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No. 13 Grand Valley Survives No. 19 Columbia 10-9 to Reach National Collegiate Club Consolation Semifinals
2010 Men's National Collegiate Club Schedule & Scores
CEDAR CITY, Utah -- Josh Geneva (Sr., Grand Haven, Mich.) tallied four goals to earn Player of the Game accolades as No. 13 Grand Valley State University edged No. 19 Columbia University 10-9 in the consolation bracket of the 2010 Men's National Collegiate Club Championship at Southern Utah University's Sorenson Center.
GVSU advances to face the winner of another Friday night consolation game between No. 15 the University of Pennsylvania and Illinois State University at 2:50 p.m. on Saturday, November 13. Columbia has more than a day off from water polo as the Lions will next be in action at 9:50 p.m. on Saturday against the loser of the Penn-ISU game in one of two 13th place games.
Due to the 30 game schedule of the National Collegiate Club Championship and the amount of pool time available, the 13th and 15th place matches are not played, thus causing the winner of Columbia's next game to be one of two 13th place teams, while the loser is among a pair of 15th place finishers in the 16-team field.
GVSU never trailed in the game as Geneva converted a penalty shot 21 seconds into the first period to hand Grand Valley a lead. Columbia tied the game at 6:01 courtesy man-up score by Kai Golden (So., Kahalu'u, Hawaii) before the teams traded goal once again with a natural goal by Geneva (4:02) and another advantage scored by Austen Oliver (Jr., Houston, Texas) at 2:45.
The Lakers began to pull away at the end of the period as Carlo Chacon (Sr., Holland, Mich.) and Michael Begrowicz (So., Mundelein, Ill.) scored at 1:05 and 14 seconds, respectively, to stake Grand Valley to a 4-2 lead after seven minutes of play.
In a second period which saw the teams combine for seven goals, including four by GVSU to push the lead to 8-5 by halftime, the Lions were unable to tie the Lakers as Columbia moved to within a goal at 6-5, but consecutive scores by Begrowicz (1:27) and Geneva (00:00) handed Grand Valley a three-goal lead by the time the halftime horn finished sounding.
The lead was not safe, however, as back-to-back man-up goals by Sam Elchert (Sr., Los Altos, Calif.) at 5:59 and 4:47 of the third period whittled the Lions' deficit down to a single strike at 8-7. Needing a score to change the momentum and keep Columbia at bay, Derik Bothma (Fr., Rockford, Mich.) lashed in an advantage tally at 3:07 to return the lead to two markers.
However, the Lions had only begun to roar as Will Reid (Gr., Greenwich, Conn.) pumped home a natural goal at 2:39 to put heat on the Lakers before Oliver evaporated the lead with a man-up goal at 6:29 of the fourth period to equal the damage at 9-to-9.
It did not take GVSU long to respond with Oliver's game-changer as Begrowicz popped a shot into the cage with exactly five minutes to play for the deciding score.
Niether team could crack the other's defense the rest of the way as the two teams sprinted up-and-down the pool looking for an opportunity that never materialized over the final 300 seconds of action.
A key to Columbia's ability to repeatedly close the gap against GVSU were man-up chances as the Lions registered a perfect five-for-five performance with more personnel, while the Lakers managed to convert on only four-of-eight chances.
In cage, Peter Huyser (Sr., Zeeland, Mich.) picked up the win with eight saves guarding the posts. For Columbia, Daniel Kirel (Jr., Miami, Fla.) registered nine saves in suffering the loss.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | -- | Final | |
| No. 13 Grand Valley State University | 4 | 4 | 1 | 1 | -- | 10 |
| No. 19 Columbia University | 2 | 3 | 3 | 1 | -- | 9 |
Columbia Goals: Abel Garcia (2), Will Reid (2), Austen Oliver (2), Sam Elchert (2), Kai Golden
GVSU Goals: Josh Geneva (4), Michael Begrowicz (3), Carlo Chacon, Derik Bothma, Josh Gonzales
Saves: Columbia - Daniel Kirel (9) ; GVSU - Peter Huyser (8)
Exclusions: Columbia - 8 ; GVSU - 5
Advantage Opportunities: Columbia - 5-for-5 ; GVSU - 4-for-8
Sprints: Columbia - 0-for-4 ; GVSU - 4-for-4
Officials: Gene Gill, Bruce Morehouse
