 |  |
No. 1 Cal Poly Mustangs Run Wild on No. 13 Dartmouth 10-5 to Advance to National Collegiate Club Semifinals
ATHENS, Ohio -- Daniel Harris (Sr., Gilroy, Calif.) scored three goals, while Justin Lekos (Jr., San Diego, Calif.), Brandon Ross (So., San Diego, Calif.) and Kurtis Wurster (Sr., San Luis Obispo, Calif.) tacked on pairs of scores to lead No. 1 nationally ranked California Polytechnic State University to a 10-5 win over No. 13 Dartmouth College in the second round of the 2008 National Collegiate Club Championship at Ohio University.
The victory places the Mustangs into the tournament semifinals as Cal Poly will take on the winner of a second round game between No. 3 Arizona State University and No. 6 Grand Valley State University at 8:40 p.m. on November 15 for a shot at advancing to the program's second straight National Collegiate Club title game.
Dartmouth will next be in action at 6:20 p.m. versus the loser of the ASU-GVSU game with a shot at the fifth place game at stake.
Against Dartmouth, Cal Poly took control of the game early and never let go until the closing minutes of the second half as the Mustangs built a 4-0 lead by the end of the first period and led 8-1 at halftime.
Wurster opened the scoring for Cal Poly 1:19 into the game as he buried a shot for a quick 1-0 lead. The margin expanded with 4:15 remaining in the period and again at 1:03 as Wurster and Harris, respectively, struck for scores. Ross closed out the first seven minute period with his first goal of the game with 31 seconds remaining on the clock for a 4-0 margin.
Aaron Shilling (Jr., Freemont, Calif.) built the margin to 5-0 47 seconds into the second period with his only game of the game, but Dartmouth broke up the Mustangs' shutout bid with 4:31 left in the period courtesy a score by Scott Sorensen (Jr., Walnut Creek, Calif.) to pull the Big Green to within 5-1.
Ross and Harris nearly sealed the victory for Cal Poly before the halftime horn as Ross scored at the 1:33 mark and Harris connected for scores at the 26 seconds mark and the period horn as the Mustangs went to their corner leading 8-1 at the break.
Both teams scored in the third period as Dartmouth's Michael Bazylewicz (Gr., Manchester, Mass.) ripped a penalty shot past Mustangs' goalie Kyle Loomis (Fr., La Jolla, Calif.) at the 4:33 mark and Lekos tacked on his first marker with 28 seconds left on the clock.
Cal Poly finished its scoring 56 seconds into the fourth period on another goal by Lekos before Porter Diehl (Sr., Princeton, N.J.) scored the only exclusion goal of the game at 5:22 to ignite a 3-0 Dartmouth scoring run to the final horn. Charles Friedland (Fr., Palos Verdes, Calif.) and Nicholas Riolo (Gr., Redondo Beach, Calif.) finished out the scoring for the Big Green finding the back of the cage with shots at 2:14 and 1:37 for the 10-5 final score.
Casey Ryan (Jr., Belmont, Calif.) led Cal Poly in cage with six saves in the first half before being relieved by Loomis at halftime. Kyle Finnegan (Sr., Palatine, Ill.) stopped four shots for the Big Green.
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final |
| Dartmouth College | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 |
| California Polytechnic State University | 4 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 10 |
Cal Poly Goals: Daniel Harris (3); Justin Lekos (2); Brandon Ross (2); Kurtis Wurster (2); Aaron Shilling
Dartmouth Goals: Mike Bazylewicz; Porter Diehl; Charles Friedland; Nicholas Riolo; Scott Sorensen
Saves: Cal Poly - Casey Ryan (6), Kyle Loomis (0); Dartmouth - Kyle Finnegan (4)
Ejections: Cal Poly - 5 ; Dartmouth - 5
Sprints: Cal Poly - 0 ; Dartmouth - 4
