MIDDLEBURY, Vt. — Ross Wood (Jr., Fort Washington, Pa.) scored five times to claim Player of the Game accolades and lead Tufts University to a 12-8 defeat of Carnegie Mellon University in the semifinals of the 2017 Men’s Division III Collegiate Club Championship at Middlebury College.
The Jumbos will meet three-time defending Division III National Champion Washington University in St. Louis at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday, October 29, for the crown. Carnegie Mellon will take on Bates College, which fell to Washington in the other semifinal by a 20-4 final score, at 10:15 a.m. in the Third Place game.
The 2008 Division III National Champion, Tufts is guaranteed to either tie its championship performance or notch the program’s second best finish at the Division III Collegiate Club Championship. In the history of the championship, Tufts has recorded First (2009), Third (2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2013), Fourth (2014, 2016) and Fifth (20212, 2016) Place marks since 2006.
Tufts jumped in front of Carnegie Mellon and never looked back as the team claimed margins of 7-2 and 10-4 by the conclusion of the first and second quarters. The Tartans trimmed its deficit back to 10-6 by the close of the third quarter before the teams traded goals in the fourth quarter for the 12-8 final score.
For Tufts, Abe Massik (Jr., Corte Madera, Calif.), Gabe Hadad (Jr., Brooklyn, N.Y.) and Colin Liang (Gr., Fullerton, Calif.) deposited pairs of markers with Andrew Barber (So., New Haven, Conn.) notching a solo strike.
In cage, Hans Tercek (Sr., Beverly Hills, Calif.) finished with six saves to earn the victory.
Carnegie Mellon, which placed second at the 2016 Division III National Club Championship via a 14-7 setback against Washington, received four goals by Evans Hauser (Gr., Piedmont, Georgia) along with single tallies by Kevin Steinhouse (Sr., St. Louis, Mo.), Vivaan Bahl (Sr., Palo Alto, Calif.), Joe Segel (So., Newtown, Pa.) and Jacob Gobbo (Jr., Chino Hills, Calif.).
Goalie Misha Ivkov (Fr., San Jose, Calif.) recorded five saves in taking the loss.
In the history of the Division III Championship, the Tartans have previously finished Second (2016), Sixth (2005, 2013, 2014, 2015), Seventh (2008, 2010) and Ninth (2012) as the team is a lock to post its second best finish at the event irregardless of the outcome against Bates.
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| Tufts University | 7 | 3 | 0 | 2 | – | 12 |
| Carnegie Mellon University | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | – | 8 |
| Carnegie Mellon Goals: | Evans Hauser (4); Kevin Steinhouse; Vivaan Bahl; Joe Segel; Jacob Gobbo | |||||
| Tufts Goals: | Ross Wood (5); Abe Massik (2); Gabe Haddad (2); Colin Liang (2); Andrew Barber | |||||
| Saves: | Carnegie Mellon – Misha Ivkov (5) ; Tufts – Hans Tercek (6) | |||||
| Exclusions: | Carnegie Mellon – 6 ; Tufts – 8 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | Carnegie Mellon – 3-for-8 ; Tufts – 3-for-6 | |||||
| Sprints: | Carnegie Mellon – 1-for-4 (3rd) ; Tufts – 3-for-4 (1st ,2nd, 4th) | |||||
| Officials: | Dennis Kinne, Brian Swider | |||||
Photo 1: Tufts University’s Ross Wood breaks loose for a shot; Photo 2: Carnegie Mellon University’s Felix Liu looks for an opening as Tufts University’s Tim Savidge defends; Photo 3: Carnegie Mellon University’s Evan Hauser tries to shoot over Tufts University’s Hazen Breen
