MIDDLEBURY, Vt. — Division III No. 1-ranked the University of California-Santa Cruz from the Sierra Pacific Division opened up an 11-0 lead by the conclusion of the first quarter and never looked back in rolling to a 24-4 defeat of Carleton College from the Heartland Division in the opening game of the 2022 Women’s Division III Collegiate Club Championship hosted by Middlebury College.
The Banana Slugs – who are making their first appearance at the Women’s Division III Collegiate Club Championship after electing not to compete in the 2019/inaugural Women’s Division III Club Championship hosted by the league office at Villanova University in Villanova, Pa. — received scoring from 11 different players as UC-Santa Cruz secured itself at least a Fourth Place mark in the five-team championship field.
Emma Laszlo (Fr., Alameda, Calif./Encinal) led all scorers with four markers, while Caley Mason (Sr., Sunnyvale, Calif./Fremont), Selma Malkic (Fr., Alameda, Calif./Encinal), Ella Chabre (Fr., Alameda, Calif./Encinal) and Natalie Thompson (Jr., Oakdale, Calif./Oakdale) each found the back of the cage three times. Olivia Martinet (Fr., San Diego, Calif./Mission Bay) and Josie Taylor (Jr., Santa Cruz, Calif./Santa Cruz) deposited pairs with Eileen Zenas (Sr., South Pasadena, Calif./South Pasadena), Sophia Sussman (Sr., Long Beach, Calif./Millikan), Jacqueline Bursalyan (Jr., Belmont, Calif./Carlmont) and Shelby Dinh (Sr., Portland, Ore./Westview) notching single tallies in support of a combined seven save performance by neminders Dinh (one save, 14 minutes, first and third quarters) and Haley Marshall (Fr., Sanger, Calif./Sanger) (six saves, second and fourth quarters).
UC-Santa Cruz – which will return to the pool at 5:00 p.m. to battle the host/Division III No. 3-ranked Panthers of Middlebury with a spot in the 2022 Women’s Division III Collegiate Club Championship title game at stake – opened the scoring 13 seconds into the contest as Malkic laced in a shot with 6:47 to go in the first quarter. Laszlo (5:53, 4:41), Malkic (5:32, 5:11), Chabre (4:13, 3:12), Sussman (2:03), Thompson (1:27), Taylor (58 seconds) and Martinet (24 seconds) followed as the Banana Slugs squirmed out to an 11-0 scoreboard advantage after seven minutes of action.
The margin grew to 14-0 early in the second quarter as UC-Santa Cruz received strikes from Bursalyan (6:08), Thompson (5:08) and Taylor (4:12) before Laszlo converted on a man-up chance at 2:31 to push the spread to 15-0. Mason (1:47, 50 seconds) closed out the first half with back-to-back tallies to set the scoreboard at 17-0 by halftime.
Martinet (5:26), Chabre (4:39), Laszlo (2:23) and Mason (1:52) started the second half with consecutive markers to surpass the previous high for goals scored in a Women’s Division III Club Championship tournament game (19-3 W, Carnegie Mellon University vs. Grinnell College, April 21, 2019) and stake UC-Santa Cruz to a 21-0 margin.
Carleton broke-up the shutout bid with eight seconds left in the third quarter as Eesha Shah (Sr., Cedar Falls, Iowa/Phillips Exeter Academy) zipped in a shot to move the “Righteous Babes” within 20 at 21-1 heading into the fourth quarter.
Keely Fisher (Sr., Pueblo, Colo./Pueblo West) cut Carleton’s deficit to 19 at 4:29, but Thompson responded at 4:02 to expand the lead to 22-2. Shah (2:36, 34 seconds), Dinh (1:33) and Zenas (six seconds) closed out the contest with goals as UC-Santa Cruz’s lead shrank to 19 and back to 20 on the way to the 24-4 final score.
Carleton – which placed sixth at the 2019 Women’s Division III Club Championship – received a hat-trick from Shah and a single tally by Fisher. Netminder Grace Malooly (Fr., Salt Lake City, Utah/Judge Memorial Catholic) stopped four shots in taking the loss.
The “Righteous Babes” will continue the championship tournament at 2:00 p.m. versus Middlebury.
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| Division III No. 1 University of California-Santa Cruz |
11 | 6 | 4 | 3 | – | 24 |
| Carleton College | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | – | 4 |
| Carleton Goals: | Eesha Shah (3); Keely Fisher | |||||
| UC-Santa Cruz Goals: | Emma Laszlo (4); Selma Malkic (3); Natalie Thompson (3); Ella Chabre (3); Caley Mason (3); Josie Taylor (2); Olivia Martinet (2); Jaclyn Bursalyan; Shelby Dinh; Eileen Zenas; Sophia Sussman | |||||
| Saves: | Carleton – Grace Malooly (4) ; UC-Santa Cruz – Shelby Dinh (1, 14 minutes); Haley Marshall (6, 14 minutes) | |||||
| Exclusions: | Carleton – 3 ; UC-Santa Cruz – 2 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | Carleton – 0-for-2 ; UC-Santa Cruz – 1-for-3 | |||||
| Sprints: | Carleton – 2-for-4 (2nd, 4th) ; UC-Santa Cruz – 2-for-4 (1st, 3rd) | |||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | None | |||||
| Officials: | Chad Quinn; Geoff Deasey | |||||
Carleton College’s Grace Malooly (#1) attempts to save a shot by the University of California-Santa Cruz’s Josie Taylor (#22)
University of California-Santa Cruz’s Eileen Zenas (#3) defends Carleton College’s Chloe Truebenbach (#2)
University of California-Santa Cruz’s Gwenyth Crow (#4) tries a backhand against Carleton College
