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No. 5 Pennsylvania Takes Ivy League Clash 11-3 Over Columbia at 2008 National Collegiate Club Championship
ATHENS, Ohio -- The University of Pennsylvania built an 8-0 lead and never looked back as the No. 5 ranked Quakers defeated Columbia University 11-3 in the second round of the National Collegiate Club Championship.
The Quakers received scoring from seven different players, including four goals by Ben Naecker (Sr., Pasadena, Calif.), as Penn put up three goals in the first period, one in the second and three in the third to carry a 7-0 lead into the fourth period.
Following a goal by Naecker to push the lead to 8-0, Columbia broke up the shutout with back-to-back scores by Alexi Shaw (Sr., New York, N.Y.) on an exclusion opportunity with 4:24 to play and a natural goal at the 3:01 mark.
The teams traded goals from there with Columbia's Chris Vola (Jr., Windsor, Conn.) putting up the Lions final score on another exclusion chance at the 1:46 mark to cut the lead to 9-3 on the way to the 11-3 final.
Mike Weiss (Jr., Philadelphia, Pa.) was the only other Pennsylvania player to register more than one goal in the game.
In cage, Alexandre Wright (Jr., Rio De Janeiro, Brazil) stopped six shots for the Lions, while Penn's Michael Rico (Sr., San Jose, Calif.) and Elias Tanner (Fr., Philadelphia, Pa.) combined for 16 saves.
Penn will continue the tournament at 5:10 p.m. on Saturday, November 15 versus No. 15 ranked Duke University with a shot at the ninth place game on the line, while Columbia will take on the Georgia Institute of Technology at 2:50 p.m. in the Lions final game of the tournament.
The winner of the Georgia Tech-Columbia game will finish in a tie for 13th place at the tournament, while the loser places 15th as the winner/loser of games 17 and 18 in the bracket tie for 13th/15th in the final standings.
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final |
| Columbia University | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| University of Pennsylvania | 3 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 11 |
Penn Goals: Ben Naecker (4); Mike Weiss (2); Alex Valner; Jay Fantone; Mike Fu; Armen Moughamian; Andrew Shapiro
Columbia Goals: Alexi Shaw (2); Chris Vola
Saves: Penn - Michael Rico (10), Elias Tanner (6) ; Columbia - Alexandre Wright (6)
Ejections: Penn - 3 ; Columbia - 10
Sprints: Penn - 2 (1st & 2nd) ; Columbia - 2 (3rd & 4th)
