KEARNS, Utah — Elton Sjoenell (Jr., Brentwood, Calif.) and Lachlan MacDonald (Gr., Capetown, South Africa) both posted hat-tricks with three goals to share Player of the Game accolades as New England Division Champion/No. 6-ranked Dartmouth College outscored Missouri Valley Division Champion/No. 13 McKendree University in each quarter to claim a 13-6 victory in the final opening round game of the 2023 Men’s National Collegiate Club Championship hosted by the University of Utah at the Kearns Oquirrh Park Fitness Center.
The win advances the Big Green into the quarterfinals where Dartmouth will take on defending National Champion/Southwest Division Champion/No. 1 the University of California-San Diego at 9:00 a.m. Mountain on Saturday, November 11. UC-San Diego earned its quarterfinal appearance by topping the host/Rocky Mountain Division runner-up Utes of Utah by an 18-8 score earlier in the day.
McKendree falls into the consolation side of the championship bracket and will meet Utah at 9:50 p.m. this evening. The Bearcats have a chance to finish in Ninth Place in the final 16-team championship standings, but will need to win their next three games to earn the spot.
Dartmouth never trailed against McKendree as Tucker Jones (Sr., Chicago, Ill.) put the Big Green ahead 1-0 13 seconds into the contest. Following an equalizer from Brody Loftin (Fr., Houston, Texas) at 5:34 the teams traded scores twice more as Dylan Bienstock (Sr., Santa Barbara, Calif.) (4:58) and MacDonald (3:53) punched in points for Dartmouth, while TJ Joubert (Jr., Johannesburg, South Africa) (4:13) and Rowan Daughtrey (Fr., Commerce City, Calif.) (1:57) rebalanced the scoreboard for the Bearcats as the teams were deadlocked at three-all with under two minutes left in the opening frame.
The game turned with 1:11 left on the clock as Nic Nikcevic (Fr., Palo Alto, Calif.) put the Big Green in front to stay as Dartmouth exited the first seven minutes with a narrow 4-3 lead.
Mason Westkaemper (Jr., Dallas, Texas) built upon the single goal margin in the second quarter by flushing natural (4:22) and man-up (2:32) tallies before Sjoenell made it a four score spread with 1:47 remaining until halftime at 7-3.
MacDonald (4:21) and Sjoenell (1:08) further padded Dartmouth’s scoreboard advantage to 9-3 in the third quarter as the Big Green continued to pull away from the Bearcats.
Eli Grande (Jr., San Bernardino, Calif.) snapped Dartmouth’s 6-0 scoring spree with 39 seconds left in the frame, but Jones tucked away his team’s 10th tally at the buzzer to make it 10-4 heading into the fourth quarter.
The teams trade markers over the final seven minutes as Loftin (4:23, man-up) and Daughtrey (3:25) delivered for the Bearcats, while Sjoenell (4:10), Nikcevic (3:25) and MacDonald (1:34) dented the twine for Dartmouth in establishing the 13-6 final score.
For McKendree, Loftin and Daughtrey scored twice with Grande and Joubert depositing solo goals. Benton Fonner (Jr,, St. Louis, Mo.) took the loss in cage.
Sjoenell (three), MacDonald (three), Nikcevic (two), Jones (two) and Westkaemper (two) combined to join with Bienstock for the Big Green’s offensive firepower. Goalkeeper Chris Colsman (Jr., Weston, Mass.) picked up the victory.
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| No. 6 Dartmouth College |
4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | – | 13 |
| No. 13 McKendree University | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | – | 6 |
| McKendree Goals: | Brody Loftin (2); Rowan Daughtrey (2); Eli Grande; TJ Joubert | |||||
| Dartmouth Goals: | Elton Sjoenell (3); Lachlan MacDonald (3); NIc Nikcevic (2); Tuker Jones (2); Mason Westkaemper (2); Dylan Bienstock | |||||
| Exclusions: | McKendree – 3 ; Darmouth – 9 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | McKendree – 1-for-9 ; Darmouth – 1-for-3 | |||||
| Sprints: | McKendree – 0-for-4 ; Darmouth – 4-for-4 | |||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | None | |||||
| Officials: | Chad Quinn, Jim Lewis | |||||
Dartmouth College’s Mason Westkaemper (#2) attempts to elude his defender and get off a backhand shot
McKendree University’s Brody Loftin (#17) scans the field as Dartmouth College’s Felipe Leao (#14) and Mason Westkaemper (#2) close in
McKendree University’s TJ Joubert (#21) and Dartmouth College’s Chad Danger Klaas (#13)
