No. 4 Arizona Moves On with 12-10 Victory Over No. 7 Washington in National Collegiate Club Quarterfinals

Sam Binkow

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Alex Negronida (Sr., Evanston, Ill.) scored five goals to lead No. 4 University of Arizona to a 12-10 victory over No. 7 University of Washington in the quarterfinals of the 2009 Men's National Collegiate Club Championship at Florida. The Wildcats will meet No. 1 UCLA at 6:20 p.m. in the semifinals this evening with a spot in the National title game on the line.

Tied 2-2 at the end of one period of play, the Wildcats went to work on building a lead in the second period as Steven Rodriguez (Fr., Danville, Calif.) made a move at two meter set and finished to give the Wildcats a 3-2 lead.  The margin expanded to 4-2 with a score by Andrew Wolff (So., New Canaan, Conn.) in transition before Negronida caught a pass and ripped a shot into the cage on a man-up opportunity for a 5-2 lead with 2:23 left in the first half.

Washington moved back to within two goals as Sam Sussman (So., Mercer Island, Wash.) moved to set and volleyed a shot home for a 5-3 score at halftime.

The Huskies started the third period with four consecutive goals as Sussman scored on a man-up at 6:35 and cashed in on a breakaway chance at 3:25 to even the score at 5-5.  Phil Roan (Gr., Los Gatos, Calif.) put Washington in front at 6-5 with a skip shot at 2:43 before Joe Laird (Fr., La Jolla, Calif.) tacked on a score with 1:59 left in the period for a 7-5 Huskies' lead.

Arizona returned the favor to tie the game as Rodriguez and Negronida beat Washington goalie Jonny Muir (Sr., San Jose Calif.) with 1:36 and 53 seconds left on the period clock to start a five-goal run which ultimately was the difference in the contest.

The Wildcats closed out the period with another goal at the 24 seconds mark when Negronida buried a five-meter penalty shot to enter the final seven minutes of play carrying an 8-7 lead.

Matthew Goodenough (Fr., Los Altos, Calif.) zipped in a shot at 6:41 and Rob Muirhead (Jr., Yorba Linda, Calif.) contributed a man-up goal at 5:59 to close out Arizona's five-goal string and move the lead to 10-7.

Washington was unable to overcome the deficit slicing the lead back to two at 10-8 with a man-up goal by Riley Brazil (Sr., Bellevue, Wash.) before back-to-back scores by Sam Binkow (Jr., Sherman Oaks, Calif.) and Negronida made it a four-goal game at 12-8. 

The lead was all Arizona needed to coast to victory as the Wildcats held on for the two-goal win.

In cage, Michael Meier (Sr., Coto De Caza, Ariz.) made six saves for the Wildcats, while Washington's Arad Abadi (Sr., Shiraz, Iran) and Muir combined for seven save

Arizona Goals: Alex Negronida (5); Steven Rodriguez (2); Sam Binkow; Matt Goodenough; Andrew Wolff; Cameron Simmons; Rob Muirhead;

Washington Goals:  Sam Sussman (3); Tom Stowell (2); Joe Laird (2); Riley Brazil; Mike Moshofsky; Phil Roan

Saves: Arizona - Michael Meier (6) ; Washington - Arad Abadi (3), Jonny Muir (4)

Exclusions: Arizona - 8 ; Washington - 7

Advantage Opportunities: Arizona - 2-for-7 ; Washington - 4-for-8

Sprints: Arizona - 4-for-4 ; Washington - 0-for-4