2017 Women’s National Collegiate Club Championship Schedule & Results
No. 16 University of Utah-vs.-No. 14 Pennsylvania State University Scoresheet
PITTSBURGH, Pa. — Emily Argentati (So., Reading, Pa.) scored five times, including a hat-trick in the decisive third quarter, as No. 14-ranked/Mid-Atlantic Division runner-up Pennsylvania State University handled No. 16/Rocky Mountain Division Champion the University of Utah, 9-5, to keep the Nittany Lions’ hopes of a Ninth Place finish alive at the 2017 Women’s National Collegiate Club Championship.
Competing in the Keystone State at the University of Pittsburgh’s Joe C. Trees Pool, the Nittany Lions outscored the Utes 7-2 in the second half to overcome a 3-2 halftime deficit and earn a game against No. 11/Texas Division Champion Texas A&M University. PSU will aim to down the Aggies at 1:40 p.m. on Saturday, May 6, back at Trees Pool and earn a shot at either Heartland Division Champion Washington University in St. Louis or North Atlantic Division Champion the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the Ninth Place game at 2:15 p.m. on Sunday, May 7. A loss to Texas A&M will drop the Nittany Lions into the 11th Place game at 3:30 p.m. on May 7 against the loser of a consolation game between the Washington Bears and MIT Engineers.
Penn State fell behind early in the game as LeAnn Nguyen (Jr., Woodbury, Minn.) tossed in the ice-breaker for Utah 58 seconds into the first quarter. Penn State pooted the equalizer at the 4:33 mark when Argentati found the back of the cage with a shot, but the Utes used a tally by Polly Creveling (Sr., Salt Lake City, Utah) to go back in front at 2-1 with 24 seconds remaining in the opening quarter.
The Nittany Lions retied the game with 5:42 to go in the second quarter via a man-up volley from Shannon Quinn (Fr., Lansdale, Pa.), but Gabriella Minassian (Sr., Los Angeles, Calif.) responded in kind by converting on a six-on-five opportunity with 2:33 left in the frame to make it 3-2 in favor of Utah at halftime.
PSU turned the tide of the game in the third quarter thanks to Argentati as she scored with 6:09, 2:05 and 32 second on the clock to surround a marker by Clare Washabaugh (So., Pittsburgh, Pa.) at the 5:21 mark to twist a one-goal halftime lead into a 6-3 advantage on the scoreboard going into fourth quarter of play.
Utah attempted to climb back into the game as Ashley Wilcox (Sr., Clovis, Calif.) ripped in a shot with 5:40 left in regulation to close Utah within 6-4 of Penn State. However, Quinn answered at 4:03 before Wilcox put away a man-up strike at 3:37 to keep the Utes within a pair at 7-5.
Needing some offense to put Utah away, Argentati and Quinn delivered for the Nittany Lions by accounting for even-strength (3:05) and man-up (10 seconds) scores, respectively, for the 9-5 final score.
Penn State received a hat-trick from Quinn and a single tally by Washabaugh to go along with Argentati’s quintet of goals. In cage, Sofia Viebrantz (Fr., Erie, Pa.) earned the victory with five saves.
The Nittany Lions, who earned the No. 16 seed for the 2017 tournament as the runner-up from the Mid-Atlantic Division and previously finished in Eighth (2011, 2016), 10th (2001) and 11th (2005) place at the Women’s National Collegiate Club Championship, will strive to equal the 2010 University of Arizona team that placed Ninth at home in Tucson, Arizona, to rate as the No. 16 team to finish Ninth or better at the women’s championship since the field expanded to 16-teams in 2005.
Utah received a pair of goals from Wilcox in association with single scores by Minassian, Nguyen and Crevling. Natalie Benoy (Gr., Riverside, Ill.) took the loss with nine saves.
Due to the loss, the Utes will compete in a 13th/15th place game at 8:40 p.m. on Saturday, May 6, against host/No. 10/Mid-Atlantic Division Champions the University of Pittsburgh. Due to time constraints in the 30-game, 16-team tournament, places No. 13 and 15 are not played out and result in ties based on the victors and fallen from the final two games on the second day of competition.
No matter the outcome, Utah will notch the lowest finish in program history as the team previously finished fourth (2004 at California Polytechnic State University), sixth (2002 at Emory University, 2006 at Northwestern University), eighth (2009 at the University of California-Davis), ninth (2016 at University of California-Santa Cruz), 10th (2010 at the University of Arizona) and 12th (2011 at the University of Notre Dame, 2015 at Middlebury College) at the National Collegiate Club Championship.
| Teams | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | — | Final |
| No. 14 Pennsylvania State University |
1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | — | 9 |
| No. 16 University of Utah | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | — | 5 |
Utah Goals: Ashley Wilcox (2); Gabriella Minassian; LeAnn Nguyen; Polly Creveling
Penn State Goals: Emily Argentati (5); Shannon Quinn (3); Clare Washabaugh
Saves: Utah – Natalie Benoy (9) ; Penn State – Sofia Viebrantz (5)
Exclusions: Utah – 5 ; Penn State – 7
Advantage Opportunities: Utah – 2-for-7 ; Penn State – 2-for-5
Sprints: Utah – 0-for-4 ; Penn State – 4-for-4
Cards: None
Officials: Nikola Malezanov, Dave Alberstein
Pennsylvania State University’s Brooke Rothenberger defends the University of Utah’s Polly Creveling
University of Utah’s Ashley Wilcox defends Pennsylvania State University’s Lexie Saidman
