HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Sierra Pacific Division regular season champion/No. 3-ranked California State University-Chico led for all but the first 26 seconds of competition as the Wildcats blunted the luck of Great Lakes Division Champion/No. 16 the University of Notre Dame, 14-8, at the Huntsville Aquatics Center in the opening round of the 2026 Men’s National Collegiate Club Championship hosted by the University of Alabama and the Huntsville Sports Commission.
The victory advances Chico – which claimed Fifth Place at the 2025 Men’s National Collegiate Club Championship – to a 10:10 a.m. Central quarterfinal on Saturday, November 7, against host/Southeast Division Champion/No. 20 the University of Alabama. The Crimson Tide punched their ticket into the quarterfinals via a 12-10 defeat of Mid-Atlantic Division Champion/No. 13 the University of Pittsburgh immediately prior to the start of the CSU-Chico-vs.-Notre Dame contest.
Notre Dame will face Pitt at 6:20 p.m. this evening in a consolation game.
Chico – which is playing at Nationals as their division’s regular season champion and representative without a conference title as the Sierra Pacific Division Championship is also occurring this weekend at the University of California-Santa Cruz – received three goals from both co-Players of the Game Hank Wildenradt (Sr., Rocklin, Calif.) and Rhett Wildenradt (Sr., Rocklin, Calif.) along with pairs by Cameron Reed (Jr., Rocklin, Calif.), Griffin Marks (So., Walnut Creek, Calif.) and Tony Trapanese (So., Brentwood, Calif.). Joseph Stanbridge (Jr., Huntington Beach, Calif.) and Logan Wiliams (Jr., Sacramento, Calif.) chipped in solo tallies to support a two save effort by goalkeeper Kameron Warren (Sr., La Jolla, Calif.).
Michael Skale (So., St. Louis, Mo.) led the way for Notre Dame with three goals. Zach Jones (Jr., Bellaire, Texas) (two), Owen Helenski (So., Conshohocken, Pa.), Connor Burke (Jr., Hinsdale, Ill.) and Brody Suba (Fr., Orinda, Calif.) accounted for the remainder of the Irish offense in front of goalkeeper Xavier Williams (So., Houston, Texas).
