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No. 17 Penn State Stops Minnesota 19-4 at National Collegiate Club Championship
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Andrew Bauman (Jr., Erie, Pa.) scored five goals to earn Player of the Game honors and lead 10 Penn State University scorers as the No. 17-nationally ranked Nittany Lions roared past the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers 19-4 in the first consolation round of the 2009 Men's National Collegiate Club Championship at the University of Florida.
The game was tied or a one-goal affair for 6:12 of the first period as the Nittany Lions opened the scoring with an outside shot by Bauman at the 5:33 mark. Cyrus Jamnejad (Gr., Los Angeles, Calif.) pulled Minnesota even 61 seconds later with a man-up score, but PSU began to pull away as Bauman netted an even-strength tally with 1:45 on the clock before Sean Plunkett (Sr., Ann Arbor, Mich.) chipped in a man-up marker with 48 seconds remaining in the period for a 3-1 lead.
Penn State quickly expanded the lead to four in the first five minutes of the second period as Bauman completed a hat-trick by pumping the ball twice and releasing his shot on the third swing with 5:28 to go in the first half. Mitch Palski (Sr., Harleysville, Pa.) added his team's fifth goal courtesy a fast-break and centering pass from Nate Mensch (Sr., Harleysville, Pa.) with 1:46 to go before Gannon Stromquist-Levoir (Sr., Minneapolis, Minn.) notched a score for the Golden Gophers at the 1:28 mark to move Minnesota within 5-2.
The goal seemed to inspire Penn State which tacked on an outside shot-and-score by Sean Wagner (Jr., Reading, Pa.) and a counterattack tally by Bauman a tthe 1:11 and :38 marks, respectively, to carry a 7-2 lead into halftime.
PSU's inspired scoring carried over into the second half as the Nittany Lions rattled off five goals to open the third period before Jamnejad halted the six-score onslaught with an exclusion goal with one second left in the period for a 12-3 Penn State lead with seven minutes to play.
The Nittany Lions tacked on seven goals in the fourth period while allowing one to close out the 15-goal victory.
In cage, Bryan Focht (So., Reading, Pa.) made five saves for Penn State, while Matt Dahlberg (Sr., St. Louis, Mo.) blocked down six shots for the Gophers.
The win puts Penn State into a 2:50 p.m. showdown with Virginia Tech University on Saturday, November 14 with a spot in the ninth place game on the line. PSU is already guaranteed of equaling or finishing higher than its last trip to the National Collegiate Club Championship as the team can finish no lower than 12th, the placement which the team earned in 2005.
Minnesota will meet Georgia Tech University at 9:50 p.m. on November 14 in a placement game as a Golden Gophers victory will place the team into a tie for 13th place in the final tournament standings. However, a loss will drop Minnesota into a tie for 15th place in the 16-team championship standings.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | -- | Final | |
| University of Minnesota | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | -- | 4 |
| No. 17 Pennsylvania State University | 3 | 4 | 5 | 7 | -- | 19 |
PSU Goals: Andrew
Bauman (5); Mitch Palski (3); Sean Plunkett (2); Sean Wagner (2);
Mike Frasso (2); Kelsey Britton; Joe Pocetti; Tommy Miceli; Nate
Mensch; Corey Letts
Minnesota Goals: Cyrus Jamnejad (2); Chris Boyle; Gannon Stromquist-Levoir;
Saves: PSU - Bryan Focht (5) ; Minnesota - Matt Dahlberg (6)
Exclusions: PSU - 3 ; Minnesota - 4
Advantage Opportunities: PSU - 2-for-4 ; Minnesota - 2-for-3
Sprints: PSU - 4-for-4 ; Minnesota - 0-for-4
