PITTSBURGH, Pa. — Seven Lions scored and goalie Marcel Farres posted 16 saves as Missouri Valley Division Champion/No. 1-ranked Lindenwood University downed Pacific Coast Division Champion/No. 3 the University of Southern California, 9-5, in the 2019 Men’s National Collegiate Club Championship title game at the University of Pittsburgh’s Trees Pool.
- Now a five-time Men’s National Collegiate Club Champion (2014, 2015, 2016, 2018) to tie California Polytechnic State University (1999, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2007) for the most crowns in the history of men’s club water polo, Lindenwood increases its total of National Championships to eight as the team won three Division III Collegiate Club (2006, 2007, 2008) prior to moving up into the ranks of National Collegiate Club Championship eligible programs.
- The Lions fell behind early in the game as Mitchell Fargo (Jr., Redlands, Calif.) gave the Trojans a 1-0 lead with 5:34 left in the first quarter, but Marino Chorro (3:39) and Nikola Vukic (one second) dented the netting to hand Lindenwood a 2-1 lead after seven minutes of action.
- Southern California pulled even at two-all 21 seconds into the second quarter as Connor Talleur (Sr., Claremont, Calif.) lined in a five-meter penalty shot (6:39), but the Lions roared back as Ratimir Babic (6:25, penalty shot), James Gambin (5:53, even-strength) and Mateo Lema (5:07, even-strength) slashed USC for back-to-back-to-back strikes and a 5-2 lead.
- USC cut its deficit to a pair prior to the close of the first half as Jack Anderson (So., Palo Alto, Calif.) converted a six-on-five opportunity wit 3:28 remaining to make it a 5-3 game at the break.
- Marc Tahull (4:35, even-strength) and Babic (3:12, penalt shot) increased the Lions’ lead to 7-3 in the third quarter.
- Playing without Fargo who received a red card during the break between the third and fourth quarters, USC was uanble to put together a consistent rally against Lindenwood over the final seven minutes of regulation.
- Lema further enlarged the Lions’ margin to 8-3 by swishing a man-up chance at the 6:00 mark prior to Jared Livingston (Jr., Marin County, Calif.) and Anderson drilling in back-to-back shots at 5:28 (man-up) and 1:22 (even-strength) to shrink the Trojans’ deficit to 8-5.
- However, Andres Bernabe Lopez delivered the final blow in the game by twirling in a ball with 15 ticks on the clock to establish the 9-5 score.
- For Lindenwood, Babic and Lema both scored twice with Chorro, Lopez, Vukic, Gambin and Tahull all registering single tallies.
- On the other end of the tank, Anderson put away a pair of chances with Talleur, Livingston and Fargo adding solo strikes.
- Goalie Patrick Tandy (Jr., Portola Valley, Calif.) made 12 saves in taking the loss for USC.
- Overall, Lindenwood has now finsihed First (2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019), Second (2013), Fifth (2009), Sixth (2010), Seventh (2012) and Ninth (2017) at the Men’s National Collegiate Club Championship to stand among an elite group that has more than five finishes and never placed outside the Top 10.
- A 13-time Missouri Valley Division champion (2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019), the Lions previously appeared in four consecutive National Championship games in falling to the University of California-Los Angeles in 2013 (20-15 L) before downing San Diego State University in 2014 (13-8 W) and again in 2015 (10-9 W) and Long Beach State University in 2016 (9-5 W). Last year, Lindenwood topped Villanova University (20-11 W), the University of California-San Diego (7-3 W), the University of California (17-13 W) and finally the University of Utah (14-11 W) to capture the 2018 Men’s National Collegiate Club Championship at the University of Arizona.
- Further, the Lions join Cal Poly (2001, 2002), the University of California-Los Angeles (2009, 2010), USC (2011, 2012) and themselves (2014, 2015, 2016) as the only programs to win consecutive National Championships.
- For USC, it marks the first title game defeat for the team which previously finished in First (2011, 2012) and Fourth (2017) Place in three prior trips to the championship event.
Following the championship game, the All-Tournament, Most Valuable Player and Coach of the Tournament honors were announced:
| 2019 Men’s National Collegiate Club Championship All-Tournament Team | |
| Most Valuable Player: | Seth Hughes (University of Utah) |
| Coach of the Tournament: | Hector Sanchez (University of California-San Diego) |
| First Team | |
| Marcel Farres (Goalie) | Lindenwood University |
| Marc Tahull | Lindenwood University |
| Mitchell Fargo | University of Southern California |
| Peyton Alonzo | University of Southern California |
| Sam Sikkema | Michigan State University |
| Andrew Burda | University of California-San Diego |
| Seth Hughes | University of Utah |
| Second Team | |
| Patrick Tandy (Goalie) | University of Southern California |
| Connor Talleur | University of Southern California |
| Alrdric Terral | California State University Maritime Academy |
| Marino Chorro | Lindenwood University |
| Calvin Behm | Pennsylvania State University |
| Parker Strickman | University of Florida |
| Chris Kreinenkamp | University of Notre Dame |
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| No. 3 University of Southern California | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | – | 5 |
| No. 1 Lindenwood University | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | – | 9 |
| Lindenwood Goals: | Ratimir Babic (2); Mateo Lema (2); Marino Chorro; Andres Bernabe Lopez; Nikola Vukic; James Gambin; Marc Tahull | |||||
| USC Goals: | Jack Anderson (2); Connor Talleur; Jared Livingston; Mitchell Fargo | |||||
| Saves: | Lindenwood – Marcel Farres (16) ; USC – Patrick Tandy (12) | |||||
| Exclusions: | Lindenwood – 8 ; USC – 11 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | Lindenwood – 3-for-11 ; USC – 3-for-8 | |||||
| Sprints: | Lindenwood – 3-for-4 (1st, 3rd, 4th) ; USC – 1-for-4 (2nd) | |||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | Lindenwood – YC (Mateo Lema, one second left in 1st Q); USC – YC (Mitchell Fargo, one second left in 1st Q), YC (Head Coach Eric Bittner, 3:14 left in 3rd Q), RC (Mitchell Fargo, 7:00 left in 4th Q), MV (Connor Talleur, 1:36 left in 3rd Q) | |||||
| Officials: | Jason Grubb; Martin Murray | |||||
University of Southern California’s Peyton Alonzo (#15) defends Lindenwood University’s Andras Bernabe Miranda (#4)
Lindenwood University’s Marcel Farres (#1) rises to stop a shot by the University of Southern California’s Mitchell Fargo (#7)
Lindenwood University’s Marino Chorro (#18)
The University of Southern California’s Riley Wilson (#5) scans for an open player as Lindenwood University’s Ratimir Babic (#23) closes in
2019 Men’s National Collegiate Club Championship Runner-Up: University of Southern California
2019 Men’s National Collegiate Club Champion: Lindenwood University
