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Ur Nets Hat-Trick as No. 1 Cal Poly Defeats No. 2 Notre Dame 6-4 for 2009 National Collegiate Club Championship
DAVIS, Calif. -- Tournament Most Valuable Player Sarah Ur (So., Lompoc, Calif.) recorded a hat-trick to lead No. 1 California Polytechnic State University to a 6-4 win over No. 2 University of Notre Dame in the title game of the 2009 National Collegiate Club Championship tournament at UC-Davis Schaal Aquatic Center. The Mustangs repeat as National Collegiate Club champions and claim the fifth title in program history.
The 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2008 National Champions prior to this year's title, Cal Poly became the first team to return to the title game to defend its title since the 2004 and 2005 Cal Poly clubs which knocked off Dartmouth in successive years to defend the 2003 and 2004 titles.
Further, the No. 1-nationally
ranked Mustangs erase the "Curse of Uno" as no team ranked at the
top of the poll the week of the National Collegiate Club
Championship had ever won the title prior to the 2009 Cal Poly
squad.
The title game marked the Cal Poly program's seventh title game in
eight years after defeating Michigan State University (2003),
Dartmouth College (2004-05), and University of Oregon (2008) for
titles, while falling to Michigan State (2002) and Fresno State
University (2007).
Against Notre Dame, the Mustangs rushed out of the gate running up a 3-0 lead with 2:23 left in the first period to take a commanding advantage over the Fighting Irish.
Greta Carroll (Sr., Santa Cruz, Calif.) opened the scoring 52 seconds into the contest with a natural goal at 6:08 before Ur and Roxanne Eastwood (Jr., Riverside, Calif.) struck at 4:22 and 2:23, respectively, to run the margin to 3-0.
Notre Dame got on the board prior to the end of the period as Kelly Horner (Sr., Holland, Mich.) deked her way through the Mustangs' defense for an advantage goal with 51 seconds on the clock to pull the Irish to within 3-1.
Horner tallied her second marker at the 5:16 mark of the second period with a penalty shot to move to within 3-2, but Ur registered her second goal at the 4:16 mark to give the Mustangs back a two-goal lead at 4-2.
The margin was short-lived as Horner completed a hat-trick with 2:24 left in the first half to move the Irish within 4-3 entering halftime.
Both defenses clamped down in the second half before Eastwood score at 4:46 to give Cal Poly back a two-goal lead at 5-3 and the eventual game-winning goal. Horner chipped in her fourth and final tally of the day at 4:03 before Ur closed out the scoring with a man-up score with 2:19 remaining in the third period for the 6-4 final.
Neither team was able to trim or expand the lead in the fourth period as Notre Dame goalie Betsy O'Neill (Jr., Danville, Calif.), who finished with five saves, and the Cal Poly netminding tandem of Hayley Chilton (So., Santa Barbara, Calif.) and Noelle Wondergem (So., Arroyo Grande, Calif.), who combined for seven saves, kept both offenses at bay.
Notre Dame's second place finish marks the highest placement by the program at a National Collegiate Club Championship in program history as the previously placed ninth (2006), 11th (2007) and 10th (2008) in recent years.
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final |
| No. 2 University of Notre Dame | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| No. 1 California Polytechnic State University | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 6 |
Cal Poly Goals: Sarah Ur (3); Roxanne Eastwood (2); Greta Carroll
Notre Dame Goals: Kelly Horner (4)
Saves: Cal Poly - Hayley Chilton (2), Noelle Wondergem (5) ; Notre Dame - Betsy O'Neill (5)
Ejections: Cal Poly - 5 ; Notre Dame -2
Sprints: Cal Poly - 1 (Kelley Gause - 3rd); Notre Dame - 3 (Christina Romano - 1st, 2nd, 4th)
