CARLISLE, Pa. — Jack Staunton (Jr., Ann Arbor, Mich.) scored four times to collect Player of the Game recognition as Big Ten Division Champion/No. 8-ranked the University of Michigan built a 6-2 halftime lead and held off Mid-Atlantic Division Champion/No. 15 Pennsylvania State University, 11-7, in a consolation game on the first day of the 2025 Men’s National Collegiate Club Championship at the Carlisle YMCA Aquatic Center.
The Wolverines will next be in action at 2:50 p.m. Eastern on Saturday, November 8, against Northwest Division Champion the University of Washington in a game to determine qualifiers for the Ninth and 11th Place games on Sunday, November 9.
Penn State falls into a 13th/15th place game at 9:50 p.m. on Saturday, November 8, as the Nittany Lions will tangle with Missouri Valley Division Champion the University of Missouri. The winner of the game ties for 13th place, while the loser ties for 15th place in the final championship standings.
The Maize & Blue never trailed against the Blue & White as Staunton (6:35) and Chase Richardson (Jr., Royal Oak, Mich.) (5:36) provided Michigan a lead the squad refused to relinquish the rest of the way. Danny Crump (Sr., Blue Bell, Pa.) snapped the Wolverines’ mini-scoring run by burying a five-meter penalty shot at 4:39, but Michigan bared its claws to slash the Nittany Lions with man-up (4:03) and natural (1:07) strikes by Daniel Bellatin (Jr., Miami, Fla.) and Staunton, respectively, to expand the spread to 4-1.
Blake Stanczewski (Fr., Harleysville, Pa.) chipped a score off PSU’s deficit with 4:48 on the second quarter clock to close within a pair at 4-2. However, Staunton (4:32) and Bellatin (1:33) answered for Michigan to pad the team’s lead to 6-2 entering halftime.
Richardson made it a five-goal contest (7-2) at the 4:30 mark of the third quarter, but Aiden Hood (Fr., Springfield, Va.) and Luke Price (Sr., Fort Washington, Pa.) spun home man-up opportunities at 4:04 and 3:22, respectively, to trim Michigan’s lead down to 7-4.
The Maize & Blue responded as Richardson (2:56) and Staunton (1:27) stuffed in natural tallies to make it 9-4 prior to Crump canning an even-strength marker with six ticks on the clock to close the gap to 9-5.
Crump made the game interesting in the fourth quarter by converting a man-up bid with 5:58 remaining in regulation to move Penn State within three at 9-6.
Michigan put any doubts about the contest’s outcome to rest, however, as Ian Cardenas (Fr., Dan Point, Calif.) (5:38) and Mark Flautner (Fr., Ann Arbor, Mich.) (5:05, penalty shot) bombed in shots to inflate the Wolverines’ scoreboard advantage to 11-6 with approximately five minutes left to play in regulation.
Neither team mustered much offense the rest of the way bar a man-up score by Nathan Weaver (Gr., London, Ontario) at the 3:25 mark as Michigan held on for an 11-7 victory.
Crump led the way for Penn State with a hat-trick (three goals), while Hood, Weaver and Stanczewski deposited solo strikes.
Staunton (four), Richardson (three) and Bellatin (two) combined for nine of Michigan’s 11 goals to accompany single scores from Flautner and Cardenas.
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| No. 8 University of Michigan | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | – | 11 |
| No. 15 Pennsylvania State University | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | – | 7 |
| Penn State Goals: | Danny Crump (3); Luke Price; Aiden Hood; Nathan Weaver; Blake Stanczewski | |||||
| Michigan Goals: | Jack Staunton (4); Chase Richardson (3); Daniel Bellatin (2); Mark Flautner; Ian Cardenas | |||||
| Exclusions: | Penn State – 4 ; Michigan – 7 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | Penn State – 5-for-7 ; Michigan – 2-for-4 | |||||
| Sprints: | Penn State – 0-for-4 ; Michigan – 4-for-4 | |||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | None | |||||
| Officials: | Raheem Brown, Chad Quinn | |||||
Pennsylvania State University’s Cooper Hill (#1A)
Pennsylvania State University’s Blake Stanczewski (#19) & the University of Michigan’s Ben Edlund (#15)
University of Michigan’s Daniel Bellatin (#8) & Pennsylvania State University’s Kegan Clark (#20)
