2017 Women’s National Collegiate Club Championship Schedule & Results
No. 5 University of Central Florida-vs.-No. 19 Dartmouth College Scoresheet
PITTSBURGH, Pa. — Player of the Game Katie Britton (Jr., Lawrencebury, Tenn.) deposited two goals as No. 5-ranked/Florida Division Champion the University of Central Florida dealt No. 19/New England Division Champion Dartmouth College a 4-3 defeat to earn a spot in the Fifth Place game of the 2017 Women’s National Collegiate Club Championship at the University of Pittsburgh’s Joe C. Trees Pool.
Following previous Second (2013), Eighth (2010), 10th (2015) and 11th (2009) Place finishes at the Women’s National Collegiate Club Championship with a date at 10:15 a.m. on Sunday, May 7, against either No. 4/Midwest Division Champion Grand Valley State University or No. 7/Northwest Division Champion the University of Washington in the Fifth Place contest, the Lady Knights are guaranteed to post the program’s second best finish as UCF can finish no lower than Sixth in the final 16-team standings for the 2017 championship.
In the lowest scoring game of the 2017 event to date, both teams struggled to gain any momentum or solve the other’s defense until Britton broke loose for a volley with 3:32 remaining in the second quarter to break the ice and stake the Lady Knights to a 1-0 lead. The margin lasted for 21 seconds until the Big Green’s PJ Bigley (Sr., Redwood City, Calif.) lined a frozen rope into the cage with 3:11 on the clock to lock the scoreboard at one-all going into halftime.
The teams’ offenses awoke once again after intermission as Britton hammered in her second marker of the contest at 6:14, but Bigley kept pace with the Player of the Game by clanging in her second strike exactly one minute later (5:14) to retie the score at two-all.
For both UCF and Dartmouth, the names and order changed, but the result stayed the same, as Bigley completed a hat-trick at 4:29 to place the Big Green ahead for the only time at 3-2. However, Jessica Robinson (So., St. Louis, Mo.) charged through the Dartmouth defense to convert on a man-up opportunity with 72 seconds left in the third quarter to tie the score at three-all in the back-and-forth affair.
Similar to the the majority of the first half, both squads’ offenses went into hibernation until Haley Wharton (So., Palm Bach, Fla.) exploited a six-on-five opportunity to net the game-winner with 3:22 remaining in the fourth quarter.
For the Lady Knights, Wharton and Robinson both slid in solo scores to equal the output of Britton. In cage, Cheyenne Porter (Sr., Orlando, Fla.) faced limited shots as she finished with three saves.
Bigley accounted for the entirety of Dartmouth’s offense as she posted a hat-trick in support of an eight save effort from Big Green goalie Adi Harri (Jr., Starkville, Miss.).
The defeat relegates Dartmouth to the Seventh Place game at 9:00 a.m. on Sunday, May 7, as the Big Green will square-off with the victor of a consolation game pitting Grand Valley against Washington. No matter the outcome, Dartmouth is assured of posting the program’s seventh Top 10 finish at the Women’s National Collegiate Club Championship following previous Second (2004, 2005), Third (2003), Fifth (2002), Seventh (2012), 10th (2011), 12th (2007) and 13th (2009, 2014, 2015) place marks.
| Teams | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | — | Final |
| No. 19 Dartmouth College |
0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | — | 3 |
| No. 5 University of Central Florida | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | — | 4 |
UCF Goals: Katie Britton (2); Haley Wharton; Jessica Robinson
Dartmouth Goals: PJ Bigley (3)
Saves: UCF – Cheyenne Porter (3) ; Dartmouth – Adi Harri (8)
Exclusions: UCF – 4 ; Dartmouth – 5
Advantage Opportunities: UCF – 2-for-5 ; Dartmouth – 0-for-4
Sprints: UCF – 2-for-4 (1st, 2nd) ; Dartmouth – 2-for-4 (3rd, 4th)
Cards: None
Officials: Michael Schofield, Jay O’Neil
Dartmouth College’s PJ Bigley attempts to escape the grasp of the University of Central Florida’s Kristin Plitnick
University of Central Florida’s Dakota Porter
