NOTRE DAME, Ind. — Goalie Vivian Zhang (Sr., San Jose, Calif.) made seven saves to earn Player of the Game as the North Atlantic Division Champion/Division III No. 2-ranked Engineers of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology shocked Big Ten Division Champion/No. 10 Michigan State University, 6-5, in the opening round of the 2019 Women’s National Collegiate Club Championship hosted by the University of Notre Dame at the Rolfs Aquatic Center.
- The game was nip-tuck in the early going until Clare Wieland (Sr., Lake Forest, Ill.) staked MIT to a 1-0 lead by slicing in a shot with 35 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
- The Engineers padded their margin to 3-0 to commence the second quarter as Hayley Bergman (Sr., Sunnyvale, Calif.) and Soumya Kannan (Gr., Palo Alto, Calif.) wailed in even-strength (6:31) and man-up (1:26) goals, respectively.
- However, the three-time (2001, 2002, 2006) National Champion Spartans refused to stay down as Sarah Williams (So., Okemos, Mich.) closed out the first half with a natural tally (58 seconds) and Jilian Eiken (Sr., Naperville, Ill.) commenced the second half by whipping in another even-strength chance at 5:42 to close within one at 3-2.
- Obrand returned the lead to a pair at 4-2 with 3:35 remaining in the third quarter, but Eiken responded at 1:29 to keep the Spartans within one at 4-3.
- The Engineers acquired the breathing room it would need to survive and advance in the waning moments of the frame as Kannan and Bergman swished last minute six-on-six opportunities with 53 and 20 seconds on the clock, respectively, to double-up Michigan State 6-3 heading into the seven minutes of regulation.
- The Spartans refused to fall into the consolation side of the bracket without a fight, however, as Williams (4:58, even-strength) and Eiken (3:32, man-up) torched the twine for strikes to move Michigan State within 6-5.
- However, the Engineers’ defense stiffened as netminder Vivian Zhang (Sr., San Jose, Calif.) made three of her game-high seven saves in the final three minutes of the game to allow MIT to escape with a one-goal win.
- Kannan and Bergman led the way on offense for MIT with pairs of goals to accompany single strikes from Obrand and Wieland.
- For Michigan State, Eiken notched a hat-trick with three goals, while Williams finished with a pair. Goalie Leslie Schuchardt (So., Rockford, Mich.) took the loss with four saves.
- MIT advances to the tournament quarterfinals as the Engineers will aim to construct another upset win as the team will battle Southeast Division Champion/No. 6 the University of Florida at 12:30 p.m on Saturday, May 4. Florida earned its date with MIT by blanking Atlantic Division Champion the University of Virginia by a 13-0 score.
- Courtesy the win, MIT is guaranteed to record at least a Top Eight finish at the 2019 Women’s National Collegiate Club Championship. Historically, MIT finished 12th at Nationals in 2017 by facing the University of California-Davis (17-0 L), the University of Virginia (6-5 W), the University of Pittsburgh (10-6 L) and Pennsylvania State University (9-8 L OT). The team placed eighth in 2007 as the Engineers topped Columbia University (8-1 W) before falling to Fresno State University (11-3 L), the University of Pennsylvania (8-6 L) and the University of Arizona (9-4 L). In 2006, MIT defeated Cornell University (14-4 W), fell to Miami University of Ohio (7-3 L) and California Polytechnic State University (9-6 L) prior to managing Rice University (8-7 W) to claim a Seventh Place mark. In the team’s inaugural appearance at the National Collegiate Club Championship in 2005 at Texas A&M University, MIT knocked off Florida (8-7 W OT) and dropped a game to Miami of Ohio (11-4 L) before downing the University of Oregon (9-3 W) and Rice (8-6 W) to garner a program best Fifth Place finish.
- The loss drops Michigan State into the consolation side of the bracket as the Spartans will square-off with Virginia at 7:30 p.m. this evening. MSU, which can finish no higher than Ninth in the final 16-team championship standings due to the loss to MIT, will aim to down the Wahoos and guarantee at least a Top 12 finish with hopes of continuing a history of Top 10 finishes by winning its next two games.
- In the history of the tournament, the Spartans have placed first (2001, 2002, 2006), second (2000, 2003), third (2005), fourth (2007), sixth (2004) and ninth (2008) as Michigan State holds the third most National Championships behind California Polytechnic State University (seven) and the University of California-Davis (four).
- Michigan State University is making the program’s first appearance at the Women’s National Collegiate Club Championship since the 2008 event.
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| MIT | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | – | 6 |
| Michigan State University | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | – | 5 |
| MSU Goals: | Soumya Kannan (2); Hayley Bergman (2); Alexandrine Obrand; Clare Wieland | |||||
| MIT Goals: | Jilian Eiken (3); Sarah Williams (2) | |||||
| Saves: | MSU – Leslie Schuchardt (4) ; MIT – Vivian Zhang (7) | |||||
| Exclusions: | MSU – 4 ; MIT – 4 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | MSU – 1-for-4 ; MIT – -1-for-4 | |||||
| Sprints: | MSU – 2-for-4 (2nd, 4th) ; MIT – 2-for-4 (1st, 3rd) | |||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | None | |||||
| Officials: | Tim Watson; Gregg Emde | |||||
Michigan State University’s Abby Parsons (#6) attempts to prevent a shot by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Hayley Bergman (#10)
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Kara Zhang (#15) guards Michigan State University’s Abby Parsons (#6)
Michigan State University’s Jilian Eiken (#4) prepares to shoot as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Maggie Rodriguez (#13) waits
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Haley Bergman (#10) defends Michigan State University’s Sarah Williams (#2)
