HUNTSVILLE, Alabama — Catherine Simko (Gr., Mission Viejo) scored four times to garner Player of the Game recognition as No. 8-ranked/Southwest Division Championship runner-up Arizona State University used a 7-2 second half scoring advantage to give No. 3/Midwest Division Champion the University of Notre Dame the horns to claim a 10-4 victory in the 2022 Women’s National Collegiate Club Championship Ninth Place game.
Competing at the Huntsville Aquatics Center in Game 29 of 30 during the 2022 Women’s National Collegiate Club Championship, ASU built upon a 3-2 halftime lead with a 3-2 scoring advantage in the third quarter before putting the contest away with a 4-0 outburst over the final seven minutes to claim the win.
ASU – which made the program’s first appearance at the National Collegiate Club Championship since 2014 with prior fourth (2014) and ninth (2011, 2012) place marks – adds another Top 10 finish.
Notre Dame, which places 10th in the final 16-team championship standings, adds another Top 10 mark to a legacy that includes prior second (2009, 2015), fourth (2002), sixth (2001, 2010), seventh (2000), ninth (2006, 2013, 2014), 10th (2008, 2019), 11th (2007) and 12th (2012) placements.
Trailing 3-2 at halftime, the Irish pulled even and went ahead in the four minutes of the third quarter as Grace Kellerman (So., San Diego, Calif.) (4:48) and Emily Shank (So., Fullerton, Calif.) (4:14, penalty shot) converted on opportunities to claim a 4-3 lead.
The margin lasted for less than a minute until Lindsay Robertson (Fr., Helotes, Texas) evened the damage with 3:17 on the clock. Brynn Bogard (Jr., Solana Beach, Calif.) and Anna Bethke (Fr., Mokena, Ill.) put the Sun Devils in front to stay by closing out the third quarter with back-to-back scoring shots at 1:01 and 12 seconds (man-up), respectively, as Arizona State carried a 6-4 lead into the final seven minutes of regulation.
ASU closed out the win with a 4-0 surge in the fourth quarter as Simko (6:28, 20 seconds), Katie Kenyon-Appelt (Gr., Tacoma, Wash.) (4:18) and Charis Key (Fr., San Antonio, Texas) (1:48) torqued in a quartet of tallies to cap off the 10-4 win.
In the first half, the game appeared set to be a nail-biter as Kellerman broke the ice at 6:09 before Simko netted an equalizer at 5:07 to balance the scoreboard at one-all through seven minutes.
In the second quarter, ASU pulled ahead at 2-1 via a man-up strike from Lindsey Torgerson (Sr., Seal Beach, Wash.) at 4:42 before Shank shoved in a score with 28 seconds to tie the game at two-all. However, Simko put a ball across a goal line with 17 ticks left until halftime to set-up Arizona State’s second half surge to victory.
Notre Dame received pairs of goals from Shank and Kellerman on offense, while Denise Shaffer (Sr., Houston, Texas) turned aside five shots.
The Sun Devils received scoring from seven athletes as Simko (four), Robertson, Key, Bethke, Torgerson, Kenyon-Appelt and Bogard all found the back iron. Kristi Spiedler (Jr., Torrance, Calif.) claimed the win between the pipes for ASU with five stops.
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| No. 8 Arizona State University |
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | – | 10 |
| No. 3 University of Notre Dame | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | – | 4 |
| Notre Dame Goals: | Emily Shank (2); Grace Kellerman (2) | |||||
| ASU Goals: | Catherine Simko (4); Lindsay Robertson; Charis Key; Anna Bethke; Lindsey Torgerson; Katie Kenyon-Appelt; Brynn Bogard | |||||
| Saves: | Notre Dame – Denise Shaffer (5) ; ASU – Kristi Spiedler (5) | |||||
| Exclusions: | Notre Dame – 7 ; ASU – 5 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | Notre Dame – 1-for-5; ASU – 2-for-7 | |||||
| Sprints: | Notre Dame – 0-for-4 ; ASU – 4-for-4 | |||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | YC – Arizona State (Head coach AJ Grucky, 40 seconds left in 2nd Q) | |||||
| Officials: | Mark Kessler; Michael Francis | |||||
Arizona State University’s Catherine Simko (#14) scans the pool against the University of Notre Dame’s Emily Shank (#16)
Arizona State University’s Catherine Simko (#14) tries for a steal against the University of Notre Dame’s Grace Kellerman (#2)
University of Notre Dame’s Molly Soper (#12) attempts to get a shot past Arizona State University’s Brynn Bogard (#13)
University of Notre Dame’s Grace Kellerman (#2) looks for an opening as Arizona State University’s Katie Kenyon-Appelt (#4) closes in
