PITTSBURGH, Pa. — Christopher Onorato (Sr., Houston, Texas) posted a hat-trick to lead all scorers for New York Division Champion the United States Military Academy as Army outlasted Northwest Division Champion Oregon State University, 11-10, in a consolation game on the first day of the 2019 Men’s National Collegiate Club Championship hosted by the University of Pittsburgh.
- The win advances Army to a 1:40 p.m. showdown on Saturday, November 16, with either the host Panthers of Pitt or New England Division Champion/No. 11-ranked Boston College. The victor of the Cadets’ next game earns a spot in the 2:15 p.m. Ninth Place game on Sunday, November 17, while the loser will compete for 11th Place in the 30th and final game of the tournament at 3:30 p.m.
- Due to the loss, Oregon State falls into a 13th/15th place game against the loser between Pitt and Boston College and will see their season come to a close at 8:40 p.m on Saturday, November 16. Due to pool availability constraints, the 13th and 15th positions are not played out to completion. Because of this the winners and losers of the final two games on the second day of the championship tie for 13th and 15th place.
- Army jumped on the scoreboard first as Aaron Chough (Sr., Cerritos, Calif.) (6:41 man-up) and Onorato (5:50, man-up) staked their team to a 2-0 lead 70 seconds into the game.
- The Cadets actually scored the first three goals of the game as Army netminder Mason Calbert (Fr., Valley Center, Calif.) inadvertently pushed a ball across his own goal line to put Oregon State on the board and pull the Beavers within 2-1 with 3:54 remaining on the first quarter clock.
- Army got the goal back prior to the end of the frame as DJ Pinter (Sr., Alexandria, Va.) buried a chance at 2:32 to return the margin to a pair at 3-1.
- Onorato further cushioned the lead to 4-1 by converting on a power-play opportunity at 6:35, but Oregon State began to climb back into the contest as Connor Wu (Campbell, Calif.) and Kai Gerringer (Portland, Ore.) drilled in man-up (6:11) and natural (4:35) markers, respectively, to close the gap down to one at 4-3.
- Sebastian Houng (Jr., Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.) got one of the scores back for Army prior to halftime as he cashed in on a five-meter penalty shot at 2:58 to set the scoreboard at 5-3 at the break.
- Jinwon Heo (Sr., Seoul, South Korea) expanded the lead to three at 6-3 54 second into the third quarter (6:06), but the Beavers rampaged as Terran Walker (Lake Oswego, Calif.) (5:52, even-strength), Santiago Gomez (Beaverton, Ore.) (4:55, man-up), Cameron Knopf (Portland, Ore.) (3:52, man-up) and Gomez (1:56 even-strength) connected on four consecutive goals to push Oregon State into the lead at 7-6.
- Chough tied the game at seven-all with 1:42 left in the third quarter, but Wu whipped in another go-ahead score for OSU at 1:16 to return the Beavers to the lead at 8-7.
- The goal would prove to be the turning point as Cooper Smith (So., Canyon Lake, Calif.) closed out the third quarter with an equalizer at the 56 second marks before Onorato (5:06) and Mathieu Sanders (Jr., Sonoma, Calif.) (4:16) broke the ice in the fourth quarter with both teams at even-strength to push Army out to a 10-8 lead.
- Walker made it a game down the stretch as he posted natural (6:08) and man-up (2:22) strikes to once again square the squads at 10-all.
- Needing a score to put Oregon State away, Pinter delivered by slipping in a shot with 1:14 remaining in regulation for the determining factor in an 11-10 win.
- For Army, Onorato (three), Pinter (two) and Chough (two) all posted multi-goal games. Heo, Houng, Smith and Sanders each dented the twine once in support of a three save effort by Calbert.
- Walker keyed the Beavers with three goals. Wu and Gomez both accounted for pairs with Gerringer and Knopf each notching solo markers.
- Jake Roeder (Oakland, Calif.) took the loss for Oregon State with four saves.
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| Oregon State University | 1 | 2 | 5 | 2 | – | 10 |
| United States Military Academy | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | – | 11 |
| Army Goals: | Christopher Onorato (3); DJ Pinter (2); Aaron Chough (2); Jinwon Heo; Sebastian Houng; Cooper Smith; Mathieu Sanders | |||||
| Oregon State Goals: | Terran Walker (3) Connor Wu (2); Santiago Gomez (2); Kai Geringer; Cameron Knopf; Own Goal (Mason Calbert) | |||||
| Saves: | Army – Mason Calbert (3) ; Oregon State – Jake Roeder (4) | |||||
| Exclusions: | Army – 4 ; Oregon State – 6 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | Army – 3-for-6 ; Oregon State – 4-for-4 | |||||
| Sprints: | Army – 3-for-4 (1st, 2nd, 4th) ; Oregon State – 1-for-4 (3rd) | |||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | None | |||||
| Officials: | Martin Murray; Greg Sanchez | |||||
The United States Military Academy’s Christopher Onorato (#14) defends Oregon State University’s Cameron Knopf (#14)
Oregon State University’s Terran Walker (#18) attempts to drop off a pass as the United States Military Academy’s Mathieu Sanders (#17) looks on
Oregon State University’s Kai Gerringer (#13) pursues the United States Military Academy’s DJ Pinter (#12)
