KEARNS, Utah — Player of the Game Ian Turner (Jr., Rocklin, Calif.) of No. 2-ranked/Pacific Coast Division Champion the University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA) scored seven times to help the Bruins demote No. 19/New York Division Champion the United States Military Academy, 20-6, in the opening round of the 2023 Men’s National Collegiate Club Championship hosted by the University of Utah at the Kearns Oquirrh Park Fitness Center.
Due to the win, UCLA advances into the tournament quarterfinals at 11:20 a.m. Mountain on Saturday, November 11, as the Bruins will face the victor of a first-round game pitting No. 17/Mid-Atlantic Division Champion Pennsylvania State University and No. 6/Florida Division Champion the University of Florida. Army returns to the water at 8:40 p.m. this evening against the fallen from the meeting of the Nittany Lions and Gators in the consolation side of the championship bracket.
The Bruins put the game away in the first five minutes of competition by opening up an 8-0 lead with 1:56 left in the first quarter as Matt Wallin (Jr., Irvine, Calif.) (6:26), Kasey Tarbet (So., Agoura Hills, Calif.) (5:51), Jacob McCormick (Sr., Roseville, Calif.) (5:24), Nikolai Haines (Sr., Ventura, Calif.) (4:51), Zane LaBute (So., Brentwood, Calif.) (4:21, man-up), Ian Turner (Jr., Rocklin, Calif.) (3:32, 2:43) and Brandon Case (Fr., San Diego, Calif.) (1:56, man-up) dented the twine to breach the Cadets’ defenses. Army’s Max OrlowskI (Jr., Canonsburg, Pa.) snapped the Bruins’ ursine rampage with 1:06 left in the first quarter to pull the New York Division Champions back to within eight at 9-1.
UCLA’s offense slowed in the second quarter as Turner (6:03) and Tanner Larsen (Sr., San Diego, Calif.) (3:16) accounted for the only damage of the frame to stake the Pacific Coast Division Champions to a comfortable 10 goal lead at 11-1 through 14 minutes of competition.
Turner (5:05; 2:10), Duncan Vaughan (Sr., Portola Valley, Calif.) (4:40), Larsen (4:16, man-up) and Kobe Escobar (Jr., Aliso Viejo, Calif.) (3:24) opened the third quarter with a 5-0 run to expand the spread to 16-1 before Eric “EB” King (Sr., Zachary, La.) donned Army with another goal by finishing a man-up chance with 1:54 on the clock. However. Joey O’Shea (So, Auburn, Calif.) shoved in a response with 44 ticks left to return UCLA’s lead to 15 at 17-2 heading into the fourth quarter.
Robby Demont (Jr., Riverbank, Calif.) put the Cadets back on the scoreboard 36 seconds into the fourth quarter at the 6:24 mark, but a penalty shot by UCLA’s August Blatney (Jr., Philadelphia, Pa.) with 6:12 remaining in regulation terminated Army’s momentum. Demont struck again at 4:38, but Haines heaved in a power-play strike at 4:09 to make it 19-4.
The teams exchanged goals over the final three minutes as Army’s Frankey Fradelizio (Fr., Fairfax, Calif.) (2:29) and Lily Holtmeier (So., San Ramon, Calif.) (1:53, man-up) sandwiched a man-up score by Turner (2:00) for the 20-6 final.
For UCLA, Turner (seven), Haines (two) and Larsen (two) accounted for 11 goals, while Wallin, Vaughan, Blatney, LaBute, Case, McCormick, Escobar, Tarbet and O’Shea chipped in solo markers.
Demont led Army with a pair of goals, while Holtmeier, King, Fradelizio and Orlowski notched solo tallies.
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| No. 19 United States Military Academy |
1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | – | 6 |
| No. 2 University of California-Los Angeles | 9 | 2 | 6 | 3 | – | 20 |
| UCLA Goals: | Ian Turner (7); Nikolai Haines (2); Tanner Larsen (2); Matt Wallin; Duncan Vaughan; August Blatney; Zane LaBute; Brandon Case; Jacob McCormick; Kobe Escobar; Kasey Tarbet; Joey O’Shea | |||||
| USMA Goals: | Robby Demont (2); Lily Holtmeier; Eric “EB” King; Frankey Fradelizio; Max Orlowski | |||||
| Exclusions: | UCLA – 10 ; USMA – 13 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | UCLA – 6-for-13 ; USMA – 3-for-10 | |||||
| Sprints: | UCLA – 2-for-4 (3rd, 4th) ; USMA – 2-for-4 (1st, 2nd) | |||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | None | |||||
| Officials: | Don Lewis, Victor Rarau | |||||
The United States Military Academy’s Carter Highum (#17) cocks to shoot
The University of California-Los Angeles’ Ian Turner (#11) lines up a shot over the United States Military Academy’s Carter Highum
The University of California-Los Angeles’ Tony Humphries (#15)
The University of California-Los Angeles’ Matt Horn (#23) defends the United States Military Academy’s Jeremy Poster (#19)
