TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Michael Spence (So., San Francisco, Calif.) scored six times, including three in the first quarter, as New England Division Champion/No. 20-ranked Boston College built an early 5-0 lead and never looked back in dropping Southeast Division Champion the University of Alabama, 12-11, in a 13th/15th Place game at the 2017 Men’s National Collegiate Club Championship hosted by Florida State University in the Morcom Aquatics Center.
The victory officially ties the Eagles for 13th place in the final 16-team standings, while Alabama ties for 15h place. Due to time constraints, the 13th and 15th place games are not played out as Boston College and Alabama complete their competition at the tournament.
Boston College, which previously finished Fourth (2014), Ninth (2016) and 12th (2006), never trailed against the Crimson Tide as the team ran out to a 5-0 lead by the conclusion of the first quarter and carried an 8-4 lead into halftime. However, Alabama slowly chipped away at its deficit to outscore the Eagles 5-1 in the third quarter to draw ever at nine-all after 21 minutes of action.
What appeared to be a rout in the opening seven minutes of the contest was anything but in the final seven minutes as the Eagles and Crimson Tied battled down the stretch.
Spence returned the lead to Boston College 35 seconds into the final frame with 6:25 to go in making it 10-9. Drake McClure (Jr., Naperville, Ill.) retied the score at 10-all with 5:02 on the clock, but Spence struck again with 4:34 remaining to push the Eagles ahead 11-10.
McClure responded at 1:27 to pull Alabama even at 11-all, but Colin Derdeyn (Jr., St. Louis, Mo.) deposited the dealbreaker with 49 seconds left as he cashed in on a man-up opportunity for the 12-11 final score.
For Boston College, Derdeyn joined Spence in posting multi-goal games by chipping in a pair. Omar John (Fr., St. John’s, Antigua), Duncan Rowland (Jr., Manhattan Beach, Calif.), Filip Filipovic (So., Princeton, N.J.) and Scott Signer (Jr., San Jose, Calif.) each tacked on solo markers in support of a combined seven save effort from Trevor Prince (Sr., Wilmette, Ill.) and Walter Haracz (So., Evanton, Ill.).
Alabama received hat-tricks by Drake McClure (Jr., Naperville, Ill.) and Forrest Martin (Jr., Flower Mound, Texas) to go along with a pair by Joe Tomashek (Jr., Naperville, Ill.). Daniel Schmidt (So., Long Beach, Calif.), Chris Popiolek (Fr., Naperville, Ill.) and Rex Stanley (Fr., Santa Cruz, Calif.) tacked on single goals.
In cage, Ellis Huey (Fr., Memphis, Tenn.) made three saves to take the loss to close out Alabama’s first-ever appearance at the Men’s National Collegiate Club Championship tournament.
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| Boston College | 5 | 3 | 1 | 3 | – | 12 |
| University of Alabama | 0 | 4 | 5 | 2 | – | 11 |
| Alabama Goals: | Drake McClure (3); Forrest Martin (3); Joe Tomashek (2); Daniel Schmidt; Chris Popiolek; Rex Stanley | |||||
| Boston College Goals: | Michael Spence (6); Colin Derdeyn (2); Omar John; Duncan Rowland; Filip Filipovic; Scott Singer | |||||
| Saves: | Alabama – Ellis Huey (3) ; Boston College – Trevor Prince (5), Walter Haracz (2) | |||||
| Exclusions: | Alabama – 6 ; Boston College – 10 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | Alabama – 2-for-10 ; Boston College – 3-for-6 | |||||
| Sprints: | Alabama – 1-for-4 (4th) ; Boston College – 3-for-4 (1st, 2nd, 3rd) | |||||
| Cards: | YC – Boston College (Head coach Peter Bruton, 10 seconds left in 3rd Q) | |||||
| Officials: | Ulrich Grude, Victor Raru | |||||
Photo 1: University of Alabama’s Forrest Martin (#4) shoots over Boston College’s Scott Singer (#6); Photo 2: Boston College’s Justin Kreisberg (#9) defends the University of Alabama’s Duncan McMaster (#10); Photo 3: Boston College’s Corey Mano (#8)
