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No. 5 UC-Davis Edges No. 8 Arizona 4-3 in Fifth Place Game at 2009 National Club Championship Tournament
DAVIS, Calif. -- Elyssa Thome (Sr., Pleasanton, Calif.) and Jenna Bondlow (Fr., Sausauton, Calif.) combined to make seven saves, while Meredieth Muecke (Sr., San Diego, Calif.) added a pair of goals, including the game-winner with 33 seconds left in the third period, as No. 5-nationally ranked University of California-Davis edged No. 8 University of Arizona 4-3 in the fifth place game at the 2009 National Collegiate Club Championship.
Arizona jumped out to 1-0 and 2-1 leads in the first and second periods before the Aggies rallied back to tie the game-up at 2-2 before halftime.
Patricia White (Jr., Tucson, Ariz.) broke the ice 52 seconds into the first period to stake the Wildcats to a lead, but UC-Davis' Mindy Bacharach (So., Alamo, Calif.) netted a counter-attack goal at 3:29 to even the scoring at 1-1 through one period of play.
The Wildcats regained the lead at 2-1 at the 5:33 mark of the second period with a shot from the outside by Justine Hedlund (Sr., Portola Valley, Calif.) which found the upper right 90 of the cage. However, UC-Davis responded less than two-minutes later with a five-meter penalty shot by Muecke which drew nothing but net to tie the game at 2-2 through the first half.
UC-Davis took its first lead of the game 27 seconds into the third period when Mary Banfield (So., Walnut Creek, Calif.) connected on a backhand at the 6:33 mark to put the Aggies ahead 3-2. The lead was short-lived as Cameron Kliner (Gr., Los Angeles, Calif.) rocketed a shot from the outside into the cage to tie the game with 1:07 left in the period.
A mistake turned the tide of the game as Arizona's Abby Tsukamoto (Fr., Orange County, Calif.) was excluded with 43 seconds left in the period to Muecke to tally an exclusion marker with 33 ticks on the clock for a 4-3 lead.
The margin held up the rest of the way as the teams combined for five shots on goal in the fourth period and no goals as the Aggies escaped with the one-goal victory.
Across from Thome and Bondlow, Rachel Nau (Sr., Danville, Calif.) made eight saves for Arizona as the Wildcats finish sixth in the final tournament standings.
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final |
| No. 8 University of Arizona | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
| No. 5 University of California-Davis | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
UC-Davis Goals:
Meredith Muecke (2); Mary Banfield; Mindy Bacharach
Arizona Goals: Patricia White; Justine Hedlund; Cameron Kliner
Saves: UC-Davis - Elyssa Thome (5), Jenna Bondlow (2) ; Arizona - Rachel Nau (8)
Ejections: UC-Davis - 4 ; Arizona - 8
Sprints: UC-Davis - 3 (Kristina Forest - 1st, 2nd, 3rd) ; Arizona - None
