TUCSON, Arizona — Goalie Arnau Bayer (Fr., Barcelona, Spain) made 13 saves to net Player of the Game accolades as the No. 10-ranked/Missouri Valley Division Champion Lions of Lindenwood University never trailed in turning back No. 4/Southwest Division Champion the University of California-San Diego, 7-3, in the quarterfinals of the 2018 Men’s National Collegiate Club Championship hosted at the University of Arizona.
The win advances Lindenwood into the a 5:10 p.m. semifinal later today against the victor of a quarterfinal pitting No. 1/Sierra Pacific Division Champion the University of California and No. 7/Great Lakes Division Champion The Ohio State University. The Lions, who previously placed First (2014, 2015, 2016), Second (2013), Fifth (2009), Sixth (2010), Seventh (2012) and Ninth (2017) in eight prior trips to the Men’s National Collegiate Club Championship, are guaranteed to record their fifth Top Four finish as the team can place no lower than fourth in the final 2018 tournament standings.
Jame Gambin (So., Sliema, Malta) drew first blood for Lindenwood by putting away a shot wit 4:58 left in the first quarter for a quick 1-0 lead. Following an equalizer by Mackenzie Cottle (Sr., San Diego, Calif.) on a six-on-five opportunity with 58 seconds remaining in the opening quarter, the Lions went back in front with 32 ticks on the clock as Ratimir Babic (Gr., Belgrade, Serbia) netted an even-strength score.
UC-San Diego pulled even once again with 1:17 to go in the second quarter as Jack Harper (Jr., San Diego, Calif.) buried a man-up bid, but the Lions went back in front to stay prior to the concluding horn of the first half courtesy a strike by Ratimir Babic with 59 seconds to go for a 3-2 lead at the break.
Neither team was able to put away another tally until the final 90 seconds of the third quarter as Andreja Babic (So., Belgrade, Serbia) lined in a man-up opportunity with 1:29 on the clock to make it 4-2. Vuk Budrak (Fr., Belgrade, Serbia) further insulated the margin to 5-2 by the end of the third quarter as he stroked in a shot with 11 seconds remaining to put UC-San Diego in a precarious position.
Lindenwood continued to pull away in the opening moments of the final frame as Marino Chorro (So., Madrid, Spain) and Mitch Griffin (So., St. Louis, Mo.) put away shots at 4:17 and 2:09, respectively, to make it 7-2. Josh Wang (Jr., San Diego, Calif.) wrapped up the scoring with 59 seconds left in regulation by burying UC-San Diego’s third man-up marker for the 7-3 final score.
For Lindenwood, Ratimir Babic led the offense with two goals, while Budrak, Gambin, Andreja Babic, Chorro and Griffin each accounted for solo scores.
Cottle, Wang and Harper combined for UC-San Diego’s three goals – all man-up tallies. Goalie Sachin Okuma (So., Santa Ana, Calif.) stopped 11 shots in taking the loss.
The defeat drops the Tritons into a 4:00 p.m. clash later today with the fallen from the California-Ohio State quarterfinal with a spot in the Fifth Place game on the line. In the history of the championship, UC-San Diego has only one prior finish as the team placed Ninth at home in 2013 as the host institution.
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| Lindenwood University | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | – | 7 |
| University of California-San Diego | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | – | 3 |
| UCSD Goals: | Mackenzie Cottle; Josh Wang; Jack Harper | |||||
| Lindenwood Goals: | Ratimir Babic (2); Vuk Budrak; Jamie Gambin; Andreja Babic; Marino Chorro; Mitch Griffin | |||||
| Saves: | UCSD – Sachin Okuma (11) ; Lindenwood – Arnau Bayer (13) | |||||
| Exclusions: | UCSD – 3 ; Lindenwood – 14 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | UCSD – 3-for-14 ; Lindenwood – 1-for 3 | |||||
| Sprints: | UCSD – 1-for-4 (3rd) ; Lindenwood – 3-for-4 (1st, 2nd, 4th) | |||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | None | |||||
| Officials: | Bruce Morehouse, Don Lewis | |||||
University of California-San Diego’s Jackson Ziegler (#5)
Lindenwood University’s Ratimir Babic (#23) looks to shoot
University of California-San Diego’s Andrew Burda (#2)
Lindenwood University’s Andreja Babic (#10)
Lindenwood University’s Arnau Bayer (#1B), Nikola Nasev (#8) and Andreja Babic (#10) defend a shot by the University of California-San Diego’s Jackson Ziegler (#5) as Jack Harper (#17) looks for a rebound
