CARLISLE, Pa. — Aaron Horst (Fr., Oceanside, Calif.) scored twice to pick-up Player of the Game recognition as Southwest Division Champion/No. 1-ranked/2022, 2023, 2024 National Champion the University of California-San Diego inched closer to becoming the first men’s collegiate club team to capture back-to-back-to-back-to-back Men’s National Collegiate Club Championships with an 8-3 defeat of Rocky Mountain Division Champion/No. 19 the University of Colorado.
Competing at the Carlisle YMCA Aquatic Center, the Tritons struggled to get their offense in gear during the early going prior to pumping in six second half goals to best the Buffaloes. The win advances UCSD to a 5:10 p.m. Eastern semifinal later today versus the victor of a quarterfinal matching Southeast Division Champion the University of Alabama and Atlantic Division Third Place finisher Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University (Virginia Tech).
Colorado will return to the water at 4:00 p.m. in a consolation game against the fallen from the Alabama-Virginia Tech quarterfinal with a berth in the Fifth Place game on the line.
The Tritons built a 4-0 lead by the 3:48 mark of the third quarter and held off Colorado the rest of the way to claim the win.
Braden Clark (Sr., San Marcos, Calif.) opened the scoring by swishing a shot with 3:36 remaining in the first quarter for the the lone strike of the game’s first seven minutes. TJ Turner (Sr., San Diego, Calif.) padded the lead to 2-0 by converting a natural opportunity with 5:02 on the second quarter clock.
Matt Spry (Sr., San Diego, Calif.) (4:33, man-up) and Horst (3:48, man-up) inflated the lead to 4-0 in the third quarter prior to Colorado breaking up the shutout via a tally by Ryan Bannon at the 3:15 mark to shrink the Buffaloes’ deficit to 4-1.
Rhys Bugelli (Gr., La Jolla, Calif.) (1:35) and Luke Childs (Jr., Norco, Calif.) (six seconds, man-up) responded with goals in the waning minutes of the third quarter to construct UC-San Diego’s margin to 6-1 with seven minutes of regulation left to play.
Dylan Armstrong chipped Colorado’s deficit down to 6-2 (5:49), Gabe Burks (Jr,, Ann Arbor, Mich.) (2:12) and Horst (53 seconds, man-up) pushed the Tritons ahead 8-2 and Bannon beat the UC-San Diego defense for a final blow (13 seconds) to establish the 8-3 final score.
Horst (two), Turner, Childs, Spry, Clark, Burks and Bugelli combined for the Tritons’ offense in support of a nine save performance in cage by netminders Eric Yoon (Jr., La Crescenta, Calif.) (three) and Henry Szcuka (Gr., Solana Beach, Calif.) (six).
Bannon (two) and Armstrong scored for Colorado with Austin Dale turning aside seven shots.
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| No. 19 University of Colorado | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | – | 3 |
| No. 1 University of California-San Diego | 1 | 1 | 4 | 2 | – | 8 |
| UC-San Diego Goals: | Aaron Horst (2); TJ Turner; Luke Childs; Matt Spry; Braden Clark; Gabe Burks; Rhys Bugelli | |||||
| Colorado Goals: | Ryan Bannon (2); Dylan Armstrong | |||||
| Saves: | UC-San Diego – Eric Yoon (3, 14 minutes), Henry Szczuka (6, 14 minutes) ; Colorado – Austin Dale (7) | |||||
| Exclusions: | UC-San Diego – 2 ; Colorado – 10 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | UC-San Diego – 4-for-10 ; Colorado – 0-for-2 | |||||
| Sprints: | UC-San Diego – 1-for-4 (1st) ; Colorado – 3-for-4 (2nd, 3rd, 4th) | |||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | None | |||||
| Officials: | Kevin Jauregui, Matt Stuckwisch | |||||
The University of California-San Diego’s Aaron Horst (#3) defends the University of Colorado’s Ryan Bannon (#3)
The University of Colorado’s Austin Dale (#1) and Julian Hull (#5) prepare for a shot by the University of California-San Diego’s Matt Spry (#8)
The University of California-San Diego’s Aaron Horst (#3) & the University of Colorado’s Ryan Bannon (#3)
