2017 Women’s National Collegiate Club Championship Schedule & Results
No. 10 University of Pittsburgh-vs.-No. 11 Texas A&M University Scoresheet
PITTSBURGH, Pa. — To paraphrase American pundit/Hall of Fame baseball catcher Yogi Berra, it was deja vu all over again as No. 11-ranked/Texas Division Champion Texas A&M University defeated No. 10/host/Mid-Atlantic Division Champion the University of Pittsburgh for the second time, 14-11, to Claim Ninth Place at the 2017 Women’s National Collegiate Club Championship hosted by Pitt at at the Joe C. Trees Pool.
The Aggies, who claimed an 11-10 victory in the 6:20 p.m. game on Friday, May 5, in the opening consolation game of the 2017 Women’s National Collegiate Club Championship tournament, once again needed to survive against a resilient Panthers’ squad.
Texas A&M, which claims the program’s all-time best finish at the tournament following previous Eighth (2001), 12th (2005, 2013, 2014), 13th (2010), 15th (2008, 2015) in seven previous trips, jumped on the scoreboard first as Alyssa Koerber (Fr., League City, Texas) found the cage with 5:44 on the first quarter clock. Following an equalizer from Leah McCarthy (Gr., Tinley Park, Ill.) at 5:19, the Aggies reeled off four consecutive goals from the 2:05 mark of the first quarter to 5:49 of the second quarter to run out to a 5-1 lead.
Angela Kelley (Fr., Houston, Texas) began the run at 2:05 prior to Elizabeth Crowling (Sr., Dallas, Texas) bringing the curtin down on the first quarter with a man-up strike at the 51 seconds mark to make it a 3-1 game.
Veronica Hadley (Sr., Dalls, Texas) opened the second frame by firing in her teams’ fourth goal 27 seconds in (6:33) prior to Koerber connecting again with 5:49 until halftime to expand the cushion to 5-1.
However, Pitt would stage a comeback as McCarthy wailed in a marker at 5:36 and Abi Rubio (Jr., Wexford, Pa.) finished on a power-play bid at 4:18 before Sam Sullivan (So., Westlake Village, Calif.) stroked in strikes at 3:33 and 1:26 to knot the score at five-all.
Texas A&M regained the lead prior to halftime, however, as Crowling caromed in a tally with 28 ticks on the second quarter clock to stick the Aggies back into the lead at 6-5 entering intermission.
That lead would last 27 seconds into the third quarter until Maggie Walker (Jr., Perkasie, Pa.) dropped in the equalizer at 6:33 on a power-play bid. Rubio followed at 4:51 to stake Pitt to a 7-6 lead, but Kelley turned the tables in racking up a tying tally for Texas A&M at 4:18 to deadlock the teams at seven-all.
Sullivan swung in a shot at 3:06 to make it 8-7 in favor of the Panthers, but back-to-back advantage scores by Kelley (1:22) and Player of the Game Julia Johnson (Fr., Houston, Texas) (1:07) returned the lead to the Aggies at 9-8.
The teams continued to exchange offensive haymakers as Rubio rocked the iron with a howitzer-shot with 32 seconds to even the damage at nine-all prior to Johnson giving the lead back to Texas A&M for good 18 seconds later with yet another power-play goal.
Out in front 10-9 going into the final frame, Texas A&M put to rest any doubts about the eventual outcome as Kelley stowed away an even-strength score 19 seconds into the fourth quarter (6:41) to expand the lead to 11-9. Johnson followed with consecutive penalty shots at 6:02 and 4:03 to make it 13-9 before recording another goal with 3:34 to play and both squads at even-strength to enlarge the gap to 14-9.
Pittsburgh finished out the game with their own stretch of penalty shots as Rubio (2:14) and Sullivan (11 seconds) lined and skipped in five-meter opportunities for the 14-11 final score.
Pitt, which notches an all-time best finish of 10th at the championship after placing 12th last year at the University of California-Santa Cruz, received four goals from both Rubio and Sullivan along with a pair by McCarthy and a solo marker from Walker. Abby Jarrett (So., New Cumberland, Pa.) made eight saves in taking the loss.
The Panther’s finish is a bit of an anomaly as Pitt’s loss to Texas A&M in the first consolation round should have prevented a return engagement between the two programs. However, Heartland Division Champion Washington University in St. Louis booked their return trip to the Gateway City for early Sunday morning to prevent the Bears from participating in any games on placement day at the tournament. Subsequently, Washington University, Pitt and the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) office agreed to a trade in which the Panthers assumed the Bears’ position in at 2:50 p.m. consolation game against North Atlantic Division Champion the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on Saturday, May 6, with the understanding that Pitt would assume all rights and privileges (i.e., final placement) that went along with Washington’s earned spot. In exchange, the Bears took Pitt’s spot in a 13th/15th place game on the evening of Saturday, May 6, which allowed Washington University to conclude its participation at the 2017 Women’s National Collegiate Club Championship without having to compete in a game on Sunday, May 7.
For Pitt, the trade worked out nicely as the Panthers picked up a 10-6 defeat of the Engineers to earn its spot in the Ninth Place game against Texas A&M.
Overall, Pitt’s placement returns the Mid-Atlantic Division Champion to the Top 10 at the Women’s National Collegiate Club Championship as the group previously finished fourth (2009), sixth (2007, 2008, 2013, 2014), seventh (2010, 2015), eighth (2011), 10th (2001, 2003, 2012), 11th (2002, 2004, 2005), 12th (2016) and 13th (2006).
Johnson led the way for Texas A&M with five goals, while Kelley (four), Koerber (two) and Crowling (two) also posted multi-goal contests to accompany a solo strike by Hadley. Madeline McMillan (Jr., Plano, Texas) was the winning goalie of record with two saves.
It marks the fourth best finish in the history of the Texas Division as the group previously placed Sixth (2005), Eighth (2006, 2001), 10th (2009, 2004), 11th (2012, 2011, 2003), 12th (2014, 2013, 2005, 2002), 13th (2010, 2007, 2016) and 15th (2008, 2015) since 2001.
| Teams | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | — | Final |
| No. 11 Texas A&M University |
3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | — | 14 |
| No. 10 University of Pittsburgh | 1 | 4 | 4 | 2 | — | 11 |
Pittsburgh Goals: Abi Rubio (4); Sam Sullivan (4); Leah McCarthy (2); Maggie Walker
Texas A&M Goals: Julia Johnson (5); Angela Kelley (4); Alyssa Koerber (2); Elizabeth Crowling (2); Veronica Hadley
Saves: Pittsburgh – Abby Jarrett (8) ; Texas A&M – Madeline McMillan (2)
Exclusions: Pittsburgh – 8 ; Texas A&M – 7
Advantage Opportunities: Pittsburgh – 4-for-7 ; Texas A&M – 6-for-8
Sprints: Pittsburgh – 1-for-4 (3rd) ; Texas A&M – 3-for-4 (1st, 2nd, 4th)
Cards: None
Officials: Pat Beemer, Michael Schofield
University of Pittsburgh goalie Abby Jarrett goes up for a save on a shot by Texas A&M University’s Angela Kelley
University of Pittsburgh’s Abi Rubio dumps a pass over a charging Elizabeth Crowling of Texas A&M University
