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Clapper Hands No. 3 Arizona State 7-3 Win Over No. 4 Florida for Third Place at National Collegiate Club Championship
ATHENS, Ohio -- Todd Clapper (Gr., Altoona, Pa.) scored three goals and Matt Bloch (So., Palos Verdes, Calif.) recorded three saves as No. 3 Arizona State University wrestled the No. 4 University of Florida Gators for a 7-3 win in the third place game at the 2008 National Collegiate Club Championship tournament at Ohio University.
A third-year program and the 2008 Southwest Division champion, ASU improved on their 13th place finish at the 2007 National tournament hosted by the University of Arizona thanks to consistent scoring, tenacious defense and solid goaltending by Bloch and Olympic silver medalist Betsey Armstrong (Gr., Ann Arbor, Mich.).
This year, Arizona State built a 2-0 lead in the games first 4:08 of play as Joey Sparks (Fr., Agoura Hills, Calif.) and Wesley Sjoholm (Jr., Albuquerque, N.M.) connected on markers at the 4:20 and 2:52 marks.
Florida answered with a score by Brent Moser (Sr., Lake Mary, Fla.) at the 1:55 mark to pull to within 2-1 by the end of the first period.
It remained a one-goal game until 4:28 of the third period when Tyler Oakes (Gr., El Cajon, Calif.) dumped in a shot to ignite a 3-0 Sun Devils' scoring spree. Clapper completed the run with back-to-back goals for the game-winner and an insurance tally at 3:28 and 1:43 to put Arizona State up 5-1.
The Gators attempted to rally in the fourth period as Moser buried a penalty shot at 5:43 and Patrick Topps (Sr., Orlando, Fla.) whipped in a shot at 4:59, but Clapper and Oakes ended the threat with tallies at 4:31 and 3:40, respectively, for the 7-3 final.
Travis Catron (So., Orlando, Fla.) finished with nine saves for Florida as the Southeast Division champions notched their second highest finish at Nationals as the Gators previously placed ninth (2003), 11th (2002), third (2001) and eighth (2000).
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final |
| Arizona State University | 2 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 7 |
| University of Florida | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
Florida Goals: Brent Moser (2); Patrick Topps
ASU Goals: Todd Clapper (3); Tyler Oakes (2); Wesley Sjoholm; Joey Sparks
Saves: Florida - Travis Catron (9) ; ASU - Matt Bloch (3)
Ejections: Florida - 3 ; ASU - 2
Sprints: Florida - 2 (3rd & 4th) ; ASU - 2 (1st & 2nd)
