TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Goalie Stefan Grasu (Sr., Houston, Texas) stopped 13 shots, including eight in the second half to keep his opposition at bay when it mattered most, as Texas Division Champion/No. 11-ranked the University of Texas took down Pacific Coast Division runner-up/No. 5 California Polytechnic State University, 9-6, to reach the title game of the 2017 Men’s National Collegiate Club Championship at Florida State University’s Morcom Aquatics Center.
Playing in brisk temperatures outside in the North Florida night, the Longhorns proved their mettle by handling the five-time (1999, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2007) National Champion and eight-time (1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2008) National Championship game qualifying Mustangs to return Texas to the Men’s National Collegiate Club Championship title game for the first time since a 2010 appearance at University of Southern Utah in Cedar City, Utah.
Texas, which will look to become the first team from South of Los Angeles to win the National Championship, will return to the pool at 12:45 p.m. on Sunday, November 12 against an opponent to be determined with the Collegiate Club water polo ranks highest award on the line.
Overall, the Longhorns will meet either Pacific Coast Division Champion/No. 4 the University of Southern California or Southwest Division/No. 3 San Diego State University for the crown. Note, all four of the teams either equal or exceed the placement for most Southern team to win the championship, a fitting role considering Florida State rates among the most Southern host sites in the history of the Men’s National Collegiate Club Championship.
Facing the most successful team in the history of men’s collegiate club water polo, Texas built an early lead, saw its margin evaporate and dominated the Mustangs down the stretch to claim its spot in the title tilt.
The Longhorns’ title quest began in earnest thanks to a family connection as brothers Alex Raterink (Fr., Houston, Texas) and Cooper Raterink (Sr., Houston, Texas) beat Cal Poly goalie Nathaniel Schmidt (Jr., Berkeley, Calif.) at 5:16 and 4:27, respectively, to push Texas out to a 2-0 lead less than three minutes into the contest.
The Mustangs raced back into the game as Jeffrey Runyan (Fr., Modesto, Calif.) (3:12) and Jacob Banner (Fr, Valley Center, Calif.) (36 seconds) buried chances to balance the scoreboard at two-all.
Cooper Raterink answered nine seconds later to return the lead to Texas at 3-2 with 27 seconds left in the frame, but Jacob Roberts (So., Orange County, Calif.) beat the clock and Grasu with a man-up strike at the one seconds mark to deadlock the squads at three-all after seven minutes of action.
However, the second quarter belonged exclusively to Texas as Evan Grimes (Sr., Houston, Texas) and Jason Juliette (Fr., Houston, Texas) torched the Cal Poly cage for natural tallies with 4:31 and 2:52 on the clock, respectively. Alex Raterink continued the scoring spree with a power-play conversion at the three seconds mark to make it 6-3 at halftime.
Easton Honaker (Fr., Plano, Texas) broke up Texas’ All-Houston scoring party by ripping in his squad’s seventh strike 45 seconds into the second half to make it 7-3 and place the Mustangs in a nearly insurmountable hole.
Will Peterson (Jr., Sacramento, Calif.) snapped an 8:15 scoring drought for Cal Poly dating back to the one second mark of the first quarter as he flipped in a goal with 5:55 remaining in the third quarter to make it a three-score game at 7-4.
Nathan Craig (So., Houston, Texas) cushioned the margin back to four at 8-4 with a offensive haymaker at 5:41, but Cole Carroll (Jr., Encinitas, Calif.) chipped the lead back to three 30 seconds later (5:11) by lining in a man-up opportunity.
Neither team was able to put a ball across the goal-line for the remainder to set-up a fourth quarter in which Cal Poly needed a dramatic comeback to force overtime.
The comeback did not come, however, as Craig zipped in a five-meter penalty shot with 5:19 left in regulation to enlarge the margin to 9-5. Texas’ defense stiffened down the stretch to hold Cal Poly off the board until a man-up conversion by Roberts with 2:23 – but the Longhorns allowed no more offense to exit the contest with a 9-6 win and an appointment with potential history,
The Raterink brothers accounted for four of Texas’ goals as the duo deposited pairs of markers while Craig also hit the back of the cage twice. Honaker, Juliette and Grimes put away solo scores.
Roberts keyed Cal Poly with two goals. Runyan, Banner, Peterson and Carroll each notched single goals in support of a seven-save effort by Schmidt.
Due to the loss, Cal Poly falls into the Third Place game at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday, November 12, against the fallen from the USC-San Diego State semifinal.
Texas’ title game appearance is unique for the Men’s National Collegiate Club ranks as a Texas Division team has made the title game only once before – the Longhorns’ 12-8 loss to the University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA) on November 14, 2010 at Southern Utah. Overall, Texas downed Columbia University (8-6 W), Arizona State University (10-9 W) and the University of Miami (Fla.) (13-3 W) at Southern Utah – considerably different than the 2017 fallen against Texas which defeated the University of Colorado (11-5 W) and the University of Michigan (6-4 W) prior to topping Cal Poly for its latest title game appearance.
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| University of Texas | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | – | 9 |
| California Polytechnic State University | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | – | 6 |
| Cal Poly Goals: | Jacob Roberts (2); Jeffrey Runyan; Jacob Banner; Will Peterson; Cole Carroll | |||||
| Texas Goals: | Cooper Raterink (2); Alex Raterink (2); Nathan Craig (2); Easton Honaker; Jason Juliette; Evan Grimes | |||||
| Saves: | Cal Poly – Nathaniel Schmidt (7) ; Texas – Stefan Grasu (13) | |||||
| Exclusions: | Cal Poly – 8 ; Texas – 6 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | Cal Poly – 3-for-6 ; Texas – 2-for-8 | |||||
| Sprints: | Cal Poly – 4-for-4 ; Texas – 0-for-4 | |||||
| Officials: | Brandon Nicholson, Nick Cargola | |||||
Photo 1: University of Texas’ goalie Stefan Grasu (#1) attempts a save; Photo 2: University of Texas’ Nathan Craig (#5) shoots as California Polytechnic State University’s Matthew Montijo (#3) pursues; Photo 3: University of Texas’ Cooper Raterink
