HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Trailing 10-7 at the conclusion of the third quarter, host/Southeast Division Champion/No. 20-ranked the University of Alabama ripped off a 5-0 scoring surge in the game’s final seven minutes to stun Mid-Atlantic Division Champion/No. 13 the University of Pittsburgh, 12-10, in the opening round of the 2026 Men’s National Collegiate Club Championship hosted at the Huntsville Aquatics Center in Huntsville, Alabama.
Courtesy the win, Alabama – which previously placed fourth (2025) and 11th (2022) with ties at 13th (2021, 2023) and 15th (2017, 2018, 2019) at the Men’s National Collegiate Club Championship – earns a 10:10 a.m. Central quarterfinal date on Saturday, November 7, with the victor of a first round meeting between Sierra Pacific Division regular season champion/No. 3 California State University-Chico and Great Lakes Division Champion/No. 16 the University of Notre Dame.
The loss drops Pitt – which is making the program’s first earned trip to Nationals as a division champion after hosting and tying with Alabama for 15th at the 2019 Men’s National Collegiate Club Championship – into a consolation game at 6:20 p.m. this evening against the loser of the Cal State-Chico-vs.-Notre Dame contest.
Down 10-7 at the termination of the third quarter, the Crimson Tide began to roll as Landon Kenny (Pleasanton, Calif.) lined in a five-meter penalty shot (6:26) and Chase Dimauro (Lansdale, Pa.) converted a man-up chance (5:11) to shrink the Panthers’ lead to 10-9. Kenny struck again with another penalty shot at 4:12 to square the squads at 10-all before Hank Jaffe (Charlotte, N.C.) (1:22) notched the game-winner and Jason Tockstein (San Diego, Calif.) added insurance (four seconds) to account for the final blows of Alabama’s 5-0 outburst.
Alabama led only twice in the game – 2-1 with 4:19 left in the first quarter and following Jaffe’s game-winner with under 90 seconds left in the contest.
Caden Currykosky (Pittsburgh, Pa.) put Pittsburgh in front 53 seconds into the game (6:07), but back-to-back strikes by Jaffe (5:44) and William Rigazzi (Virginia Beach, Va.) (4:19) turned the tables to put Alabama ahead 2-1.
The lead lasted until the 1:42 mark of the first quarter when Max Davis-Denny (So., Pasadena, Calif.) netted an equalizer before Giulio Minerbi (Sr., Milan, Italy) fired in a go-ahead heave with 59 seconds remaining in the frame to put the Panthers back in front at 3-2.
The teams traded goals throughout the second quarter as Davis-Denny padded his team’s margin to 4-2 with 4:26 until halftime, Rigazzi cashed in a man-up bid at 2:13 to inch the Crimson Tide back to within 4-3, Nico Jacobs-Alarcon (Jr., Pittsburgh, Pa.) returned Pitt’s spread to a pair at 5-3 with 1:39 to go and Tockstein ticked off a tally with 55 seconds on the clock to set the scoreboard at 5-4 in favor of the Keystone State squad through 14 minutes of action.
Pittsburgh appeared primed to run away with the contest in the early moments of the third quarter as Andrew Davis (Sr., Lansdale, Pa.) (6:34) and Currykosky (4:56) enlarged the Panthers’ spread to 7-4.
Following back-to-back responses by Kenny (4:41) and Tockstein (3:50) to move Alabama back to within 7-6, the Panthers bared their claws to deliver what was thought to be a death strike as back-to-back successful shots by Davis (3:12, 2:39) followed by a dart from Callan Bunger (Fr. Pittsburgh, Pa.) (1:15) gave Pitt a game-high four-goal lead.
However, Alabama commenced its comeback prior to the conclusion of the third quarter as Rigazzi (1:01) ignited the Crimson Tides’ rally to victory by denting the twine to set the stage for the squad’s dramatic rally.
For Pittsburgh, Davis (three), Currykosky (two), Davis-Denny (two), Jacobs-Alarcon, Minerbi and Bunger found the back of the cage. Goalkeepers Ethan Luginbuhl (Fr., Perkasie, Pa.) and Kyle Mair (Fr., Blue Bell, Pa.) combined for eight saves.
Tockstein, Rigazzi and Kenny each scored three times to share Player of the Game laurels for Alabama. Jaffe (two) and DiMauro accounted for the remainder of the Crimson Tide’s offensive output to support a 13-save effort by netminder Aaron Rivera (Elmhurst, Ill.).
