MIDDLEBURY, Vt. — Clay Holmes (Sr., Greenwich, Conn.) connected on four goals and the duo of Christopher Wan (So., Irvine, Calif.) and Evan Tatro (So., Titusville, Fla.) posted hat-tricks in support of a four save effort by goalie Case Tatro (Sr., Titusville, Fla.) to take a 14-9 win over the United States Coast Guard Academy at the 2017 Men’s Division III National Collegiate Club Championship hosted by Middlebury College.
Courtesy the win, Hamilton advances to the tournament’s Fifth Place game at 12:45 p.m. on Sunday, October 29, against the host Panthers of Middlebury.
A two-time Fifth Place finisher (2010, 2011) with Sixth (2016) and Seventh (2012) Place finishes in the program’s other two appearances at the Division III Championship, the Continentals of Hamilton jumped on the Bears of Coast Guard early and never let up to hang on for a five-goal win.
Wan and Frankie Hearne (Jr., SIngapore, Singapore) broke the ice for the eventual victors with man-up tallies at the 5:41 and 1:59 marks of the first quarter, respectively, to give Hamilton a lead it would never relinquish. Miguel Hernandez (Miami, Fla.) trimmed the lead back to one at 2-1 with 37 seconds remaining in the quarter prior to Wan responding with another man-up marker with 14 ticks on the clock for a 3-1 game after seven minutes of competition.
Hernandez once again shaved Hamilton’s margin down to one at 3-2 with 4:08 left in the second quarter, but back-to-back-to-back heaves by Wan (3:52, even-strength) and Holmes (2:03, even-strength; 1:02, man-up) allowed Hamilton to build its lead to 6-2 prior to halftime.
Coast Guard was unable to trim its deficit below three goals (6-3, 7-4, 8-5, 9-6) the rest of the way as the Continentals kept pace with the Bears in the third quarter (three-to-three) and widened the final gap to five (14-9) with a five-to-four scoring advantage during the closing seven minutes of the fourth quarter.
Besides the trio of Holmes, Evan Tatro and Wan, Hearne notched two goals with Trevor Pearson (Sr., New Vernon, N.J.) accounting for Hamilton’s other score.
Hernandez led the way for Coast Guard with four tallies. Jake Bradley (Turlock, Calif.) and Cory Creswell (San Diego, Calif.) also netted multi-goal games with three and two, respectively.
Goalie John Frank (Colorado Springs, Colo.) suffered the loss for the Bears with five saves.
The defeat drops Coast Guard into the Seventh Place game at 9:00 a.m. on Sunday, October 29, against Augustana College. No matter the outcome against the Vikings, the Bears will post their lowest finish at the Division III Collegiate Club Championship after previously notching Fourth (2008, at Villanova University) and Sixth (2012, at Middlebury) Place marks.
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| U.S. Coast Guard Academy | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | – | 9 |
| Hamilton College | 3 | 3 | 3 | 5 | – | 14 |
| Hamilton Goals: | Clay Holmes (5); Evan Tatro (3); Christopher Wan (3); Frankie Hearne (2); Trevor Pearson | |||||
| Coast Guard Goals: | Miguel Hernandez (4); Jake Bradley (3); Cory Creswell (2) | |||||
| Saves: | Hamilton – Case Tatro (4) ; Coast Guard – John Frank (5) | |||||
| Exclusions: | Hamilton – 6 ; Coast Guard – 9 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | Hamilton – 4-for-9 ; Coast Guard – 1-for-6 | |||||
| Sprints: | Hamilton – 4-for-4 ; Coast Guard – 0-for-4 | |||||
| Officials: | Dennis Kinne, Steve Sargalski | |||||
Photo 1: Hamilton College’s Christopher Wan; Photo 2: Hamilton College’s Clay Holmes unleashes a shot past the United State Coast Guard Academy’s Jake Bradley ; Photo 3: The United States Coast Guard Academy’s Miguel Hernandez shoots on Hamilton College goalie Case Tatro
