KEARNS, Utah — Willem Palmer (Jr., Mill Valley, Calif.) scored five times and Roberto Carbone (Fr., Genova, Italy) added four more to share Player of the Game kudos for leading Atlantic Division Champion the University of Virginia to a 15-6 victory over Northwest Division Champion/No. 10-ranked the University of Oregon in the Ninth Place and final game of the 2023 Men’s National Collegiate Club Championship at the the Kearns Oquirrh Park Fitness Center.
Virginia fell behind 1-0 with 5:53 left in the first quarter as Oregon’s David Mitrovcan Morgan (So., Novi Sad, Serbia) cashed in on a man-up chance. The lead was short-lived as Virginia went on a 7-0 run spanning from the 4:53 mark of the first quarter until clock flipped over to 5:45 in the second quarter.
Holding an 8-2 margin exiting halftime, the Cavaliers were never challenged the rest of the way as Virginia outscored Oregon 3-2 and 4-2 in the third and fourth quarters, respectively, in coasting to a nine-goal win to take Ninth Place.
Virginia – which previously tied for 15th Place in 2003 at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas, and picked up a 13th Place tie last year at the Chehalem Aquatic Fitness Center in Newberg, Ore. – claims the team’s highest finish in program history at the Men’s National Collegiate Club Championship.
Oregon – which last appeared at the Men’s National Collegiate Club Championship in 2013 when the team tied for 13th Place – takes 10th place and gets back on track as team had never placed outside the Top 10 before 2013 with 10th (2012 at the Osborn Aquatic Center/Oregon State University; 2011 at the Georgia Institute of Technology; 2007 at the University of Arizona), Ninth (2010 at Southern Utah University), Eighth (2005 at Williams College; 2004 at the University of Notre Dame) and Sixth (2008 at Ohio University) Place marks.
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| No. 10 University of Oregon |
1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | – | 6 |
| University of Virginia | 5 | 3 | 3 | 4 | – | 15 |
| Virginia Goals: | Willem Palmer (5); Roberto Carbone (4); Ethan Scifres (2); Nick Hoffs (2); Max Spurr; #16 | |||||
| Oregon Goals: | Hunter Pilarski (3); Will Rowell (2); David Mitrovcan Morgan | |||||
| Exclusions: | Virginia – 8 ; Oregon – 16 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | Virginia – 8-for-16 ; Oregon – 3-for-8 | |||||
| Sprints: | Virginia – 2-for-4 (1st, 3rd) ; Oregon – 2-for-4 (2nd, 4th) | |||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | YC – Oregon (Head coach George Montgomery, 3:29 left in 4th Q); M – Virginia (#15, 10 seconds left in 2nd Q); M – Virginia (Max Spurr, 3:50 left in 3rd Q) | |||||
| Officials: | Jeremy Mauss, VIctor Rarau | |||||
University of Oregon’s Carter Sloane (#11)
University of Virginia’s Max Spurr (#25) attempts to drive around the University of Oregon’s Hunter Pilarski (#7)
