2017 Women’s National Collegiate Club Championship Schedule & Results
No. 11 University of Pittsburgh-vs.-Massachusetts Institute of Technology Scoresheet
PITTSBURGH, Pa. — Abi Rubio (Jr., Wexford, Pa.), Sam Sullivan (So., Westlake Village, Calif.) and Player of the Game Leah McCarthy (Gr., Tinley Park, Ill.) all recorded hat-tricks as the No. 10-ranked/Mid-Atlantic Division Champion Panthers of the University of Pittsburgh pulled away from North Atlantic Division Champion the Massachusetts Institute of Technology down the stretch for a 10-6 victory at the 2017 Women’s National Collegiate Club Championship at home in the Joe C. Trees Pool. Courtesy the win, Pitt advances to the Ninth Place game of the tournament as the Panthers will meet No. 11/Texas Division Champion Texas A&M University.
It will mark the second meeting between Pitt and Texas A&M in the tournament as the Aggies collected an 11-10 victory in the first round of the consolation side of the bracket at 6:20 p.m. on Friday, May 5. The teams should not have met again due to Pitt’s defeat in the first round of the consolation bracket. However, Heartland Division Champion Washington University in St. Louis elected not to attend the final day of the tournament causing the Panthers to be moved into their position and the Bears to take over in Pitt’s former slot in a 13th/15th place game this evening at 8:40 p.m. against No. 16/Rocky Mountain Division Champion the University of Utah.
Down 1-0 with 4:42 remaining in the first quarter following a tally by MIT’s Clare Wieland (So., Lake Forest, Ill.), Pitt tied the score at the buzzer as Rubio rocked the iron with a blast to knot the score at one-all and terminate the only time the Engineers led in the contest.
Rubio’s strike ignited a four-goal outburst by Pitt as McCarthy (6:35, 1:08) and Sullivan (5:39) stroked in shots in the first six minutes of the second quarter to snag a 4-1 lead. Madeleine Severance (Sr., Brookfield, Wisc.) trimmed a goal off the margin off the Engineers’ deficit prior to halftime as she converted on a man-up opportunity with 36 ticks on the clock to pull MIT within 4-2 by the break.
Hayley Bergman (So., Sunnyvale, Calif.) and Sarah Fay (Gr., Palo Alto, Calif.) erased the remainder of Pitt’s lead by the 1:54 mark of the third quarter as the duo dealt in goals at 6:41 and 1:54, respectively, to make it a four-all contest.
Needing some offense to check MIT’s momentum, Maggie Mass (Sr., Lake Forest, Ill.) and McCarthy delivered for the Panthers by firing in even-strength (1:18) and power-play (31 seconds) markers, respectively, to give Pitt back a two-goal lead at 6-4.
MIT engineered its way back into the contest as Severance responded to McCarthy’s six-on-five conversion with one of her own at the five seconds mark to bring the North Atlantic Division Champions back within one at 6-5 going into the fourth quarter of play.
Bergman capped off another MIT comeback by putting away an equalizer 16 seconds into the fourth quarter (6:44) to balance the scoreboard at six-all, but the home team had a few goals left in reserve for the final five minutes of competition.
Approximately one minute after Bergman’s equalizer Sullivan put away the game-winner as the sophomore struck for man-up (5:41) and even-strength (4:20) goals to push Pittsburgh to an 8-6 lead. Rubio insulated the margin to the 10-6 final by flipping the script in notching natural (1:59) and power-play (54 seconds) markers.
For Pittsburgh, which notched a 13th place finish in 2016 during its inaugural trip to the National Championship tournament, the trio of McCarthy, Rubio and Sullivan composed ninety-percent of their team’s offense with Mass accounting for the Panthers’ other score. Abby Jarrett (So., New Cumberland, Pa.) earned the win with eight saves.
Severance and Bergman led the way for the Engineers with pairs of goals, while Fay and Wieland each put away solo strikes. Vivian Zhang (So., San Jose, Calif.) posted eight saves in taking the loss.
The loss drops MIT into the 30th and final game of the tournament as the Engineers will take on No. 14/Mid-Atlantic Division runner-up the Pennsylvania State University at 3:30 p.m. on Sunday, May 7, in the 11th Place game. It will mark the first time the Engineers will play for 11th as the team previously garnered Fifth (2005), Seventh (2006) and Eighth (2007) Place marks in three prior trips to the Women’s National Collegiate Club Championship.
| Teams | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | — | Final |
| Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | — | 6 |
| No. 11 University of Pittsburgh | 1 | 3 | 2 | 4 | — | 10 |
Pittsburgh Goals: Leah McCarthy (3); Abi Rubio (3); Sam Sullivan (3); Maggie Mass
MIT Goals: Madeleine Severance (2); Haley Bergman (2); Sarah Fay; Clare Wieland
Saves: Pittsburgh – Abby Jarrett (8) ; MIT – Vivian Zhang (8)
Exclusions: Pittsburgh – 6 ; MIT – 9
Advantage Opportunities: Pittsburgh – 3-for-9 ; MIT – 2-for-6
Sprints: Pittsburgh – 2-for-4 (1st, 3rd) ; MIT – 2-for-4 (2nd, 4th)
Cards: None
Officials: Pat Beemer, Dave Alberstein
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Cecilia Viggiano tries to deliver a pass as the University of Pittsburgh’s Leah McCarthy pursues her
University of Pittsburgh’s Sam Sullivan looks to shoot as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Alex Obrand defends
