CARLISLE, Pa. — The Huskies of Northwest Division Champion the University of Washington took a bite out of the Great Lakes Division Champion University of Notre Dame Irish, 10-7, to claim 11th Place at the 2025 Men’s National Collegiate Club Championship hosted by the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Mid-Atlantic Division at the Carlisle YMCA Aquatic Center.
Washington – which previously placed Sixth (2001, 2002), Eighth (2006, 2009) and 13th (2022) at the Men’s National Collegiate Club Championship since 2000 – led for all but approximately two minutes in the game as Player of the Game/sophomore Alex Rowland broke the scoring ice by lining in a penalty shot with 6:07 left in the first quarter. Sophomore JT Dugan (2:06) and Rowland (1:02) closed out the first quarter by sandwiching a tally from Notre Dame’s Zachary Jones (So., Bellaire, Texas) as the Huskies exited the first seven minutes of action with a 3-1 lead.
In the second quarter, Connor Burke (So., Hinsdale, Ill.) shrank the Irish’s deficit to 3-2 (6:12) prior to freshman Max Campagna converting a man-up opportunity at the 5:35 mark to establish a 4-2 gap on the scoreboard.
Neither team could muster must offense over the remainder of the first half until Owen Helenski (Fr., Conshohocken, Pa.) (1:18, man-up), Rowland (42 seconds) and Jones (17 seconds, man-up) went back-to-back-to-back to make it a 5-4 contest at intermission.
Peter Youssef (Sr., Westfield, N.J.) leveled the damage at five-all with 3:38 remaining in the third quarter, but Rowland roiled the Irish once more by stuffing in a power-play chance with 2:52 to go in the frame in returning the lead to Washington at 6-5 heading into the fourth quarter.
The Huskies howled in the first 3:30 of the final seven minutes as senior Kevin Zhang (5:53) and Rowland (3:54, penalty shot; 3:29) buried bones in the Notre Dame cage to inflate Washington’s lead to 9-5.
Michael Skale (Fr., St. Louis, Mo.) terminated the run by sinking a shot at 3:11 to close Notre Dame within three at 9-6, but Rowland iced the victory by connecting for another penalty shot/his eighth goal with 2:37 on the clock to pad the Huskies’ lead to 10-6.
Notre Dame’s Ernest Gallo (Fr., Modesto, Calif.) made his mark as the last goal-scorer of the 2025 Men’s Collegiate Club season as the freshman whipped in a strike with 1:54 to play for the 10-7 final score.
The Irish’s 12th Place finish sits in the middle of the team’s all-time placements at the Men’s National Collegiate Club Champinship as the Irish previously claimed the 11th (2016, 2019) and 13th (2004) spots.
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| No. 19 University of Notre Dame | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | – | 7 |
| University of Washington | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4 | – | 10 |
| Washington Goals: | Alex Rowland (8); JT Dugan; Max Campagna | |||||
| Notre Dame Goals: | Zachary Jones (2); Ernest Gallo; Michael Skale; Owen Helenski; Connor Burke; Peter Youssef | |||||
| Exclusions: | Washington – 7 ; Notre Dame – 11 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | Washington – 4-for-11 ; Notre Dame – 2-for-7 | |||||
| Sprints: | Washington – 4-for-4 ; Notre Dame – 0-for-4 | |||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | YC – Notre Dame (Head coach Nic Schoppe) | |||||
| Officials: | Matt Turner, Matt Stuckwisch | |||||
University of Notre Dame’s Thomas Lercari (#1) stops a shot
The University of Washington’s Kevin Zhang (#20) & the University of Notre Dame’s Owen Helenski (#2)
University of Washington’s Deneil Betfarhad (#1)
