KEARNS, Utah — Gabriele Bassani (Gr., Parma, Italy) scored five times to claim Player of the Game status as Florid Division Champion/No. 6 the University of Florida never trailed in putting away Mid-Atlantic Division Champion/No. 17 Pennsylvania State University, 16-9, in the first round of the 2023 Men’s National Collegiate Club Championship hosted by the University of Utah at the Kearns Oquirrh Park Fitness Center.
Due to the win, Florida advances into the tournament quarterfinals as the Gators will meet Pacific Coast Division Champion/No. 2 the University of California-Los Angeles at 11:20 a.m. Mountain on Saturday, November 11. UCLA punched its ticket into the quarterfinals by surpassing New York Division Champion/No. 19 the United States Military Academy, 20-6, in an earlier first round contest.
Penn State slips into the consolation side of the 16-team championship bracket as the Nittany Lions will take on Army at 8:40 p.m. this evening with eyes on winning its next three games to claim Ninth Place.
The Gators jumped ahead less than a minute into the game as Micah Bayle (So., Hudsonville, Mich.) found the back twine 59 seconds into the seven-minute first quarter before depositing his second strike at 4:53 for a quick 2-0 Florida lead.
Matthew Fencel (Jr., Camp Hill, Pa.) and Ryan McLaughlin (Jr., Blue Bell, Pa.) balanced the scoreboard for Penn State as the duo put away chances at 3:53 and 3:23 (man-up), respectively.
Florida regained the lead at 3-2 courtesy a score by Luke Carey (Sr., Orlando, Fla.) at 2:31, but McLaughlin delivered another equalizer at 2:13 to retie the teams at three-all.
However, the Gators went ahead to stay prior to the end of the opening frame as Carey converted on a scoring chance with 1:04 on the clock to flip the scoreboard to 4-3 in favor of the Orange & Blue.
Basani insulated the lead in the early moments of the second quarter by drilling in a five-meter penalty shot at 5:56 prior to tossing in a natural goal at 5:26 to double-up the Nittany Lions at 6-3.
McLaughlin swished his third score of the first half by lining in a penalty shot at 4:32 to move Penn State within 6-4, but John Chiappone (Fr., Miami, Fla.) answered at 2:53 to regain a three-score lead at 7-4.
Keegan Engstrom (Sr., Pasadena, Calif.) bounded a ball into the cage on a man-up chance at 2:28 to put the Nittany Lions within a pair again at 7-5. However, Nathan Weaver (Sr., London, Ontario, Canada) and Bassani built the Gators’ lead to four at 9-5 prior to halftime by tossing in shots at 2:14 and two seconds, respectively.
Danny Crump (So., Blue Bell, Pa.) commenced the third quarter by shaving Florida’s lead down to 9-6 before Nicky Borden (Fr., Danville, Calif.) got the goal back at 5:10 to return the spread to four at 10-6.
Jacob Harkins (Sr., Hollywood, Fla.) (4:57) and Nicholas Santarsiero (Fr,, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) (4:42) rifled in bids for Penn State and Florida, respectively, to make it 11-7 before Santarsiero (3:50) and Borden (2:33) axed the Nittany Lions’ comeback hopes to make it a 13-7 game after 21 minutes of action.
Bassani (6:48) started the fourth quarter with his fourth score of the game to make it 14-7. From there the teams exchanged blows to the final buzzer as Penn State received strikes from McLaughlin (6:29) and Tino Daiute (So., Hazleton, Pa.) (3:46), while the Gators got offensive firepower from Bassani (4:34) and Tyler Conti (Gr., Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) (3:07).
Penn State was led by McLaughlin who finished with four goals. Engstrom, Fencel, Harkins, Crump and Daiute each slipped in solo markers in support of netminder Evan Mancini (Sr., Lansdale, Pa.).
Bassani (five), Santarsiero (two), Borden (two), Carey (two) and Bayle (two) inflicted the majority of the damage for Florida as the quintet combined for 13 goals. Conti, Weaver and Chiappone each notched single tallies. Logan Mazor (Jr., Hollywood, Fla.) earned the win in cage.
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| No. 6 University of Florida |
4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | – | 16 |
| No. 17 Pennsylvania State University | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | – | 9 |
| Penn State Goals: | Ryan McLaughlin (4); Keegan Engstrom; Matthew Fencel; Jacob Harkins; Danny Crump; Tino Daiute | |||||
| Florida Goals: | Gabriele Bassani (5); Nicholas Santarsiero (2); Nicky Borden (2); Luke Carey (2); Micah Bayle (2); Tyler Conti; Nathan Weaver; John Chiappone | |||||
| Exclusions: | Penn State – 2; Florida – 16 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | Penn State – 4-for-16 ; Florida – 1-for-2 | |||||
| Sprints: | Penn State – 0-for-4; Florida – 4-for-4 | |||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | MAM – Florida (Logan Mazor, 1;19 left in 3rd Q) | |||||
| Officials: | Victor Rarau, Andrew Mattson | |||||
Pennsylvania State University’s Danny Crump (#2)
University of Florida’s Luke Carey (#14) looks for an opening as Pennsylvania State University’s Ryan McLaughlin (#7) defends
Pennsylvania State University’s Evan Mancini (#1) attempts to block a shot by the University of Florida’s Nicholas Santarsiero (#2)
