For the Birds: Wesleyan Cardinals Edge Grinnell Wild Turkeys 9-6 in Division III Collegiate Club Fifth Place Game

Andrew Jaycox

VILLANOVA, Pa. --  Andrew Jaycox (Jr., Hatfield, Pa.) scored two of his game high five goals on exclusions in the fourth period and Ryan Beck (Jr., Newton, Mass.) added one of his three goals in the fourth to account for a three-goal spurt by Wesleyan University to knock off Grinnell College 9-6 in the fifth place game at the 2008 Division III National Collegiate Club Championship at Villanova University.

Wesleyan, which entered the tournament with a pair of Division III titles (2004, 2005) and four second place finishes (2000, 2002, 2003, 2006), added another top five finish to the program's history as the Cardinals built a 3-0 lead by the end of the first period, led 5-4 at halftime, was tied 6-6 at the end of the third and used a scoring spurt to handle the Wild Turkeys.

Overall, Jaycox and Beck dominated the game for Wesleyan outscoring Wesleyan 8-6 and stiffling the Wild Turkeys' offense in front of goalie Stephen Ranney (Jr., Marietta, Ga.) who finished with a seven saves.

Beck and Jaycox started the scoring for Wesleyan in the first period as Beck banged home a goal with 6:22 left in the period before Jaycox ripped a penalty shot (4:55) and an advantage goal (1:17) into the twine for a 3-0 lead.

Grinnell fired back, however, as Alex Phillips (Fr., St. Louis, Mo.) notched back-to-back goals (4:57, 4:16) and Dan Neely (Sr., Chicago, Ill.) found the back of the cage with a shot (3:50) to knot the game in the second period. 

Wesleyan regained the lead with an exclusion goal by Mark Ramos (Sr., Bala Cynwood, Pa.) at 3:24 and an even strength marker by Beck at 2:00, but Grinnell countered with a score by Phillips at the first half horn to set the score at 5-4 through one half of play.

The Cardinals pushed the lead to a pair of goals with 5:37 left in the the third period on an exclusion goal by Jaycox, but the Wild Turkeys pecked back with an exclusion goal by Sinan Ozer (So., Istanbul, Turkey) at 2:14 and a natural goal by Phillips at 1:28 to tie the game at six-all through three periods.

However, the duo of Beck and Jaycox sealed the win for Wesleyan in the fourth period as Jaycox netted advantage goals at 5:38 and 2:19, and Beck completed a hat-trick with 3:51 left in the period for the 9-6 final.

Phillips led Grinnell in scoring with four goals, while netminder Brian Smith (Sr., St. Louis, Mo.) blocked away two shots.

In the history of the Grinnell program, this marks the Wild Turkeys' second sixth place finish as the team previously placed second (2007), third (2001), fourth (2003), fifth (2004) and sixth (2002) in five previous Division III tournament appearances.

Grinnell Goals: Alex Phillips (3); Dan Neely; Sinan Ozer

Wesleyan Goals: Andrew Jaycox (5); Ryan Beck (3); Mark Ramos  

Saves: Grinnell - Brian Smith (2); Wesleyan - Stephen Ranney (7) 

Ejections: Grinnell - 8; Wesleyan - 3