MIDDLEBURY, Vt. — Player of the Game Flynn Walker (Sr., Princeton, N.J.) whipped in six goals, while John Hooker (So., Calabasas, Calif.) and Thomas Fies (Fr., Evanston, Ill.) both hurled in four more as three-time defending National Champion Washington University in St. Louis knocked-off Bates College by a 20-4 count to reach the title game of the 2017 Men’s Division III Collegiate Club Championship hosted by Middlebury College.
The win is historic on a number of levels for the Bears and the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) as Washington will return to the water at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday, October 29, to face the victor of a semifinal between Carnegie Mellon University and Tufts University for the Division III National Championship.
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. Last year, the Bears downed host Hamilton College (17-9 W), New York University (13-11 W) and Carnegie Mellon University (14-7 W) to claim back-to-back-to-back crowns and tie fellow Missouri Valley Division institution Lindenwood University as the only teams to win three consecutive Division III crowns.
In addition, the Bears can become the first team to win four men’s collegiate club National Championships in a row. The event could occur twice in 2017 for a team from the Missouri Valley Division as 2014, 2015 and 2016 Men’s National Collegiate Club Champion Lindenwood has already qualified and is a favorite to claim the 2017 Men’s National Collegiate Club Championship in Florida State University in two weeks due to being ranked No. 1 in the nation.
Further, the Bears are now guaranteed to appear in their seventh consecutive Division III title game as the Bears defeated Bowdoin College 13-10 at Hamilton College in 2011 and lost a 12-11 heartbreaker in sudden death overtime to Monmouth College in 2012 at Middlebury College. In 2013, UC-Santa Cruz claimed a 13-9 victory at Franklin & Marshall College against the Bears.
Squaring off with Bates to punch its ticket to yet another Division III title game, the Bears decimated the Bobcats in the first half by running out to a 6-0 lead by the conclusion of the first quarter and claiming a 9-0 lead with 4:15 left in the second frame.
Bates broke the ice via a strike by Sam Bass (Sr., Greenwich, Conn.) with 4:05 to go in the first quarter to slice its deficit down to 9-1 prior to halftime. The lead continued to dwindle in the dawning moments of the third quarter as Jem Bullock (So., Bainbridge Island, Wash.) unleashed a shot with drew net 28 seconds (6:32) into the second half to inch the Bobcats within 9-2.
However, it would be the closest Bates would be to Washington over the remainder of the contest as a five-goal outburst from 6:15-to-1:25 of the third quarter inflated the margin to 14-2 and concluded any hopes of a dramatic comeback rally by Bates.
After trading markers in the final 61 seconds of the third quarter to set the Bears comfortably in front at 15-3, Washington put a ribbon on its win courtesy a 5-1 scoring advantage over the final seven minutes for the 20-4 final.
For Washington, David Ling (Fr., Steilacoom, Wash.) joined Walker, Fies and Hooker in posting a hat-trick or better. Max Bernstein (Jr., St. Louis, Mo.) and Eric Olaya (Jr., Bordentown, N.J.) round out the Bears’ scorers as the duo dropped in two and one tally, respectively.
In cage, Michael Lorberg (So., St. Louis, Mo.) earned the win with four saves in 14 minutes. Brian Xu (Fr., Irvine, Calif.) closed out the victory with four saves in the second half.
On the other end of the tank, James Calhoon (Fr., Menlo Park, Calif.) inflicted the majority of Bates’ damage with two goals. Bullock and Bass accounted for the other pair.
Similar to Washington, Bates, which captured the 2017 North Atlantic Division crown for the program’s first men’s collegiate club crown since taking the 1999-to-2002 North Atlantic crown, has a chance to make history.
The loss drops Bates into the tournament’s Third Place game at 10:15 a.m. on October 29 against the loser of the Carnegie Mellon-Tufts semifinal.
Although records for the 1999 Division III Championship are not available, it is believe the Bobcats are guaranteed to record the first Top Four finish at the championship in the history of the program. Bates previously placed Fifth (2000), 10th (2001) and Seventh (2002) in three prior trips this century.
Overall, a North Atlantic team has consistently been among the top divisions at the tournament since 2007 as Tufts University – which is now a member of the New England Division – placed First (2009), Third (2007, 2008, 2010, 2013), Fourth (2014) and Fifth (2012, 2015, 2016).
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| Bates College | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | – | 4 |
| Washington University in St. Louis | 6 | 3 | 6 | 5 | – | 20 |
| Washington Goals: | Flynn Walker (6); Thomas Fies (4); John Hooker (4); David Ling (3); Max Bernstein (2); Eric Olaya | |||||
| Bates Goals: | James Calhoon (2); Jem Bullock; Sam Bass | |||||
| Saves: | Washington – Michael Lorberg (4, 14 minutes), Brian Xu (4, 14 minutes); Bates – Nick Eaton (4, 21 minutes), Will Green (1, 7 minutes) | |||||
| Exclusions: | Washington – 7 ; Bates – 10 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | Washington – 5-for-10 ; Bates -1-for-7 | |||||
| Sprints: | Washington – 1-for-4 (2nd) ; Bates – 3-for-4 (1st, 3rd, 4th) | |||||
| Officials: | Brian Swider, Steve Sargalski | |||||
Photo 1: Washington University in St. Louis goalie Brian Xu goes up for a save against Bates College’s James Calhoon; Photo 2: Bates College’s Alexander Rolph attempts to elude his defender
