HUNTSVILLE, Alabama — Jack Sikkema (Sr., Rockford, Mich.) made his third goal to complete a hat-trick count the most as he lined a long-distance shot into the cage during sudden victory for the deciding factor as Big Ten Division Champion/No. 2-ranked Michigan State University stopped Sierra Pacific Division Champion/No. 3 the University of California, 12-11 in sudden victory overtime. Courtesy the win, MSU advances to the title game of the 2021 Men’s National Collegiate Club Championship at the Huntsville Aquatics Center.
A three-time National Champion (2000, 2006, 2008) and two-time runner-up (2005, 2007), Michigan State will make the program’s sixth National Collegiate Club Championship title game appearance at 12:45 p.m. on Sunday, November 14, versus the victor of a semifinal between Pacific Coast Division Champion/No. 1 the University of California-San Diego and Great Lakes Division Champion/Division III No. 1 Washington University in St. Louis.
California will compete in the Third Place game at 11:30 a.m. on November 14 against the loser of the UC-San Diego/Washington semifinal.
- Trailing 8-7 at the end of the third quarter, California pulled even 51 seconds into the fourth quarter via a strike by Alex Lee (Sr., Pacific Palisades, Calif.) at the 6:09 mark. Michigan State regained the lead at 4:20 as Zach Sneathen (Sr., East Lansing, Mich.) sneaked in a shot, but Kai Mohl (Fr., Palos Verdes, Calif.) rebalanced the scoreboard at 2:01 courtesy a man-up score.
- The Spartans appeared primed to claim victory as Paul Sikkema (Sr., Rockford, Mich.) flushed a shot at 1:13 to put MSU ahead once again, 10-9, but Cooper Tunney (Fr., Orinda, Calif.) forced overtime by beating Michigan State goalie Ethan Springer (Jr., Hudsonville, Mich.) with 25 seconds left to knot the contest at 10-all.
- In overtime, Chandler Jones (So., Hudsonville, Mich.) once again provided Michigan State the lead at 11-10 as he lined in a shot with 2:36 left in the first of two three minute OT periods.
- However, the Golden Bears avenged the strike as Lee rocked the iron at 1:27 to tie the game at 11-all and bring on sudden victory and Jack Sikkema’s heroics approximately 40 seconds in.
- The game was nip-tuck throughout as neither team led by more than two goals during the duration of the 35 minute+ contest.
- Ben Daugherty (Sr., Dexter, Mich.) opened the game’s scoring by stroking in even-strength (5:59) and man-up (2:38) chances in the first quarter to stake Michigan State to a 2-0 lead less than four and a half minutes into the game.
- Daniel Ardjmand (Jr., San Diego, Calif.) halved MSU’s lead prior to the end of the first quarter by denting the twine with 1:34 left in the frame. Mark Presten (Gr., Lafayette, Calif.) evened the damage 35 seconds into the second quarter by converting a six-on-five chance, but Ian Worst (So., Hudsonville, Mich.) returned the lead to Michigan State with 5:50 until halftime.
- California turned the tables on MSU over the next three minutes as Ardjmand (4:46, even-strength) and Mohl (2:57, man-up) hit on back-to-back chances to provide the Golden Bears a 4-3 lead. It marked the only time in the game California held an advantage on the scoreboard versus the Spartans.
- The lead was erased in short order as Daugherty (2:47) and Ewan Woolcock (Sr., Okemos, Mich.) (49 seconds) rattled off back-to-back markers in the waning seconds of the first half to provide Michigan State a 5-4 lead entering halftime.
- The Golden Bears pulled even 15 seconds into the third quarter as Lee ripped in a shot, but Jack Sikkema (5:53) and Daugherty (5:11) pushed Michigan State ahead 7-5. Lee shaved a score off the Golden Bears’ deficit at 4:17 to make it 7-6, but Jack Sikkema got the tally back at 3:21 to re-enlarge the lead to a pair at 8-6.
- Lee set the stage for the climatic fourth quarter and overtime by cashing in on a man-up bid with 2:21 left in the third quarter to cut Michigan State’s lead to one (8-7).
- For Michigan State, Daugherty (four) and Jack Sikkema (three) posted multi-goal games, while Worst, Woolcock, Sneathen, Jones and Paul Sikkema racked up solo markers. In cage, Ethan Springer (Jr., Hudsonville, Mich.) stopped 12 shots to earn the win.
- Across the tank, Lee (five), Ardjmand (two) and Mohl (two) keyed the Golden Bears’ offense with Tunney and Presten adding solo goals. Randy Mora (Sr., Los Angeles, Calif.) stopped 19 shots in suffering the loss.
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | OT1 | OT2 | OT SD | – | FINAL | |
| Michigan State University | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | – | 12 |
| University of California | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | 11 |
| California Goals: | Alex Lee (5); Daniel Ardjmand (2); Kai Mohl (2); Cooper Tunney; Mark Presten; | ||||||||
| MSU Goals: | Ben Daugherty (4); Jack Sikkema (3); Ian Worst; Ewan Woolcock; Zach Sneathen; Chandler Jones; Paul Sikkema | ||||||||
| Saves: | California – Randy Mora (19) ; MSU – Ethan Springer (12) | ||||||||
| Exclusions: | California – 11 ; MSU – 12 | ||||||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | California – – 4-for-12 ; MSU – 1-for-11 | ||||||||
| Sprints: | California – 4-for-7 (2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th) ; MSU – 3-for-7 (1st ,6th, 7th) | ||||||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | None | ||||||||
| Officials: | Bruce Morehouse; Tim Watson | ||||||||
University of California’s Cooper Tunney (#25) attempts to get around Michigan State University’s Paul Sikkema (#21)
Michigan State University’s Ben Daugherty (#12) turns toward the cage
Michigan State University’s Paul Sikkema (#21) looks toward the cage
