No. 11 Texas A&M University Rounds Up Division III No. 1 Washington University in St. Louis, 17-12, to Capture 2024 Men’s National Collegiate Club Championship Seventh Place Game
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Player of the Game Leyton Kraft (Jr., Houston, Texas), Logan Kraft (Fr., Houston, Texas) and Travis Thames (Fr., Houston, Texas) combined for 14 goals as Texas Division Champion/No. 11-ranked Texas A&M University eclipsed Great Lakes Division Champion/Division III No. 1 Washington University in St. Louis, 17-12, in the 2024 Men’s National Collegiate Club Championship Seventh Place game.
Clashing at the University of Florida’s Ann Marie Rogers Swimming & Diving Pool in the O’Connell Recreation Center, the Aggies overcame early deficits to hibernate the Bears by outscoring Washington 4-3, 4-3, 5-4 and 4-2 over the span of the four quarters, respectively, to clinch Seventh Place.
Competing at the Men’s National Collegiate Club Championship for the first time since the 2016 event at the University of Notre Dame, Texas A&M adds an all-time best Seventh Place finish to the program’s legacy as the squad previously brought Ninth (2008 at Ohio University), 13th (2007 at University of Arizona; 2016 at Notre Dame) and 15th (2002 at California Polytechnic State University; 2001 at the University of Florida) place marks back to College Station.
The 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019 Division III Collegiate Club Champion, Washington tacks an Eighth Place mark onto its legacy at the Men’s National Collegiate Club Championship following prior Third (2021 at Huntsville Aquatic Center in Huntsville, Ala.), Fourth (2022 at the Chehalem Aquatic & Fitness Center in Newberg, Ore.) and Sixth (2023 at the Kearns Oquirrh Park Fitness Center in Kearns, Utah) Place finishes.
The Bears broke the ice in the game as James Sutton (Gr., Garden Grove, Calif.) sliced in a shot 27 seconds into the game (6:33) to stake Washington to an early 1-0 lead. Leyton Kraft responded with a penalty shot at 6:04, Sutton stuffed in his second marker via a man-up strike at 5:42 and Thames torqued in a man-up tally at 5:30 to deadlock the teams at two-all in a back-and-forth first quarter.
Washington pushed back in front at 3-2 via a power-play conversion by Antonio Mendez-Trendler (Sr., Baltimore, Md.) at 4:58 before the Aggies answered with back-to-back strikes at 1:56 (even-strength) and 12 seconds (man-up) from Thames and Logan Kraft, respectively, to acquire a 4-3 lead.
The Bears regained the lead midway through the second quarter as Jude Licea (Jr., Eugene, Ore.) (5:56, man-up) and Mendez-Trendler (4:13, man-up) flushed chances to move Washington back ahead 5-4. Leyton Kraft tallied an equalizer at 4:01 to square the squads at five-all before Jakob Shenfeld (Jr., Encino, Calif.) returned the Bears to the lead at 2:31.
The game turned in favor of Texas A&M in the waning moments of the second quarter/first half as Leyton Kraft (2:23, penalty shot), Mason Mote (So., Houston, Texas) (1:52) and Channing Miller (So., Houston, Texas) (1:11) dented the twine to push the Aggies out in front by an 8-6 entering halftime.
Leyton Kraft expanded the margin to 9-6 35 seconds into the third quarter (6:25), but the Bears bared their claws to maul the Aggies over the next four minutes as Mendez-Trendler (5:48), Sutton (3:27) and Nic Ekstrand (Fr., Los Altos, Calif.) (2:59, 2:39) ticked off four markers to flip the script and put Washington back in front by a 10-9 count.
However, Texas A&M refused to go down without a fight as Leyton Kraft (2:22), Logan Kraft (1:08, 41 seconds) and Thames (12 seconds) torched their foes for a 4-0 spurt in the closing minutes of the third quarter to move ahead 13-10.
Logan Kraft (6:25) and Thames (4:21) further insulated the lead to 15-10 during the opening moments of the fourth quarter as Texas A&M put the game out of reach. Sutton slipped in a strike at 3:55 to move Washington back within four at 15-11, but Parker Hett (Jr., Orinda, Calif.) launched in a counterstrike at 2:59 to widen the chasm between the clubs to 16-11.
Both teams put away final blows in the closing minutes of the game as Sean Brown (Fr., Houston, Texas) (1:44) and Leyton Kraft (one second) fired home shots for Washington and Texas A&M to establish the 17-12 final score.
For Washington, Sutton (four), Mendez-Trendler (three) and Ekstrand (two) posted multi-goal games, while Licea, Engelberg and Shenfield stuffed in solo markers. Goalkeeper Asher Schwartz (Sr., Los Angeles, Calif.) made two saves.
Leyton Krat (six), Logan Kraft (four) and Thames (four) accounted for the majority of Texas A&M’s offensive output with Miller, Mote and Hett notching single goals. The netminder tandem of Edward Chang (Jr., Houston, Texas) and John Pawsat (So., Houston, Texas) combined for stop seven shots.
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| No. 11 Texas A&M University |
4 | 4 | 5 | 4 | – | 17 |
| No. 1 Washington University in St. Louis | 3 | 3 | 4 | 2 | – | 12 |
| Washington Goals: | James Sutton (4); Antonio Mendez-Trendler (3); Nic Ekstrand (2); Jude Licea; Jake Engelberg; Jakob Shenfeld | |||||
| Texas A&M Goals: | Leyton Kraft (6); Logan Kraft (4); Travis Thames (4); Channing Miller; Mason Mote; Parker Hett | |||||
| Saves: | Washington – Asher Schwartz (2) ; Texas A&M – Edward Chang (5), John Pawsat (2) |
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| Exclusions: | Washington – 8 ; Texas A&M – 11 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | Washington – 4-for-11 ; Texas A&M – 3-for-8 |
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| Sprints: | Washington – 4-for-4 ; Texas A&M – 0-for-4 |
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| Cards/Misconducts: | None | |||||
| Officials: | Kevin Heinrich, Chad Lemons | |||||
Washington University in St. Louis’ Jakob Shenfeld (#16) & Texas A&M University’s Sebastian Warren (#7)
Washington University in St. Louis’ Luke Brawer (#3) tries for a steal against Texas A&M University’s Leyton Kraft (#2)
Washington University in St. Louis’ Jakob Shenfeld (#9) defends Texas A&M University’s Sebastian Warren (#7)
