KEARNS, Utah — Willem Palmer (Jr., Mill Valley, Calif.) and Roberto Carbone (Fr., Genova, Italy) combined for 11 goals to share Player of the Game recognition as Atlantic Division Champion the University of Virginia overcame a 7-4 deficit after the first quarter to rally past Texas Division Champion/No. 8-ranked Baylor University in the first consolation game at the 2023 Men’s National Collegiate Club Championship hosted by the University of Utah at the Kearns Oquirrh Park Fitness Center.
The win advances Virginia into a 1:40 p.m. Mountain game on Saturday, November 11, against the victor of a consolation game matching Missouri Valley Division Champion/No. 13 McKendree University and host/Rocky Mountain Division runner-up Utah. Further, the win guarantees the Cavaliers will compete on Sunday, November 13, as Virginia can now finish no lower than 12th in the final 16-team championship standings.
For Baylor – which is making the program’s inaugural appearance in the Men’s National Collegiate Club Championship field – the Bears will see their 2023 season come to an end at 8:40 p.m. on Saturday, November 11. Due to the loss, Baylor drops into a 13th/15th place game versus the fallen from the McKendree/Utah game as the winner ties for 13th place and the loser ties for 15th. Due to time constraints, the 13th-to-16th positions are not played out in the conventional Collegiate Club Championship bracket.
The Cavaliers jumped on the scoreboard first in the game as Palmer broke the ice at 6:16. Baylor’s Trey Ponzi (So., Lake Jackson, Texas) balanced the scoreboard at one-all with 5:26 left on the clock before Palmer struck again via a man-up strike at 5:01 to make the score 2-1. Cole Harvey (Jr., Orange, Calif.) torqued home back-to-back tallies at 4:42 and 4:13 to push the Bears ahead 3-2 prior to Jackson Roth (Sr., San Jose, Calif.) insulating the lead to 4-2 with 3:38 on the clock.
Palmer trimmed Virginia’s deficit to 4-3 at 3:26, but back-to-back goals by Roth (2:46, man-up) and Harvey (2:20) doubled-up the Cavaliers at 6-3. The teams exchanged tallies over the final two minutes as Carbone (2:05) and Harvey (15 seconds) put balls into the back of the cage for a 7-4 Virginia lead through seven minutes.
Carbone struck again 51 seconds into the second quarter as he buried a shot at he 6:09 mark, but Ponzi responded at 4:59 to allow Baylor to stay ahead by three at 8-5. Seth Kacura (Jr., San Clemente, Calif.) (4:19, man-up) and Stephen McMillen (Sr. Newport Beach, Calif.) further padded the lead to 10-6 as the duo sandwiched a marker from Palmer (58 seconds) prior to halftime.
Trailing by four at the midway point, the Cavaliers went to work to overcome the deficit in the third quarter as Nick Hoffs (So., Laguna Beach, Calif.) (6:20, man-up; 31 seconds) and Carbone (4:56; 4:12; 2:57, man-up) combined for five goals compared to a solo tally from McMillen (5:50) for the Bears to square the squads at 11-all entering the fourth quarter.
Ethan Scrifres (So., Sacramento, Calif.) returned Virginia to the lead 26 seconds into the fourth quarter (6:34) by cashing in on a man-up chance to make it 12-11 in favor of the Cavaliers. It marked the first time Virginia led in the game since Palmer opened the contest’s scoring at the 6:16 mark of the first quarter.
Following an equalizer by McMillen at 6:17 to make it 12-all, the Cavaliers charged boldly ahead thanks to tallies from Palmer (5:17, man-up; 3:59) and Michael Vaden (Gr., Newport Beach, Va.) to complete the come-from-behind 15-12 victory.
For Baylor, McMillen and Harvey both netted hat-tricks with Roth and Ponzi chipping in pairs. Kacura and DeMouy accounted for single goals to aid the effort of netminder Preston Sanders (Sr., San Clemente, Calif.).
Palmer (six), Carbone (five) and Hoffs (two) notched multi-goal games to join with Vaden and Scrifres in accounting for Virginia’s offense in support of goalkeeper Pranay Vittal (Jr., Princeton, N.J.).
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| University of Virginia |
4 | 2 | 5 | 4 | – | 15 |
| No. 8 Baylor University | 7 | 3 | 1 | 1 | – | 12 |
| Baylor Goals: | Stephen McMillen (3); Cole Harvey (3); Jackson Roth (2); Trey Ponzi (2); Seth Kacura; Justin DeMouy | |||||
| Virginia Goals: | Willem Palmer (6); Roberto Carbone (5); Nick Hoffs (2); Michael Vaden; Ethan Scrifres | |||||
| Exclusions: | Baylor – 8 ; Virginia – 7 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | Baylor – 2-for-7 ; Virginia – 5-for-8 | |||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | None | |||||
| Officials: | Don Lewis, Victor Nguyen | |||||
Baylor University’s Jackson Roth (#5) looks down tank as the University of Virginia’s Willem Palmer (#4) defends
The University of Virginia’s Nick Hoffs (#20) spots an opening as Baylor University’s Stephen McMillen (#7) moves in
The University of Virginia’s Roberto Carbone (#24) attempts to pass as Baylor University’s Jackson Roth (#5) attempts to stop the try
