VILLANOVA, Pa. — Thomas Fies (Jr., Evanston, Ill.) scored six times as Division III No. 1-ranked Washington University in St. Louis of the Missouri Valley Division opened defense of its previous national championships with a commanding 21-1 victory over Division III No. 8 Carnegie Mellon University of the Mid-Atlantic Division in the first game of the 2019 Men’s Division III Collegiate Club Championship hosted by the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) at Villanova University.
- The Bears wasted little time in putting the game out of reach as Washington ripped off six goals by the two minute mark of the first quarter via natural tallies at 6:40, 5:33, 4:31, 4:09, 3:14 and finally 2:49 to turn back the Tartans.
- Carnegie Mellon cut into its deficit with 1:45 on the clock in the opening frame as Jacob Gobbo (Sr., Chino Hills, Calif.) beat Washington goalie Michael Lorberg (Sr., St. Louis, Mo.) to move the Tartans within 6-1.
- However, Washington closed out the first quarter by finding the back of the cage at 1:29 (man-up) and 52 seconds (even-strength) to commence a 15 goal outburst to the final horn.
- The Bears continued to pour on the offense in the second and third quarters with seven and six markers, respectively, to acquire a 15-1 lead by halftime and a 21-1 spread at the conclusion of the third quarter.
- Neither team managed to add to its total in the fourth quarter as both Washington and Carnegie Mellon were stymied by their opposing defenses.
- For Washington, eight players found the back of the cage with Fies’ six strikes leading the way. David Ling (Jr., Seattle, Wash.) joined Fies in posting a hat-trick by denting the twine four times, while the quintet of Matthew Lorberg (Fr., St. Louis, Mo.), Remy Hutheesing (Jr., New York, N.Y.), Ricky Kuehn (Jr. St, Louis, Mo.), Levi Kohl (Jr., Brentwood, Calif.) and John Hooker (Sr., Calabasas, Calif.) each put away pairs of shots. Max Bernstein (Gr., St. Louis, Mo.) accounted for a single goal.
- In cage, Michael Lorberg made six saves in the first half, while Brian Xu (Jr., Irvine, Calif.) stopped three shots in the second half.
- For the Tartans, the quartet of Harvey Zheng (Fr., Andover, Mass.), Raj Mehta (Fr.), Gobbo and Bryce Yeazell (Fr., Austin, Texas) split time in cage with Mehta making a save.
- Washington, which tied for the 2014 title with the University of California-Santa Cruz due to a snowstorm induced power outage at Bowdoin College, repeated as National Champion in 2015 (at Macalester College vs. Middlebury College), 2016 (at Hamilton College vs. Carnegie Mellon), 2017 (at Middlebury College vs. Tufts University) and 2018 (at Wesleyan University vs. Tufts). The Bears are on pace to claim the program’s sixth consecutive and seventh overall title after previously taking the 2011 crown by topping Bowdoin.
- Washington has already made history as no other team has ever won four consecutive Men’s National Championships in either the Division III or National Collegiate Club ranks.
- Further, the victory continues a streak of 15 consecutive Division III Club Championship wins by the Bears dating back to a 13-9 loss to UC-Santa Cruz in the 2013 tournament’s title game at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pa.
- Washington will next be in action at 8:00 p.m. this evening against the United States Coast Guard Academy of the Colonial Division with a spot in the 2019 Men’s Division III Collegiate Club Championship title game on the line. Carnegie Mellon will face the Bears of Coast Guard at 5:30 p.m. with eyes on claiming a spot in the tournament’s Third Place game.
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| Division III No. 8 Carnegie Mellon University | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 1 |
| Division III No. 1 Washington University in St. Louis | 8 | 7 | 6 | 0 | – | 21 |
| Washington Goals: | Thomas Fies (6); David Ling (4); Matthew Lorberg (2); Remy Hutheesing (2); Ricky Kuehn (2); Levi Kohl (2); John Hooker (2); Max Bernstein; | |||||
| Carnegie Mellon Goals: | Jacob Gobbo | |||||
| Saves: | Washington – Michael Lorberg (6, 14 minutes), Brian Xu (3, 14 minutes) ; Carnegie Mellon – Harvey Zheng (0); Raj Mehta (0); Jacob Gobbo (0), Bryce Yeazell (0) | |||||
| Exclusions: | Washington – 5 ; Carnegie Mellon – 7 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | Washington – 5-for-7 ; Carnegie Mellon – 0-for-5 | |||||
| Sprints: | Washington – 2-for-4 (1st, 2nd) ; Carnegie Mellon – 2-for-4 (3rd, 4th) | |||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | None | |||||
| Officials: | Alex High; Justin Deis | |||||
Washington University in St. Louis’ Avery Freedman (#13) tries for a steal against Carnegie Mellon University’s Kelby Kramer (#2)
Washington University in St. Louis’ Avery Freedman (#13)
