PITTSBURGH, Pa. — Easton Honaker (Jr., Dallas, Texas) accounted for five goals to earn Player of the Game recognition as Texas Division Champion/No. 11-ranked the University of Texas defeated Atlantic Division Champion/No. 19 the United States Naval Academy, 12-9, to guarantee the Longhorns a Top 12 finish at the 2019 Men’s National Collegiate Club Championship.
- Competing at the University of Pittsburgh’s Trees Pool, Texas exploited a 5-1 scoring spurt in the fourth quarter to rally back from an 8-7 deficit at the conclusion of the third quarter and lock-up at worst 12th place in the final 16-team tournament standings.
- Due to the win, Texas advances to a 2:50 p.m. game on Saturday, November 16, against either Great Lakes Division Champion the University of Notre Dame or Southeast Division Champion the University of Alabama. The victor of the Longhorns’ next game will earn a spot in the Ninth Place game on Sunday, November 17, at 2:15 p.m., while the loser will compete in the 30th and final game of the championship weekend at 3:30 p.m. for 11th Place.
- In the history of the Men’s National Collegiate Club Championship, the Longhorns have previously finished Second (2010, 2017), Third (2012), Sixth (2005, 2009, 2014, 2018), Eighth (2013, 2015), 11th (2004) and 13th (2003).
- The defeat drops Navy – which is making the program’s inaugural appearance at the Men’s National Collegiate Club Championship – into a 13th/15th place game at 9:50 p.m. on Saturday, November 16, against the fallen between Notre Dame and Alabama. Due to pool availability and time constraints for the 16-team, 30-game championship, the 13th and 15th place positions are not played out. The winner of the final two games on the second day of the championship tie for 13th place, while the losers tie for 15th place.
- The game was a story of halves as Navy dominated the first 14 minutes to hold a 7-4 lead by halftime, while Texas outscored the Midshipmen 12-9 during the final 14 minutes of action to rally for victory.
- Trailing 4-3 after the first quarter, Navy outscored the Longhorns 4-0 in the second quarter.
- Andrew Pagano (Jr, Baltimore, Md.) (4:56, man-up), Jacob Paiva (Jr., Roseville, Calif.) (3:36, even-strength), Jake Hansen (Sr., Lemoore, Calif.) (2:46, even-strength) and Hunter Hicks (So., Hanford, Calif.) (2:26, even-strength) accounted for the outburst as the Mids appeared primed to pull away from Texas.
- However, Texas began to climb back into the game in the dawning moments of the third quarter as Honaker hammered in a shot at 5:48 to move his team within 7-5. Hansen got the goal back for Navy at 4:16 by converting on a six-on-five opportunity, but Honaker ticked off natural (3:57) and penalty shot (52 seconds) strikes to set Texas within one-goal of tying Navy at 8-7 heading into the fourth quarter of play.
- It took 53 seconds in the final frame for Navy’s margin to completely disappear as Alex Raterink (Jr., Friendswood, Texas) netted the equalizer with 6:07 on the clock to deadlock the teams at eight-all.
- The Midshipmen pulled ahead at 9-8 courtesy a strike by Hansen at 4:36, but the remainder of the game belonged to the Texas Division Champions.
- A penalty shot by Honaker at 2:52 once again balanced the scoreboard at nine-all prior to Raterink (2:02) and Mark Weisberg (Fr., Dallas, Texas) (49 seconds / 15 seconds) ticking off back-to-back-to-back markers as the Longhorns stampeded to a 12-9 win by burying the final four markers in less than three minutes.
- For Texas, Honaker (five), Weisberg (four) and Raterink (three) combined for all of their team’s scoring. Goalie Aidan Rossiter (Sr., Orinda, Calif.) earned the victory with six saves.
- Hansen led Navy with four goals. Declan Harrison (Jr., Fallbrook, Calif.) notched a pair with Hicks, Paiva and Pagano all put away single scores in support of a nine-save effort by netminder Roman Benitez (Sr., Lemoore, Calif.).
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| No. 19 United States Naval Academy | 3 | 4 | 1 | 1 | – | 9 |
| No. 11 University of Texas | 4 | 0 | 3 | 5 | – | 12 |
| Texas Goals: | Easton Honaker (5); Mark Weisberg (4); Alex Raterink (3) | |||||
| Navy Goals: | Jake Hansen (4); Declan Harrison (2); Hunter Hicks; Jacob Paiva; Andrew Pagano | |||||
| Saves: | Texas – Aidan Rossiter (6) ; Navy – Roman Benitez (9) | |||||
| Exclusions: | Texas – 8 ; Navy – 7 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | Texas – 4-for-7 ; Navy – 4-for-8 | |||||
| Sprints: | Texas – 4-for-4 ; Navy – 0-for-4 | |||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | None | |||||
| Officials: | Jason Grubb; Steve Sargalski | |||||
The United States Naval Academy’s Matthew Clark (#5) defends the University of Texas’ Jason Juliette (#8)
The University of Texas’ Han Chen (#13) battles the United States Naval Academy’s Jacob Paiva (#16)
