hat-trick to round out the damage in the contest.
A key to the game was Washington's ability to draw and convert on exclusions as the Bears cashed in on five-of-eight opportutnities, including three times by Greer, for the difference. Bowdoin managed to convert on one-of-four chances with a man-advantage for a swing of four goals.
Washington appeared to control the early going and closing moments of the contest as Shay Benton (Fr., Homewood, Ill.), Gremp and Dan Conner (Gr., Australia) dinged Bowdoin for goals at 6:10, 5:41 and 4:40, respectively, in the first period to stake their team to a 3-0 lead less than 2:30 into the contest.
The Polar Bears came back with a natural goal by Noah Perwin (Sr., Miami Shores, Fla.) at 4:28 and a man-up tally by Googins (3:22) to move Bowdoin to within 3-2, but Gremp countered with another score at 2:27 to return the lead to two at 4-2.
Bowdoin then took control of the game receiving goals from Perwin at 2:09 of the first period and 6:52 of the second period to equalize the scoreboard at four-to-four.
Once again, Washington pulled away as Benton managed a man-up score at 6:15 before Gremp grabbed and deposited a loose ball at 4:37 and zipped in a five-meter penalty shot at 2:52 to put the Bears back in front 7-4.
The teams traded goals to the halftime horn as Perwin drilled a ringing shot at 2:52 and Daniel Byrnes (Fr., Miami Beach, Fla.) skipped the ball into the mesh at 1:01 for a pair of tallies by the Polar Bears. Nathan Todd (Gr., St Louis, Mo.) accounted for Washington's goal during the back-and-forth exchange of fire as he took advantage of a man-up chance to record his only marker of the afternoon and establish an 8-6 game at halftime.
On defense, Wash U's dynamic duo of Chris Lauber (So., St. Louis, Mo.) and Andrew Ng (Fr., San Diego, Calif.) combined for 11 saves in 28 minutes in taking the victory. For Bowdoin, Alex Edison (Jr., West Salem, Ore.) turned aside 10 saves.
Following the tournament, the Bears swept the awards as Greer, Conner and Benton were named the tournament's Most Valuable Player, Coach of the Tournament and Rookie of the Tournament. The All-Tournament team is available by CLICKING HERE.
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3 |
4 |
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Final |
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Bowdoin College |
3 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
-- |
10 |
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Washington University in St. Louis |
4 |
4 |
1 |
4 |
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13 |
Washington Goals: Adam Gremp (5); Tim Greer
(3); Shay Benton (2); Nathan Todd; Sandor Kovacs; Dan
Conner
Bowdoin Goals: Noah Perwin (4); Spencer Vespole
(3); Edward Googins (2); Daniel Byrnes
Saves: Washington - Chris Lauber (6, 14 minutes), Andrew Ng (5, 14 minutes) ; Bowdoin - Alex Edison (10)
Exclusions: Washington - 4 ; Bowdoin - 8
Advantage Opportunities: Washington - 5-for-8 ; Bowdoin - 1-for-4
Sprints: Washington - 0-for-4 ; Bowdoin - 4-for-4 (First, Second, Third, Fourth)
Sandor Kovacs
