Division III No. 1 Washington University in St. Louis Arches Around No. 14 Pennsylvania State University, 11-9, in First Round of 2024 Men’s National Collegiate Club Championship
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Antonio Mendez-Trendler (Sr., Baltimore, Md.) accounted for four goals to claim Player of the Game recognition as Great Lakes Division Champion/Division III No. 1-ranked Washington University in St. Louis bore Mid-Atlantic Division Champion/No. 14 Pennsylvania State University, 11-9, in the first round of the 2024 Men’s National Collegiate Club Championship at the University of Florida’s Ann Marie Rogers Swimming & Diving Pool in the O’Connell Center.
The win advances Washington into the tournament quarterfinals where the Bears will face Sierra Pacific Division Champion/No. 3 California Maritime Academy – which knocked off New York Division Champion/No. 13 the United States Military Academy by a 16-9 count in an earlier opening round contest – at 12:30 p.m. Eastern on Saturday, November 9.
The loss drops Penn State into the consolation side of the 16-team championship bracket as the Nittany Lions will return to the water at 7:30 p.m. later this evening against Army. Due to the loss, Penn State can not finish higher than Ninth in the final 16-team championship tournament standings.
Washington trailed through the majority of the first half as Penn State’s Nathan Weaver (Gr., London, Ontario) spun home the icebreaker with 4:29 remaining in the first quarter to stake the Nittany Lions to a 1-0 margin. Jake Engelberg (Sr., Los Angeles, Calif.) balanced the scoreboard at one-all via a five-meter penalty shot at the 3:30 mark, but Ryan McLaughlin (Sr., Blue Bell, Pa.) hammered home natural (35 seconds) and penalty shot (7.5 seconds) shots to stake the Keystone State squad to a 3-1 lead after seven minutes of action.
Washington returned fire in the second quarter as Jule Licea (Jr., Eugene, Ore.) and Andrew Woolbert (Jr., Trumbull, Conn.) slipped in man-up markers with 4:33 and 2:00 remaining in the first half, respectively, to sandwich a natural score by Mendez-Trendler with 3:08 on the clock to turn the tables as the Bears entered the break clutching a 4-3 margin.
Washington never trailed over the remainder of the game as Engelberg commenced the third quarter with penalty shot (6:28) and even-strength (4:42) scores to double-up Penn State by a 6-3 count.
Colin Henry (Sr., Pennsburg, Pa.) snapped Washington’s 5-0 scoring run by denting the twine with 4:03 on clock. However, Matteo Dall’Olmo (Jr., Los Angeles, Calif.) (3:48) and Mendez-Trendler (3:20, penalty shot) delivered offensive retorts to widen the gap to 8-4 prior to McLaughlin answering for Penn State at 3:08 to shrink the difference to 8-5 heading into the fourth quarter.
McLaughlin struck again 61 seconds into the final seven minutes by lining in a five-meter penalty shot with 5:59 on the clock to inch the Nittany Lions back to within a pair at 8-6.
The teams traded scores back-and-forth from there as Dall’Olmo (5:48) and Mendez-Trendler (5:22; 3:17) delivered for the Bears, while PSU’s McLaughlin (5:40; 5:06, penalty shot) and Weaver (3:00, man-up) launched home counterpoints for the 11-9 final score.
McLaughlin led the way for Penn State with six goals, while Weaver and Henry chipped in two and one, respectively. Dan Tuomolo (Sr, Blue Bell, Pa.) stopped three shots in taking the loss guarding the cage/den for the Nittany Lions.
Mendez-Trendler (four), Engelberg (three) and Dall’Olomo (two) notched multi-goal games for Washington with Licea and Woolbert slipping in solo markers. Asher Schwartz (Sr., Los Angeles, Calif.) accounted for a pair of saves in earning the win for the Bears.
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| No. 14 Pennsylvania State University |
3 | 0 | 2 | 4 | – | 9 |
| Division III No. 1 Washington University in St. Louis | 1 | 3 | 4 | 3 | – | 11 |
| Washington Goals: | Antonio Mendez-Trendler (4); Jake Engelberg (3); Matteo Dall’Olmo (2); Jude Licea; Andrew Woolbert | |||||
| Penn State Goals: | Ryan McLaughlin (6); Nathan Weaver (2); Colin Henry | |||||
| Saves: | Washington – Asher Schwartz (2) ; Penn State – Dan Tumolo (3) | |||||
| Exclusions: | Washington – 11 ; Penn State – 8 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | Washington – 5-for-8 ; Penn State 4-for-11 | |||||
| Sprints: | Washington – 2-for-4 (1st, 2nd) ; Penn State – 2-for-4 (3rd, 4th) | |||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | None | |||||
| Officials: | Jorge Villalobos, Stephanie Villalobos | |||||
Washington University in St. Louis’ Andrew Woolbert (#2) runs into a wall named Pennsylvania State University’s Matthew Fencel (#4)
Pennsylvania State University’s Brien Yaglenski (#6) seeks to elude Washington University in St. Louis’ Luke Brawer (#3)
Pennsylvania State University’s Matthew Fencel (#4) scans for an opening as Washington University in St. Louis’ Matteo Dall’Olmo (#19) defends
Pennsylvania State University’s Dan Tumolo (#1)
