MIDDLETOWN, Conn. — Player of the Game Aaron Lawrence (So., Dallas, Texas) and Simon Derby (Fr., Greenwich, Conn.) both scored five times as Division III No. 7-ranked New York University of the New York Division overcame a 12-11 deficit with 3:36 remaining in the fourth quarter to edge Division III No. 5/North Atlantic Division Champion Bates College, 14-13, in the Third Place game of the 2018 Men’s Division III Collegiate Club Championship hosted by Wesleyan University.
It marks the Bobcats’ 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 in prior trips to the Division III Club Championship tournament.
In a battle of the Bobcats, the New York contingent overcame early 1-0 and 2-1 deficits to their Lewiston, Maine, counterparts in the first quarter to knot the score at two-all after seven minutes of action.
Down 3-2 with 6:18 left in the second quarter, NYU put together a run to grab the lead as Lawrence drilled in a shot at 5:30 to even the damage at three-all prior to Derby lining in a five-meter penalty shot at 4:56 to give the Empire State squad its first lead at 4-3. Ben Conley (Jr., Orinda, Calif.) punched in a man-up bid at 3:34 and Derby spun in a natural marker at 3:20 to widen the chasm between the programs to 6-3.
However, Bates bared its claws as James Calhoon and Alexander Rolph arched in even-strength (3:10) and penalty shot (2:18) strikes to shave NYU’s lead back to one at 6-5.
Needing some offense to regain the momentum prior to halftime, Lawrence delivered by cocking and firing in a shot with 41 ticks left on the second quarter clock to provide NYU a 7-5 margin at the break.
Rolph inched Bates back within one at 7-6 with another penalty shot at the 5:53 mark of the third quarter, but Derby delivered a response at 5:02 to make it 8-6. The lead continued to sway from one-to-two goals as Calhoon curved in a chance at 4:30 and Derby countered at 4:11 to set the scoreboard at 9-7.
Bates finally was able to catch up to NYU, however, as Ryan Fisse swished man-up (3:45) and natural (2:45) tallies exactly one minute apart to deadlock the squads at nine-all.
This time, Conley replaced Derby as his squad’s hero as the junior juked his defender and connected with a sinking shot on a six-on-five opportunity at the 1:40 mark in pushing NYU back in front at 10-9.
In the fourth quarter, New York’s James Pentland (Fr., Oahu, Hawaii) (4:39) and Calhoon (4:18) traded power-play points to expand the lead to two and shrink the gap back to one, respectively, in flipping the board over to 11-10.
NYU appeared to be in command of the game as Derby deposited his fifth marker at 3:50 on another man-up chance to cushion his squad’s lead to 12-10, but Rolph (3:36) and Ollie Penner (2:35) had other ideas in both scoring to square the squads at 12-all.
Bates appeared poised to complete a dramatic comeback as the Bobcats sliced through the NYU defense for the go-ahead score by Penner with 2:15 left on the clock, but Lawrence took command of the game in the waning moments to unleash back-to-back bombs at 1:44 and 1:14 for the tying and game-winning goals.
For New York, Conley scored three times to join Lawrence and Derby in posting multi-goal games. Pentland chipped in a solo strike and goalie Daniel Novarro (Sr., Harrington Park, N.J.) turned aside five shots to notch the win.
On the other end of the tank, Calhoon (four), Fisse (three), Rolph (three), Penner (two) and Kyle Crans (one) dented the twine to account for Bates’ offense. Goalie Charlie Nadel stopped eight shots in taking the loss.
The placement marks the second best mark by Bates at the Division III Club Championship in the history of the tournament as the Bobcats previously took home Third (2017), Fifth (2000), Seventh (2002) and 10th (2001) place.
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| New York University | 2 | 5 | 3 | 4 | – | 14 |
| Bates College | 2 | 3 | 4 | 4 | – | 13 |
| Bates Goals: | James Calhoon (4); Ryan Fisse (3); Alexander Rolph (3); Ollie Penner (2); Kyle Crans |
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| NYU Goals: | Aaron Lawrence (5); Simon Derby (5); Ben Conley (3); James Pentland | |||||
| Saves: | Bates – Charlie Nadel (8) ; NYU – Daniel Novarro (5) | |||||
| Exclusions: | Bates – 8 ; NYU – 6 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | Bates – 4-for-6 ; NYU – 5-for-8 | |||||
| Sprints: | Bates – 1-for-4 (3rd) ; NYU – 3-for-4 (1st, 2nd, 4th) | |||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | None | |||||
| Officials: | Steve Sargalksi, Dennis Kinne | |||||
Bates University’s James Calhoon
New York University’s Ben Conley
Bates College’s James Calhoon (#8) spots an opening as New York University’s Simon Derby (#7) moves in
New York University’s Simon Derby
