COLLEGE STATION, Texas — The trio of Grace Kellerman (Sr., San Diego, Calif.), Lauren Rodenberg (Jr., El Dorado Hills, Calif.) and Emily Shank (Sr., Fullerton, Calif.) each scored twice to share Player of the Game accolades as No. 5-ranked/Midwest Division Champion the University of Notre Dame escaped No 16/Southeast Division Champion Florida State University, 9-8, in the 2024 Women’s National Collegiate Club Championship Fifth Place game.
Competing at Texas A&M University’s Student Rec Center, the Irish – who hold prior second (2009, 2015), fourth (2002), sixth (2001, 2010), seventh (2000, 2023), ninth (2006, 2013, 2014), 10th (2008, 2019, 2022), 11th (2007, 2011) and 12th (2012) place finishes in the championship’s history – add the inaugural Fifth Place mark and fourth Top Five achievement onto the legacy of Notre Dame women’s water polo.
Florida State – which previously claimed 11th (2012) and 13th (2023) in the squad’s two prior Women’s National Collegiate Club Championship appearances – takes home Sixth Place.
In a back-and-forth contest in which neither team managed to lead by more than two goals, Notre Dame acquired an early and the contest’s largest lead less than three minutes into the meeting via a pair of man-up conversions.
Shank (5:18, man-up) and Rodenberg (4:27, man-up) put away power-play opportunities to make it 2-0 prior to Khloe Riordan (Gr., Lake Mary, Fla.) cutting into the margin at 4:01. Rodenberg expanded the lead back to a pair at 3-1 by ripping a ball into the cage at 2:42, but River Hastings (Gr., Orlando, Fla.) (1:47) and Riordan (36 seconds) erased FSU’s deficit before the conclusion of the quarter to set the scoreboard at three-all after seven minutes of competition.
Lindsey Chessman (So., Orlando, Fla.) provided Florida State its inaugural lead with 5:28 left in the second quarter prior to Kellerman leveling the contest at four-all with 3:14 until halftime. The Seminoles pushed ahead once more prior to the conclusion of the first half as Medley Bohn (Sr., Orlando, Fla.) converted a man-up chance at the 2:10 mark to place Florida State in front by a 5-4 count following 14 minutes.
The game continued to be a matter of attack and response in the second half as Shank tied the game at five-all 52 seconds (6:08) into the third quarter, Riordan returned the lead to Florida State (5:32) and Kellerman answered for the Irish (3:02) prior to Abygail Dravis (Jr., Fishers, Ind.) depositing a go-ahead score for the Midwest Division Champions (55 seconds) as Notre Dame entered the fourth quarter with a narrow 7-6 scoreboard advantage.
Hastings (6:44) returned equilibrium to the game to tie the score at seven-all 16 seconds into the fourth quarter.
Natalie Antongiovanni (Sr., Bakersfield, Calif.) gave the Irish back the lead (8-7) with 4:06 left in regulation, but Hastings hammered home a tying strike at 3:07 to once more deadlock the teams.
Facing the potential for the weekend’s first overtime game, Rory Kilmer (Jr., Kailua, Hawaii) landed the knockout blow for the South Bend squad by lining in a shot with 1:16 left to push ahead 9-8.
The Notre Dame defense in front of goalkeeper Olivia Sanders (Sr., Erie, Pa.) made the one-goal lead stand-up the rest of the way as the Irish escaped the resurgent Seminoles for Fifth Place.
Hastings and Riordan concluded the game with hat-tricks (three goals) for Florida State, while Bohn and Chessman accounted for their team’s other two markers. Sophie Bassett (Fr., Orlando, Fla.) suffered the loss with three saves.
Rodenberg, Kellerman and Shank were joined in the scoring column by Antongiovanni, Dravis and Kilmer to support a five save performance by Sanders.
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| No. 5 University of Notre Dame |
3 | 1 | 3 | 2 | – | 9 |
| No. 16 Florida State University | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | – | 8 |
| Florida State Goals: | River Hastings (3); Khloe Riordan (3); Medley Bohn; Lindsey Chessman | |||||
| Notre Dame Goals: | Lauren Rodenberg (2); Grace Kellerman (2); Emily Shank (2); Natalie Antongiovanni; Abygail Dravis; Rory Kilmer | |||||
| Saves: | Florida State – Sophie Bassett (3) ; Notre Dame – Olivia Sanders (5) | |||||
| Exclusions: | Florida State – 7 ; Notre Dame – 5 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | Florida State – 1-for-5 ; Notre Dame – 2-for-7 | |||||
| Sprints: | Florida State – 2-for-4 (1st, 4th) ; Notre Dame – 2-for-4 (2nd, 3rd) | |||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | None | |||||
| Officials: | Bruce Morehouse, Marvel Shoen | |||||
The University of Notre Dame’s Abygail Dravis (#7)
Florida State University’s Khloe Riordan (#16) looks to shoot over the University of Notre Dame’s Isabella Fernandez (#15)
The University of Notre Dame’s Rory Kilmer (#6) dishes out a pass
The University of Notre Dame’s Lauren Rodenberg (#8) rocks back to shoot as Florida State University’s Khloe Riordan (#16) tries for a field block
