No. 14 University of Oregon Does Not Quack in Stopping No. 13 the United States Military Academy, 14-8, in Final Game of 2024 Men’s National Collegiate Club Championship
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Goalkeeper Hunter Kincaid (So., Carlsbad, Calif.) of Northwest Division Champion/No. 14 the University of Oregon stopped 14 shots to claim Player of the Game status as the Ducks picked off New York Division Champion/No. 13 the United States Military Academy by a 14-8 score in the 30th and final game of the 2024 Men’s National Collegiate Club Championship.
Army – which topped Missouri Valley Division Champion Iowa State University by a 15-4 score in a 13th/15th Place game on Saturday, November 9 – earned a spot against the Ducks due to Big Ten Division Champion/No. 7 the University of Michigan electing to forfeit the 11th Place game versus Oregon to return home.
Oregon’s 11th place mark is one off the program’s 10th place finish at the 2023 National Collegiate Club Championship hosted at the Kearns Oquirrh Park Fitness Center by the University of Utah. Prior to 2023, Oregon tied for 13th place at the 2013 Men’s National Collegiate Club Championship hosted by the University of California-San Diego. Prior to the 13th Place finish, the team had never placed outside the Top 10 with prior 10th (2012 at the Osborn Aquatic Center/Oregon State University; 2011 at the Georgia Institute of Technology; 2007 at the University of Arizona), Ninth (2010 at Southern Utah University), Eighth (2005 at Williams College; 2004 at the University of Notre Dame) and Sixth (2008 at Ohio University) Place marks.
The Ducks never trailed versus the Cadets as David Mitrovcan Morgan (Jr., Portland, Ore.) (6:18) and David Morales (Jr., Los Angeles, Calif.) (4:20, man-up) punched in strikes to open the contest. Jeremy Poster (Sr.) put Army on the scoreboard with a power-play tally at 3:31, but Will Rowell (So., Palo Alto, Calif.) got the goal back for West Point with 2:43 on the clock to make it a 3-1 contest after seven minutes of action.
Robby DeMont (Sr.) shrank the lead down to 3-2 with 5:51 on the second quarter clock before Wesley Baca (Sr.) balanced the scoreboard at three-all by tossing in a man-up marker with 3:16 until halftime.
Oregon waddled back into the lead prior to intermission as Carter Sloane (Jr., Carlsbad, Calif.), Rylan Hopp (Fr., Seattle, Wash.) and Rowell connected for natural goals at 2:16, 1:42 and 54 seconds, respectively, as the Ducks waddled out to a 6-3 halftime lead.
Max Orlowsky (Sr.) chipped Army’s deficit down to a pair at 6-4 by spinning a shot into the twine 49 seconds into the third quarter (6:49), but Sloane slipped in a response at 4:48 to expand Oregon’s lead back to three at 7-4.
DeMont trimmed the Ducks’ deficit back to a pair at 7-5 with 3:23 on the clock before back-to-back strikes from Niko Freedman (So., Los Angeles, Calif.) and Jimmy Snell (Jr., Los Altos, Calif.) at 3:04 and 2:36, respectively, enlarged the gap to 9-5.
A penalty shot by Baca (2:15) inched Army back to within three at 9-6, but Oregon wrapped up the third quarter with consecutive successful heaves by Hunter Pilarski (Sr., San Jose, Calif.) (man-up, 1:26) and Snell (53 seconds) to acquire an 11-6 lead.
Morales (6:32), Morgan (5:42) and Pilarski (3:53) commenced the fourth quarter with back-to-back-to-back scores to expand the Ducks’ lead to 14-6 prior to Baca (2:58) and Frankie Fradelizio (So.) (1:31) wrapping up the offense with strikes to establish the 14-8 final score.
For Oregon, Pilarski, Morgan, Morales, Sloane, Snell and Rowell each accounted for pairs of goals, while Freedman and Hopp notched solo markers.
Baca (three) and DeMont (two) combined for five of Army’s goals with Orlowski, Fradelizio and Poster tacking on single scores. Goalkeeper Joshua Merrill (Fr.) notched five saves in taking the loss.
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| No. 13 United States Military Academy |
1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | – | 8 |
| No. 14 University of Oregon | 3 | 3 | 5 | 3 | – | 14 |
| Oregon Goals: | Hunter PilarskI (2); David Mitrovcan Morgan (2); David Morales (2); Carter Sloane (2); Jimmy Snell (2); Will Rowell (2); Niko Freedman; Rylan Hopp | |||||
| Army Goals: | Wesley Baca (3); Robby DeMont (2); Max Orlowski; Frankie Fradelizio; Jeremy Poster | |||||
| Saves: | Oregon – Hunter Kincaid (14) ; Army – Joshua Merrill (5) | |||||
| Exclusions: | Oregon – 9 ; Army – 8 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | Oregon – 2-for-8 ; Army – 3-for-9 | |||||
| Sprints: | Oregon – 1-for-4 (3rd) ; Army – 3-for-4 (1st, 2nd, 4th) | |||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | None | |||||
| Officials: | Jorge Villalobos, Stephanie Villalobos | |||||
The United States Military Academy’s Robby DeMont (#2) looks for an open athlete as the University of Colorado’s Jimmy Snell (#12) defends
University of Oregon’s Carter Sloane (#11) & the United States Military Academy’s Max Orlowski (#3)
Hunter Pilarski (#3) of the University of Oregon lines up a shot versus the United States Military Academy’s Christopher Perera (#9)
