PITTSBURGH, Pa. — Parker Strickman (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) scored four times to lead Florida Division Champion/No. 8-ranked the University of Florida to a 12-8 defeat of Mid-Atlantic Division Champion/No. 19 Pennsylvania State University to reach the Fifth Place game of the 2019 Men’s National Collegiate Club Championship at the University of Pittsburgh’s Trees Pool.
- Florida – which has previously finished Eighth (2000), Third (2001), 11th (2002), Ninth (2003), Fourth (2008), 13th (2009), Third (2011), 12th (2017) and 10th (2018) in succession to make the Top 10 six times – will add a seventh to its record as the Gators will take on Big Ten Division Champion/No. 9 Michigan State University at 10:15 a.m. on Sunday, November 17, back at Trees Pool for Fifth Place in the final 16-team championship standings.
- The loss drops the Nittany Lions of Penn State into the Seventh Place contest where the squad will square-off with Sierra Pacific Division Champion/No. 4 California State University Maritime Academy at 9:00 a.m.
- Penn State previously garnered Second (1998) Seventh (2016), Eighth (2014), 10th (2009, 2015, 2017), 11th (2012), 12th (2005) as the Nittany Lions are guaranteed to at worst tie their third best-ever finish at the Men’s National Collegiate Club Championship.
- Trailing 2-0 with 5:36 left in the first quarter, the Gators went on the prowl to tie the score at two-all by the 5:07 mark fall behind 3-2 at 4:28 and rattle off three consecutive scores to claim the lead at 5-3 by the end of the first quarter.
- Florida slowly pulled away from Penn State expanding the lead to 7-4 by the 2:14 mark of the second quarter prior to carrying an 8-5 margin into halftime.
- Penn State scored two shrink its deficit down to 8-6 with 2:57 on the third quarter clock, but Strickman stuffed in a man-up goal with 2:15 remaining to make it 9-6 heading into the fourth quarter.
- The Nittany Lions twice pulled within a pair at 9-7 (3:44) and 1:46 (10-8), but Florida punched in a pair at 1:06 and 46 seconds to secure the four-goal win.
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| No. 19 Pennsylvania State University | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | – | 8 |
| No. 8 University of Florida | 5 | 3 | 1 | 3 | – | 12 |
| Florida Goals: | Parker Strickman (4); Rico Martinez (2); Murphey Morgan (2); Luke MacDonald; Wynn Furey; Daniel Magrino; Lucas Weaver | |||||
| Penn State Goals: | Calvin Behm (3); Tan Kocyildirim (2); Ethan Lionetti; Steven Solis; Daniel Berring | |||||
| Saves: | Florida – Corby Bertolett (10) ; Penn State – Antonio Bosca (16) | |||||
| Exclusions: | Florida – 11 ; Penn State – 5 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | Florida – 3-for-5 ; Penn State – 0-for-11 | |||||
| Sprints: | Florida – 4-for-4 ; Penn State – 0-for-4 | |||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | None | |||||
| Officials: | Greg Sanchez; Steve Sargalski | |||||
Pennsylvania State University’s Michael Dougherty (#19) defends against the University of Florida
The University of Florida’s James Rivera (#3) eyes the cage as Pennsylvania State University’s Calvin Behm (#13) comes on on defense
The University of Florida’s John Nieves (#7) shoots as Pennsylvania State University’s Calvin Behm (#13) and Aidan Daly (#23) close in
