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No. 4 Texas Stampedes Past No. 19 Columbia 8-6 in National Collegiate Club First Round
2010 Men's National Collegiate Club Schedule & Scores
CEDAR CITY, Utah -- Philip Denkler (Jr., Houston, Texas) and Matthew Johnson (Sr., Houston, Texas) both recorded hat-tricks to share Player of the Game honors as No, 4 the University of Texas held off No. 19 Columbia University 8-6 in the first round of the 2010 Men's National Collegiate Club Championship at Southern Utah University's Sorenson Center.
The win advances Texas to a quarterfinal meeting with No. 3 Arizona State University on Saturday at 12:30 p.m., while Columbia will return to the pool later tonight for a 7:30 p.m. game against No. 13 Grand Valley State University.
A key to the game was Texas' efficiency on man-up chances as the Longhorns converted on four-of-five opportunities, while the Lions managed a four-for-12 performance on power-play bids.
Columbia opened the scoring with 3:54 left in the first period as Kai Golden (So., Kahalu'u, Hawaii) netted a man-up goal. Texas responded nearly a minute and a half later when John Littlepage (Gr., Trinidad) cashed in on a power-play opportunity at 2:26 before Denkler swished a man-up goal of his own to stake Texas to a 2-1 lead with 1:53 left in the period.
The Lions roared back with a man-up goal by Brice Particelli (Gr., Greenwich, Conn.) at 1:23 to tie the game, but Texas closed out the first seven minutes of play with a natural goal by Justin Cotter (Sr., Houston, Texas) at 1:11 and a successful five-meter penalty shot by Johnson to make it 4-2.
Columbia and Texas exchanged even-strength markers to open the second periosd with Austen Oliver (Jr., Houston, Texas) and Johnson scoring for their teams at 4:04 and 3:45, respectively, but Texas built the lead to three goals with 56 seconds left in the first period thanks to a natural goal by Denkler. However, Columbia closed the gap back to a pair of goals before the end of the half as Golden ripped in another man-up strike to set the scoreboard at 6-4 after 14 minutes of action.
The second half was marked by counter-punching as Johnson scored at 5:45 to make it 7-4 and Silas Wilkinson (Fr., Pallet Town, Calif.) responded at 4:58 to keep the lead at two goals (7-5) through the end of the third period.
Needing a rally to knock off the Longhorns, Columbia received another man-up goal by Golden to finish off an advantage hat-trick at 6:06 and inch the Lions within 7-6. However, Denkler managed another man-up goal at 1:10 to construct an 8-6 lead and the Texas' defense held to take the two-goal victory.
In cage, Hunter Henderson (Sr., Fort Worth, Texas) picked up the victory with eight saves, while Daniel Kirel (Jr., Miami, Fla.) suffered the loss with six stops.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | -- | Final | |
| No. 19 Columbia University | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | -- | 6 |
| No. 4 University of Texas | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | -- | 8 |
Texas Goals: Philip Denkler (3), Matthew Johnson (3), Justin Cotter, John Littlepage
Columbia Goals: Kai Golden (3), Austen Oliver, Brice Particelli, Silas Wilkinson
Saves: Texas - Hunter Henderson (8) ; Columbia - Daniel Kirel (6)
Exclusions: Texas - 12 ; Columbia - 5
Advantage Opportunities: Texas - 4-for-5 ; Columbia - 4-for-12
Sprints: Texas - 3-for-4 ; Columbia - 1-for-4
Officials: Perry Korbakis, Dave Alberstein
