KEARNS, Utah — Graham McClone (Gr., Placerville Calif.) scored four times to notch Player of the Game status and lead nine scorers from Southwest Division Champion/2022 Men’s National Collegiate Club Champion/No. 1-ranked the University of California-San Diego in a 15-10 quarterfinal defeat of New England Division Champion/No. 6 Dartmouth College to start Day Two of the 2023 Men’s National Collegiate Club Championship at the Kearns Oquirrh Park Fitness Center.
UC-San Diego – which previously placed First (2022), Second (2021), Third (2019), Fifth (2018) and Ninth (2013) at the Men’s National Collegiate Club Championship – returns to the semifinals for the fourth time in as many championships as the 2020 event was terminated due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Tritons will return to the water at 5:10 p.m. Mountain later today versus the victor of a quarterfinal matching Missouri Valley Division Champion/Division III No. 1/No. 13 Washington University in St. Louis and Sierra Pacific Division Champion/No. 2 the University of California.
UC-San Diego has faced both the Bears and the Golden Bears at past Men’s National Collegiate Club Championships as the Tritons downed Washington University in St. Louis in the 2021 semifinals (16-5 W) at the Huntsville Aquatics Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Last year at the Chehalem Aquatics & Fitness Center in Newberg, Ore., UC-San Diego topped California by a 11-7 count in the second round of the championship.
The loss drops Dartmouth into the consolation side of the championship bracket as the Big Green will meet the loser of the Washington-California game at 4:00 p.m. with a spot in the Fifth Place game on the line. The 1997 National Champion, Dartmouth has previously placed Fourth (2013, 2015), Sixth (2012), Seventh (2001), Eighth (2008) and Ninth (2022).
UC-San Diego jumped on the scoreboard first against Dartmouth as Sheldon French (Sr., San Diego, Calif.) rocked the cage with 4:58 left in the opening quarter. Mason Westkaemper (Jr., Dallas, Texas) delivered for Dartmouth at 4:42 to knot the score at one-all, but Graham McClone (Gr., Placerville, Calif.) (4:11, 2:45), Braden Clark (So., San Diego, Calif.) (2:28) and French (1:47) fired home hotshots to stake the Tritons to a 5-1 margin.
Elton Sjoenell (Jr., Brentwood, Calif.) snapped UC-San Diego’s scoring spurt with 43 seconds left in the first quarter by burying a man-up chance, while Westkaemper cashed in another six-on-five opportunity with 5:08 to go in the second quarter to trim the Tritons’ lead back to 5-3.
Alexander Voldby (Jr., Copenhagen, Denmark) and Clark responded to the Big Green’s back-to-back strikes with a pair of their own as the duo zipped in shots at 2:57 and 2:21, respectively, to return the spread to four at 7-3.
Both teams dented the twine in the twilight minutes of the second quarter as Sjoenell (1:15) and French (10 seconds, man-up) put away scoring bids to make it 8-4 in favor of UC-San Diego at the midway point.
Following another man-up score by Westkaemper at the 6:24 to commence the third quarter and move Dartmouth within three at 8-5, the Tritons stuck a fork in their opponent.
Gonzalo Rivera (Gr., Madrid, Spain) (5:08) and Anshul Devnani (Gr., Orlando, Fla.) (4:34, penalty shot) responded with consecutive tallies to double-up Dartmouth by a 10-5 count. Westkaemper terminated the run by converting a power-play opportunity at 4:01 to make it 10-6, but Voldby (3:35), Connor Stauffer (Jr., Mill Valley, Calif.) (2:24) and Matthew Spry (So., Santee, Calif.) (1:27) sprung into action to torque in back-to-back-to-back tallies and cushion the Tritons’ margin to 13-6.
McClone (6:33) made it an eight-goal contest 27 seconds into the fourth quarter before Nic Nikcevic (Fr., Palo Alto, Calif.) delivered for Dartmouth at the 5:41 mark to put the Big Green within 14-7. Malachi Sanders (Sr., San Diego, Calif.) returned the lead to eight (15-7) at 4:57 finish out UC-San Diego’s scoring.
Max Sweeney (Fr., Los Angeles, Calif.) (4:00, man-up; 1:27, man-up) and Westkaemper (2:44) put the finishing touches on the Big Green’s contest by combining for three goals over the final four minutes for the 15-10 final score.
For Dartmouth, Westkaemper led the way with five goals, while Sjoenell (two), Sweeney (two) and Nikcevic put up the other five scores. Chris Colsman (Jr., Weston, Mass.) took the loss in cage.
On the other end of the tank, McClone (four), Voldby (two), Clark (two) and French combined for 10 goals with Sanders, Stauffer, Spry, Devnani and Rivera chipping in single strikes. Goalkeeper Bryce Elsner (Sr., Carlsbad, Calif.) picked up the win.
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| No. 6 Dartmouth College |
2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | – | 10 |
| No. 1 University of California-San Diego | 5 | 3 | 5 | 2 | – | 15 |
| UCSD Goals: | Graham McClone (4); Alexander Voldby (2); Braden Clark (2); Sheldon French (2); Malachi Sanders; Connor Stauffer; Matthew Spry; Anshul Devnani; Gonzalo Rivera | |||||
| Dartmouth Goals: | Mason Westkaemper (5); Elton Sjoenell (2); Max Sweeney (2); Nic Nikcevic | |||||
| Exclusions: | UCSD – 10 ; Dartmouth – 8 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | UCSD – 2-for-8 ; Dartmouth – 6-for-10 | |||||
| Sprints: | UCSD – 3-for-4 (1st, 2nd, 4th) ; Dartmouth – 1-for-4 (3rd) | |||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | YC – UCSD (Head coach Hector Sanchez, 42 seconds left in 4th Q) | |||||
| Officials: | Victor Rarau, Jeremy Mauss | |||||
Dartmouth College’s Mason Westkaemper (#2) attempts to elude the University of California-San Diego’s Malachi Sanders (#1) and beat goalkeeper Bryce Elsner (#1)
University of California-San Diego’s Graham McClone (#3) unleashes a shot against Dartmouth College goalkeeper Chris Colsman (#1)
Dartmouth College’s Chad Danger Klaas and the University of California-San Diego’s Jackson Cassidy (#4)
University of California-San Diego’s Connor Stauffer (#9) attempts to block a shot by Dartmouth College’s Mason Westkaemper (#2)
