TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Trailing 6-2 at halftime, the Rocky Mountain Division Champion/No. 14-ranked Buffaloes of the University of Colorado staged an epic comeback to shock Southeast Division Champion the University of Alabama, 10-9, in the first consolation round of the 2017 Men’s National Collegiate Club Championship at Florida State University’s Morcom Aquatics Center.
The win advances Colorado into a 1:40 p.m. game on Saturday, November 11, against the victor of a consolation game pitting Missouri Valley Division Champion/No. 1 Lindenwood University and New England Division Champion/No. 20 Boston College with a spot in the Ninth Place game on the line.
Trailing 6-2 at the break, the Buffaloes charged back into the game in the dawning moments of the third quarter as Jacob Kennedy (Sr., Lafayette, Calif.) torqued in a pair of tallies (6:03, 4:44) prior to Stephen Tifft (Sr., San Diego, Calif.) tumbling a ball into the cage (3:11) to move Colorado within one at 6-5.
Scott Robinson (Fr., Barrington, Ill.) rebuilt the Crimson Tide lead to a pair prior to final buzzer of the third quarter as he found the back of the cage with a shot at the 18 seconds mark to make it 7-5.
However, Colorado erased the margin in short order to being the fourth quarter as Ryan Coval (So., Carlsbad, Calif.) nailed home a natural goal (6:46) prior to Clayton Wenthur (Fr., San Marcos, Calif.) burying a man-up chance (8:19) to knot the teams at seven-all.
Wenthur, who earned Player of the Game accolades for a four-game spree in the fourth quarter to secure the win for Colorado, put the Buffaloes in front for the first time at 8-7 by swishing a shot with 5:34 on the clock.
Chris Popiolek (Fr., Naperville, Ill.) tied the game at eight-all (5:00), Wenthur returned the lead to Colorado at 9-8 (1:40) and Drake McClure (Jr., Naperville, Ill.) rebalanced the scoreboard at nine-all with 19 ticks to go in setting a high potential for overtime.
However, Wenthur prevented extra-time in the brisk night air of Tallahassee by notching the game-winner with two seconds remaining on the regulation game clock.
For Colorado, Wenthur led the way with four goals, while Coval (two) and Kennedy (two) also registered multi-score games. Jordan Wensley (Sr., Concord, Calif.) and Tifft each punched in solo strikes.
In cage, Dane Grosvenor (Jr, Mountain View, Calif.) stopped nine shots to capture win for the Buffaloes. Alabama’s Austin Pearson (So., Frankfort, Ill.) took the loss with nine saves.
Popiolek led the Crimson Tide attack with a hat-trick. Forrest Martin (Jr., Flower Mound, Texas) and McClure both netted pairs with Joe Tomashek (Jr., Naperville, Ill.) and Robinson each taking on solo markers.
Due to the loss, Alabama falls into a 13th/15th place game at 8:40 p.m. against the loser of the Lindenwood-Boston College consolation game. Due to time constraints, the No. 13 and 15 positions in the final 16-team standings are not played out as the winner and losers of the two 13/15 place games tie for the berths.
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| University of Alabama | 2 | 4 | 1 | 2 | – | 9 |
| University of Colorado | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 | – | 10 |
| Colorado Goals: | Clayton Wenthur (4); Ryan Coval (2); Jacob Kennedy (2); Stephen Tifft; Jordan Wensley | |||||
| Alabama Goals: | Chris Popiolek (3); Drake McClure (2); Forrest Martin (2); Scott Robinson; Joe Tomashek | |||||
| Saves: | Colorado – Dane Grosvenor (9) ; Alabama – Austin Pearson (9) | |||||
| Exclusions: | Colorado – 8 ; Alabama – 3 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | Colorado – 2-for-3 ; Alabama – 1-for-8 | |||||
| Sprints: | Colorado – 2-for-4 (1st, 4th) ; Alabama – 2-for-4 (2nd, 3rd) | |||||
| Cards: | YC – Colorado (Head coach Adam Obadiah Hurd) |
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| Officials: | Ulrich Grude, Nick Cargola | |||||
Photo 1: University of Colorado’s Sage Garrett (#14) shoots as the University of Alabama’s Drake McClure (#10) closes in; Photo 2: University of Colorado’s Colby Cannon defends the University of Alabama’s Duncan McMaster (#11); Photo 3: University of Alabama’s Duncan McMaster attempts to drive past the University of Colorado’s Jordan Wensley
