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No. 3 Arizona State Sinks No. 11 Colorado 15-4 to Reach National Collegiate Club Fifth Place Game
2010 Men's National Collegiate Club Schedule & Scores
CEDAR CITY, Utah -- Wes Sjoholm (Sr., Albuqurque, N.M.) and Alan Nguyen (Jr., San Jose, Calif.) both registered four goals in leading the No. 3 ranked Sun Devils of Arizona State University to a commanding 15-4 victory over the No. 11 Buffaloes of the University of Colorado.
The victory places ASU into a fifth place throw down with No. 8 Lindenwood University, at 10:15 a.m. on Sunday, November 14, while Colorado will meet Yale University in the seventh place game at 9:00 a.m.
Sjoholm, who earned Player of the Game accolades for his performance, opened the scoring 26 seconds into the first period as he buried a feed for a 1-0 lead with 6:34 on the clock. The lead continued to expand throughout the period as Travis Dunn (So., Escondido, Calif.) lobbed a shot into the cage at 5:09, Sjoholm netted an advantage score at 4:12, Kevin Dunn (Fr., Escondido, Calif.) beat the Buffaloes' "D" at 3:30 with an even strength marker and Sjolhom completed a first period hat-trick with another natural tally at 2:53 to make it a 5-0 game.
Colorado sliced into the margin with a strike by Mike Oetken (Sr., Sacramento, Calif.) with 2:18 left in the opening frame, but Kevin Dunn and David Wied (Sr., St. Louis, Mo.) rolled the left side of the scoreboard over to seven as the Sun Devils carried a 7-1 lead into the second period.
Much like the first period, the second was all ASU as Nguyen efficiently decimated the Buffaloes' with back-to-back-to-back goals at 5:13, 4:32, 2:48 for the eighth, ninth and 10th markers by the Sun Devils. Simon Hood (So., Ladera, Calif.) completed the half with a man-up goal with 23 ticks on the period clock for a 10-goal Arizona State lead (11-1) at halftime.
The margin, combined with ASU's stiffling defense and abilty to ring the iron with successful hots four more times in the second half, was too much for Colorado to overcome in the 14 remaining minutes.
In addition to Sjoholm and Nguyen, the Sun Devils received pairs of goals from Kevin Dunn, Travis Dunn and Hood with a single strike by Wied to set the stage for an addition to the ASU water polo program's history.
Guarding the cage, Clay Solomon (So., Long Beach, Calif.) racked up six saves in comparison to eight blocks by Colorado goalie Dylan Gantly (Jr., Cupertino, Calif.).
The Sun Devils are now guaranteed to record their second best finish at the National Collegiate Club Championship as Arizona State previously placed third (2008) and 13th (2007) in the elite field during two previous trips to the tournament.
For Colorado, which received a pair of goals by JP Muller (Fr., Newport, Calif.) and single goals from Joe Dungan (So., Shillington, Pa.) and Oetken, the Buffaloes are primed to establish a new high as Colorado previously placed 12th at the 2008 National Collegiate Club Championship host by Ohio University.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | -- | Final | |
| No. 11 University of Colorado | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | -- | 4 |
| No. 3 Arizona State University |
7 | 4 | 2 | 2 | -- | 15 |
ASU Goals: Wesley
Sjoholm (4), Alan Nguyen (4), Travis Dunn (2), Kevin Dunn (2),
Simon Hood (2), David Wied
Colorado Goals: JP Muller (2), Joe Dungan, Mike Oetken
Saves: ASU - Clay Solomon (6) ; Colorado - Dylan Gantly (8)
Exclusions: ASU - 5 ; Colorado - 7
Advantage Opportunities: ASU - 3-for-7 ; Colorado - 0-for-5
Sprints: ASU - 3-for-3 ; Colorado - 0-for-3
Officials: Gene Gill, Don Lewis
