HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Carter Smith (So., Southlake, Texas) scored five times as Big Ten Division Champion/No. 9-ranked Indiana University never trailed to overcome Atlantic Division Champion/No. 19 the University of Virginia, 16-11, in the 2026 Men’s National Collegiate Club Championship Fifth Place game hosted at the Huntsville Aquatics Center.
The placement is a significant improvement over the Hoosiers’ prior trip to the National Collegiate Club Championship when the squad claimed 11th place in 2011 at the University of California-San Diego. Virginia – which holds prior Fifth (2024), Ninth (2023), 13th (2022) and 15th (2003) finishes at Nationals – achieves the team’s second all-time best finish at the event with a Sixth Place mark.
For Indiana, Smith (five), Max Lapointe St-Georges (Sr., Lincolnshire, Ill.) (three), Maximilian Borisovskiy (Sr., Berlin, Gemany) (three), James Struhs (Jr., San Diego, Calif.) (two), Chris Killeen (Jr., Greenwich, Conn.) (two) and Meyer Chemerinski (So., Los Angeles, Calif.) combined for the Hoosiers’ 16 goals. Goalkeeper Aiden Reedy (Jr., Elmhurst, Ill.) stopped 12 shots to earn the win.
Roberto Carbone (Sr., Genova, Italy), Ethan Scifres (Sr., Granite Bay, Calif.), Joe Mills (Fr., Alexandria, Va.) and Trey Taylor (Jr., Baltimore, Md.) each scored twice for Virginia with Sam Lindsey (Jr., Virginia Beach, Va.), Nico Della Pierra (Fr., Greenwich, Conn.) and Ted Zhang (Gr., Salt Lake City, Utah) tallying solo markers. In cage, Carter Grohe (Sr., Virginia Beach, Va.) posted a pair of saves in taking the loss.
Chemerinski broke the ice in the game by spinning in a shot wit 6:34 remaining in the seven-minute first quarter to put Indiana ahead. Scifres stroked in a response at 5:49 to even the damage at one-all
It marked the last time the Cavaliers were level with the Hoosiers as Smith (2:24), Borisovskiy (1:56) and Killeen (23 seconds, man-up) closed out the frame with back-to-back-to-back markers to acquire a 4-1 lead.
Smith (6:40) and Struhs (5:34; 2:43) expanded the margin to 7-1 before Taylor answered for Virginia with 1:18 until halftime to close the Cavaliers within 7-2. Borisovskiy finished the first half with another goal (59 seconds) as Virginia entered halftime with an 8-2 lead.
Borisovsky’s score ignited a 6-0 outburst by Indiana as Smith (5:53; 2:50), Killeen (5:32), Borisovskiy (4:31) and St-Georges (3:28, man-up) inflated the IU lead to 13-3 over midway through the third quarter. Carbone terminated the run by denting the twine with 2:36 left in the frame prior to St-Georges concluding the third quarter with another goal to put Indiana ahead 14-3 through 21 minutes of competition.
Virginia refused to go away silently, however, as Zhang (6:43), Carbone (5:53), Della Pietra (5:23) and Mills (4:35, man-up) put together a 4-0 run to inch the Cavaliers back to within seven at 14-7. Smith launched in a counterstrike for the Hoosiers at 3:36 to make the score 15-7, Lindsey lined in another score for Virginia (3:18) and Killeen connected for successful IU heave (3:07, penalty shot) to double-up the Cavaliers at 16-8.
Virginia closed out the game with a 3-0 spurt to shrink the final difference as Taylor (2:30), Mills (50 seconds) and Scifres (nine seconds) attempted to chip away at their team’s deficit prior to time running out.
University of Virginia’s Penn Clay (#8) attempts to get a pass over Indiana University’s Maximilian Borisovskiy (#7)
Indiana University’s Carter Smith (#10) & University of Virginia’s Gavin Root (#24)
University of Virginia’s Penn Clay (#8) & Indiana University’s Greg Huseby (#11)
