HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Maxwell Moore (Fr., Ballwin, Mo.) scored thee times as Missouri Valley Division Champion Iowa State University overcame early 1-0 and 2-1 deficits to upend Northwest Division Champion/No. 11-ranked the University of Oregon, 7-5, in a consolation game during the evening on the first day of the 2026 Men’s National Collegiate Club Championship at the Huntsville Aquatics Center.
Iowa State – which previously tied for 15th (2014, 2024) and 13th (2005) at the Men’s National Collegiate Club Championship – earned the program’s second victory at the event following an 18-8 defeat of Washington University in St. Louis in a 13th/15th place game at the 2005 tournament hosted by Williams College. Further, the team’s inaugural victory on the first day of the championship guarantees the team will not place lower than 12th in the final 2026 standings to ensure the program’s all-time best finish at the Men’s National Collegiate Club Championship.
The Cyclones will continue their quest to determine their final placement between positions No. 9-to-12 on Saturday, November 7, as Iowa State will return to the water for a 2:50 p.m. Central game against the winner of another consolation game matching New York Division Champion Cornell University and Florida Division Champion/o. 10 Florida International University.
An 11-time Northwest Division Champion (2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2023, 2024, 2026), Oregon will return to the indoor pond for the final game on Saturday, November, at 9:50 p.m. as the Ducks will take on the fallen from the Cornell-FIU game in a 13th/15th place game. Due to time constraints, the 13th-to-16th positions in the final standings are not played out with the victors of the final two games on Saturday night tying for 13th and the losers tying for 15th in the 16-team championship standings.
In the recent history of the championship, Oregon has finished 10th (2023), 11th (2024) and tied for 13th (2013) at Nationals. Prior to the tie for 13th in 2013, the team had never placed outside the Top 10 with prior 10th (2007, 2011), Ninth (2010), Eighth (2004, 2005) and Sixth (2008) place marks.
Oregon claimed the early lead in the game as Will Rowell (Sr., Palo Alto, Calif.) staked the Ducks to a 1-0 margin 52 seconds into the game at the 6:08 mark. Mohamed Elliboudy (Jr., Alexandria, Egypt) tied the game at one apiece with 30 seconds left in the first quarter prior to Chase Blitzer (Fr., San Jose, Calif.) spinning in another go-ahead score for Oregon with eight seconds remaining in the opening seven minutes of action.
From there, the contest was the domain of the Cyclones as Teddy Chui (So., Lincolnshire, Ill.) and Moore flipped the script by notching man-up (1:38) and natural (four seconds) goals, respectively, during the second half to provide Iowa State a 3-2 margin entering halftime.
Moore (6:08) and Juan Garay (Fr., Lima, Peru) (3:48, penalty shot) expanded the lead to 5-2 in the third quarter before Elias Pyka (Fr., Encinitas, Calif.) beat the buzzer to snap ISU’s 4-0 scoring string and pull the Ducks back to within a pair at 5-3 prior to the termination of the frame.
Oregon attempted to rally back as Gavin Morag (Fr., Monmouth, Ore.) chipped Iowa State’s lead down to 5-4 with a penalty shot at the 6:01 mark of the fourth quarter. Sam Perez (Jr., La Grange, Ill.) responded at 4:46 to cushion the Cyclones’ margin back to a pair at 6-4. From there, the teams exchanged final blows as Hunter Kotar (So., Eugene, Ore.) (2:25) and Moore (1:03) found the back twine to set the final margin at 7-5.
Pyka, Rowell, Moraga, Kotar and Blitzer each scored once to account for Oregon’s offense. Goalkeeper Nathan Sands (Fr., Albany, Ore.) stopped eight shots in taking the loss for the Ducks.
Chui, Elliboudy, Perez and Garay joined Moore on the scoresheet for Iowa State with Lucas Adell (Fr., Aurora, Ill.) turning aside eight scoring tries as the goalie of record.
