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No. 1 Michigan State Opens National Collegiate Club Tournament with 14-2 Win over Georgia
2010 Men's National Collegiate Club Schedule & Scores
CEDAR CITY, Utah -- Player of the Game Jake Marsh (Jr., Okemos, Mich.) and Sam Marsh (Fr., Okemos, Mich.) both tallied hat-tricks as No. 1 nationally ranked Michigan State University swamped the University of Georgia 14-2 in the opening round of the 2010 Men's National Collegiate Club Championship at Southern Utah University's Sorenson Center.
MSU advances to a 10:10 a.m. quarterfinal game on Saturday, November 13 against the winner of a first round meeting between No. 8 Lindenwood University and the University of North Carolina, while Georgia will meet the loser of the Lindenwood-Georgia game at 6:20 p.m. tonight in the consolation bracket.
The Spartans never trailed in the game opening up a 4-0 lead through one period of play before carrying a 7-1 margin into the halftime break.
Andrew Olesnavich (Sr., Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) opened the scoring for Michigan State as he finished on a scoring chance at the 3:07 mark of the first period. The goal awakened the slumbering Spartans' attack as Jake Marsh and Sam Marsh netted consecutive scores at 2:22 and 1:49, respectively, before Jake Marsh closed out the first period's strikes with a man-up goal with 21 seconds showing on the clock.
Following a goal by Olesnavich to make it a 5-0 game with 5:41 left in the second period, the Bulldogs connected on their first goal of the game with a successful shot by Chris Maurer (Gr., Sinking Spring, Pa.) to make it a 5-1 game.
MSU quickly responded to Georgia's goal as Jake Marsh completed his hat-trick at 4:23 and Jordan Sikkema (So., Grand Rapids, Mich.) gunned in a shot at 2:59 to push the lead to six markers at 7-1 entering halftime.
The lead was too much for Georgia to overcome Sam Marsh swished a strike at 6:31 to make it 8-1 before Lawson Floyd (Sr., Houston, Texas) moved his team back within six at 8-2 with his only score of the day.
For MSU, the game was one-sided for the final 12 minutes of play as the Spartans added two more goals in the third period and four more in the fourth to cruise to the 12-goal victory.
Olesnavich, Matt Graziano (So., Ann Arbor, Mich.) and Sikkema finished with pairs of markers in support of the Marsh brothers, while Brad Sweeney (So., Birmingham, Mich.) and Andrew Weichman (Sr., Ann Arbor, Mich.) chipped in solo goals as the Spartans began the quest for the program's fourth National Collegiate Club Championship.
The 2000, 2006 and 2008 titleist, MSU received six saves from Robert Spiegel (So., Dexter, Mich.) in cage. For Georgia, Drew Duckett (So., Lockport, Ill.) blocked five shots in taking the loss.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | -- | Final | |
| University of Georgia | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | -- | 2 |
| No. 1 Michigan State University | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | -- | 14 |
MSU Goals: Jake Marsh (3), Sam Marsh (3), Andrew Olesnavich (2), Matt Graziano (2), Jordan Sikkema (2), Brad Sweeney, Andrew Weichman
Georgia Goals: Chris Maurer, Lawson Floyd
Saves: MSU - Robert Spiegel (6) ; Georgia - Drew Duckett (5)
Exclusions: MSU - 3 ; Georgia - 3
Advantage Opportunities: MSU - 1-for-3 ; Georgia - 0-for-3
Sprints: MSU - 3-for-4 ; Georgia - 1-for-4
Officials: Gene Gill, Bruce Morehouse
