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No. 1 UCLA Defeats No. 4 Arizona 15-4 in National Collegiate Club Semifinal
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- No. 1-nationally ranked University of California-Los Angeles lived up to its billing scoring 15 goals to overpower No. 4 University of Arizona 15-4 in the second semifinal of the 2009 Men's National Collegiate Club Championship at the Unviersity of Florida.
UCLA will take on No. 3 Florida International University at 12:45 p.m. on Sunday, November 15 for the National Championship, while Arizona will meet No. 5 Michigan State University at 11:30 a.m. in the third place game.
The game ties the National Collegiate Club Championship record for largest margin of victory in a semifinal game established an hour before the final horn of the UCLA-Arizona game as Florida International defeated Michigan State by an identical 15-4 final.
Overall, the game was tight in the early going, but became one-sided from the second period to the conclusion of the contest as UCLA used a five-goal scoring spurt to turn a 3-2 game with 1:22 left in the first period into an 8-2 contest with 1:49 left in the third.
The Bruins opened up a quick 2-0 lead in the game behind back-to-back scores by Matt Wiener (Sr., Los Altos, Calif.) at the 5:58 and 5:12 marks of the first period, with the second score coming off an assist from Cameron Virjee (So., Rocking Hills, Calif.). Following a yellow card to the Wildcats' bench, Arizona's Alex Negronida (Sr., Evanston, Ill.) sliced the lead in half with a marker at the 3:46 mark, but Caleb Greig (Jr., La Canada, Calif.) responded with a tally at the 2:23 mark. Negronida added his second goal of the first period at 1:22 to once again pull his team to within a score of the Bruins, but Virjee cashed in on a man-up chance with 30 seconds remaining in the seven minute period for a 4-2 lead.
UCLA built the lead to 6-2 by halftime as Max Scott (So., Glendale, Calif.) and Virjee fired good shots at 4:44 and 3:57, respectively, to help the Bruins begin to pull away to victory and the program's first National Championship game appearance.
David Tomajan (Fr., Fresno, Calif.) scored on an advantage chance with 3:08 left in the third period before Greig and Arizona's Sam Binkow (Jr., Sherman Oaks, Calif.) tossed in scores at 1:49 and 1:31 as the Bruins concluded the first 21 minutes of play with an 8-3 lead.
UCLA's scoring run continued to a 15-3 lead with 1:11 left in the fourth period as the Bruins registered seven consecutive goals to open the final period on the way to the 15-4 victory.
Overall, Austin Gable (So., San Diego, Calif.), Wiener and Virjee finished with hat-tricks for the Bruins, while goalie Mike Scott (So., Glendale, Calif.) blocked seven shots to lead UCLA into the title game.
For Arizona, Negronida accounted for half of the Wildcats' scoring to lead the team on offense to accompany five saves by Michael Meier (Sr., Coto De Caza, Calif.) in the cage.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | -- | Final | |
| No. 4 University of Arizona | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | -- | 4 |
| No. 1 University of California-Los Angeles | 4 | 2 | 4 | 5 | -- | 15 |
UCLA Goals: Austin Gable (3); Matt Wiener (3); Cameron Virjee (3); Caleb Greig (2); Max Scott (2); David Tomajan; Rusty Morris
Arizona Goals: Alex Negronida (2); Sam Binkow; Taylor Knowle
Saves: UCLA - Mike Scott (7) ; Arizona - Michael Meier (5)
Exclusions: UCLA - 5 ; Arizona - 10
Advantage Opportunities: UCLA - X-for-10 ; Arizona - X-for-5
Sprints: UCLA - 4-for-4; Arizona - 0-for-4
