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All Dunn: Monmouth Edges Washington University 6-5 to Advance to Division III Club Championship Title Game
BRUNSWICK, Maine -- Joshua Dunn (So., Brookfield, Ill.) and Tom Pedersen (Jr., Chicago, Ill.) both scored pairs of goals as the Monmouth College Fighting Scots rallied to defeat Washington University (Mo.) in the semifinals of the 2009 Men's Division III National Collegiate Club Championship on the campus of Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine.
The Scots will take on either New York University or Grove City College for the National Title at 11:45 a.m. on Sunday, November 8, while Washington will face the loser of a NYU-Grove City semifinal at 10:15 a.m. on November 8 in the third place game.
Monmouth, which never trailed in the game, jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead through the initial 2:06 of the first period before Washington rallied back to tie the score at two-all before the end of the period.
The Fighting Scots retook the lead midway through the second period as Joe Testolin (So., Darien, Ill.) and Joe Moran (Sr., Naperville, Ill.) found the back of the cage at the 4:22 and 3:43 marks, respectively, to go ahead 4-2 before the Bears' Mike Musgrave (St. Louis, Mo.) lobbed in a shot at the 3:34 mark to pull Washington to within 4-3 before halftime.
Playing strong defense against Monmouth's attack, Washington stopped the Fighting Scots shooters from pushing the lead further in the third period. The defense paid off with 27 seconds to go in the period as Musgrave struck again to tie the game at 4-4 entering the final seven minutes of play.
Monmouth regained the lead at the 3:26 mark of the fourth period as Pedersen unleashed a shot on a man-up chance which sailed unmolested into the cage as goalie Adam Webb (St. Louis, Mo.) was the excluded player to give the Scots a 5-4 lead.
Not to be outdone, the Bears slashed down the pool and placed the ball into the cage on their own exclusion chance as Musgrave completed a hat-trick to tie the game at 5-5 with 3:02 to play in the fourth period.
Facing overtime, neither team could solve the other's defense until Dunn drove hard to the cage and lofted a shot past the outstretched arms of Webb with 40 seconds left on the scoreboard.
Needing another comeback to put the game into OT, Washington was unable to deliver as the Fighting Scots locked down in front of goalie Frank Wasielewski (So., Chicago, Ill.) and ran out the clock to hold own for the one goal victory and a shot at the National Title.
Overall, Dunn earned Player of the Game honors for his title-game berth clinching tally, while Wasielewski stopped seven shots to earn the victory in cage.
For Washington, Webb finished the game with 10 saves while Dan Conner (Singapore) added two goals on offense.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | -- | Final | |
| Monmouth College | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | -- | 6 |
| Washington University | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | -- | 5 |
Washington Goals: Mike Musgrave (3); Dan Conner (2)
Monmouth Goals: Joshua Dunn (2); Tom Pedersen (2); Joe Moran; Joe Testolin
Saves: Washington - Adam Webb (10) ; Monmouth - Frank Wasielewski (7)
Exclusions: Washington - 5 ; Monmouth - 3
Advantage Opportunities: Washington - 2-of-3; Monmouth - 2-of-5
