KEARNS, Utah — Gabriele Bassani (Gr., Parma, Italy) scored nine times to account for half of Florida Division Champion/No. 6-ranked the University of Florida’s offense as the Gators exploited a 7-5 scoring advantage in the second quarter to build a lead they never relinquished to stop Big Ten Division Champion Michigan State University, 18-17, in the second semifinal of the 2023 Men’s National Collegiate Club Championship at the Kearns Oquirrh Park Fitness Center.
Courtesy the victory, Florida advances to a 12:45 p.m. Mountain title game showdown against defending Men’s National Collegiate Club Champion/Southwest Division Champion/No. 1-ranked the University of California-San Diego. The Gators – which previously placed Third (2001, 2011), Fourth (2008), Sixth (2019), Eighth (2000), Ninth (2003), 10th (2018, 2023), 11th (2002), 12th (2017) and 13th (2009) in prior trips to the Men’s National Collegiate Club Championship – will seek to become the first team from the East Coast to win the Men’s National Championship since Dartmouth achieved the feat by downing the University of Colorado in 1997.
It marks only the second title game appearance by a squad from the Florida Division as Florida International University fell to the University of California-Los Angeles by a 10-8 score in the 2009 title game hosted by Florida in Gainesville, Fla.
The loss places Michigan State in the Third Place game at 11:30 a.m. against Sierra Pacific Division Champion/No. 2 the University of California. California fell to UC-San Diego by a 15-9 score in the other semifinal.
For Florida, Luke Carey (Sr., Orlando, Fla.) (four), Nicky Borden (Fr., Danville, Calif.) (two) and NIcholas Santarsiero (Fr., Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) (two) joined Bassani in notching multi-goal games. Michah Boyle (So., Hudsonville, Mich.) also dented the twine with a solo marker.
Mert Ali Yener (Fr., Istanbul, Turkey) of Michigan State led all scorers with 10 goals, while Jack Blodgett (Sr., Dexter, Mich.) deposited three. Logan Stevens (Fr., Rockford, Mich.), Ben Deininger (So., Ann Arbor, Mich.), Chandler Jones (Sr., Hudsonville, Mich.) and Nate Chalmers (Jr., Hudsonville, Mich.) chipped in single tallies.
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| No. 5 Michigan State University |
4 | 5 | 5 | 3 | – | 17 |
| No. 6 University of Florida | 4 | 7 | 5 | 2 | – | 18 |
| Florida Goals: | Gabriele Bassani (9); Luke Carey (4); NIcky Borden (2); Nicholas Sanarsiero (2); Micah Boyle | |||||
| MSU Goals: | Mert Ali Yener (10); Jack Blodgett (3); Logan Stevens; Ben Deininger; Chandler Jones; Nate Chalmers; | |||||
| Exclusions: | Florida – 6 ; MSU – 8 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | Florida – 5-for-8 ; MSU – 2-for-6 | |||||
| Sprints: | Florida – 2-for-4 (1st, 3rd) ; MSU – 2-for-4 (2nd, 4th) | |||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | None | |||||
| Officials: | Don Lewis, Andrew Mattson | |||||
University of Florida’s Gabrielle Bassani (#10) rises to shoot as Michigan State University’s Patrick Tutt (#7) defends
University of Florida’s Luke Carey (#14) spies an opening as Michigan State University’s Leo Varitek (#10) moves in
University of Florida’s Clancy Short (#18) and Michigan State University’s Ben Deininger (#17)
