MIDDLETOWN, Conn. — John Hooker (Jr., Calabasas, Calif.) and Levi Kohl (So., Brentwood, Calif.) both posted hat-tricks to garner co-Player of the Game recognition as Division III No. 1-ranked Washington University in St. Louis of the Missouri Valley Division stymied Division III No. 7 New York University of the New York Division, 12-5, at Wesleyan University in returning to the 2018 Men’s Division III Collegiate Club Championship title game.
A five-time Division III Club National Champion, Washington University in St. Louis will look to add to its legend as the 2011, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 will look to win its fifth consecutive and sixth overall Division III crown when the team returns to the pool at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday, October 28, against the winner of a semifinal game between Division III No. 6 Tufts University of the New England Division and Division III No. 5/North Atlantic Division Champion Bates College.
New York will take on the fallen from the Tufts-Bates semifinal in the Third Place game at 10:15 a.m. as the Bobcats will aim to claim their fourth Third Place finish after previously collecting Second (2004 at Trinity University (Texas), 2005 at home, 2008 at Villanova University), Third (2009 at Bowdoin College, 2010 at Macalester College, 2016 at Hamilton College), Fourth (2015 at Macalester), Fifth (2006 at Wesleyan), Sixth (2011 at Hamilton, 2014 at Bowdoin), Eighth (2002 at Wesleyan) and Ninth (2003 at Bowdoin) Place marks.
The Bears, who rate as the only team to win four consecutive Men’s National Championships in either the Division III or National Collegiate Club ranks, jumped in front thanks to Kohl who connected on a natural goal (3:53) and a man-up tally (2:40) to hand Washington University in St. Louis a 2-0 lead by the conclusion of the first quarter.
The margin continued to expand in the second quarter as David Ling (So., Seattle, Wash.) launched in a power-play strike at 3:54 before Kohl canned another even-strength chance at 1:49 to make it 4-0. NYU’s Simon Derby (Fr., Greenwich, Conn.) broke the ice for the Bobcats by cashing in on a six-on-five bid at 1:30, but Hooker curled in a shot at 1:08 to make it 5-1 in favor of the Bears at halftime.
Levy Andratchnikov (Sr., Moscow, Russia) tried to rally his team in the dawning moments of the third quarter by ripping in a shot at the 6:32 mark to move New York within three at 5-2, but Max Bernstein (Sr., St. Louis, Mo.) delivered a response 19 seconds later at 6:13 to pad the gap back to 6-2.
Ben Conley (Jr., Orinda, Calif.) tossed in a man-up strike for NYU at 5:53 to once again pull the Empire State squad within three at 6-3, but consecutive goals from Jacob Hepp (Fr., Seattle, Wash.) and Thomas Fies (So., Evanston, Ill.) with 4:08 and 3:30 left in the third quarter, respectively, built the Washington’s lead to five at 8-3.
The teams exchanged scoring punches over the remainder of the frame as Malik Bouaoudia (Jr., Geneva, Switzerland) chipped the lead down to 8-4 with 2:04 to go before Bernstein returned the Bears advantage to 9-4 with three ticks left on the clock.
Bernstein’s blast ignited a 4-0 run by Washington as Hooker swished man-up (6:14) and even-strength (4:38) chances prior to Fies fluttering in a ball at 3:03 in the fourth quarter to make it 12-4. NYU’s Derby wrapped up the scoring by finding the back of the cage with two seconds left in regulation for the 12-5 final score.
Derby led the way for the Bobcats with a pair of goals, while Andratchnikov, Conley and Bouaoudia each accounted for single markers.
In cage, Daniel Novarro (Sr., Harrington Beach, N.J.) stopped five shots in suffering the loss. Across the tank, Michael Lorberg (Jr., St. Louis, Mo.) notched the win with four saves and one goal allowed in the first half prior to Brian Xu (So., Irvine, Calif.) coming on to make five stops with four scores permitted in the second half.
For the Bears, Bernstein and Fies both buried pairs of shots to join Kohl and Hooker in posting multi-goal games. Ling and Hepp both added solo strikes as Washington punched its ticket to the program’s eighth consecutive Division III Club Championship title tilt.
Washington’s run dates back to its first National Championship in 2011 as the Bears defeated Bowdoin, 13-10, at Hamilton and lost a 12-11 heartbreaker in sudden death overtime to Monmouth College in 2012 at Middlebury College. In 2013, University of California-Santa Cruz claimed a 13-9 victory at Franklin & Marshall College against the Bears prior to Washington tying for the National Championship with UC-Santa Cruz in 2014 due to a snowstorm induced power outage at Bowdoin to prevent the National Championship game from taking place. Washington repeated as National Champion in 2015 at Macalester by handling Middlebury College (14-9 W) and again in 2016 at Hamilton against Carnegie Mellon University (14-7 W). Last year, the Bears handled Tufts University (17-7 W) to claim its fourth consecutive crown.
Overall, since 2006 a Missouri Valley team has now made the title game 11 times with Lindenwood winning the 2006, 2007 and 2008 tournaments.
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| New York University | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | – | 5 |
| Washington University in St. Louis | 2 | 3 | 4 | 3 | – | 12 |
| Washington Goals: | Levi Kohl (3); John Hooker (3); Thomas Fies (2); Max Bernstein (2); Jacob Hepp; David Ling | |||||
| NYU Goals: | Simon Derby (2); Ben Conley; Malik Bouadoudia; Levy Andratchnikov; | |||||
| Saves: | Washington – Michael Lorberg (4, 14 minutes), Brian Xu (5, 14 minutes) ; NYU – Daniel Novarro (5) | |||||
| Exclusions: | Washington – 7 ; NYU – 9 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | Washington – 2-for-9 ; NYU – 2-for-7 | |||||
| Sprints: | Washington – 1-for-4 (1st) ; NYU – 3-for-4 (2nd, 3rd, 4th) | |||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | None | |||||
| Officials: | Steve Sargalski, Dennis Kinne | |||||
New York University’s Jaz Quaranta
New York University’s James Pentland (#10) loses the ball as Washington University in St. Louis’ Thomas Fies (#8)
New York University’s Simon Derby
Washington University in St. Louis’ Brett Virgin-Downey(#9) tries for a pass as New York University’s James Pentland (#10) moves in
Washington University in St. Louis’ Max Bernstein (#12) eyes an opening as New York University’s Ben Conley (#9) defends
