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University of North Carolina Handles No. 20 Villanova University 12-4 for 11th Place at 2011 Men's National Collegiate Club Championship
2011 National Collegiate Club Championship Schedule & Results
ATLANTA, Ga. -- Stefanos Kechagias (Gr., Athens, Greece) and Daniel Wilco (Fr., Atlanta, Ga.) both registered hat-tricks as the University of North Carolina took down No. 20 Villanova University 12-4 at the Georgia Institute of Technology's Campus Recreation Center for 11th Place in the final 2011 Men's National Collegiate Club Championship standings.
Playing in front of a hometown crowd, Wilco earned Player of the Game honors for the Tarheels as he tallied three steals, an assist and a field block to go along with this trio of markers in helping UNC record the second highest mark in program history. Prior to this year, North Carolina placed ninth (2004) and 12th (2010) in its previous trips to the National Collegiate Club Championship tournament.
The Tarheels wasted no time in putting the Wildcats in a hole as Danny Trotier (So, Columbus, Ohio), Robert Boland (Jr., Reading, Pa.), Daniel Small (Sr., Santa Cruz, Calif.) and JP Sypniewski (Sr., Charlottte, N.C.) riddled Villanova for scores at 6:10, 5:28, 4:40, 3:47 and 1:19, respectively, for a 5-0 lead after a period of play as UNC connected on five-of-seven shots.
Villanova began to come alive in the second period as Ben Mix (So., Lake Mary, Fla.) netted a man-up goal at 5:12 following an ejection of UNC's Derek Pamukoff (Gr., Toronto, Canada) at 5:23. Danny Quigley (So., Benicia, Calif.) knifed the margin to three at 1:02 as he outswam his defender and cracked a shot past Tarheels' goalie Steve Sinclair (So., Manhattan Beach, Calif.) to establish a 5-2 game at the break.
Mix struck again with anothe man-up goal at 4:34 of the third period after Thatcher Inglefield (So., Hicksville, N.C.) went to the corner, but UNC rammed in four goals to end the quarter to build a 9-3 lead.
Wilco started the run at 3:51 with a crossing shot that eluded 'Nova goalie Ryan French (So., La Jolla, Calif.) before Kechagias knocked a ball out of the air and into the cage at 3:05 to provide UNC a 7-3 lead.
The margin expanded to six prior to the end of quarter horn via a pair of advantage strikes as Wilco (1:33) and Kechagias (9 seconds) tamed the Wildcats.
Quigley hacked the lead back to five with his second marker of the afternoon to open the fourth period (5:33), but the Tarheels had a lead, momentum, a five-goal lead and the ticking clock in their favor to prevent Villanova from getting any closer.
Facing a possible Wildcats' rally, UNC keep scoring to put any doubts about the eventual outcome to rest as Stefan McCarver (Jr., Harrisburg, Pa.) hammered in a five-meter penalty shot at 2:23 before Daniel Small (Sr., Santa Cruz, Calif.) and Kechagias contributed even-strength scores at 1:55 and 33 seconds, respectively, for the eight-goal margin of victory.
The loss ends a streak of success for the Wildcats who previously qualified for the 2001 (second), 2000 (fifth), 2004 (seventh) and 2003 (10th) tournaments and had never finished outside the Top 10 at a National Collegiate Club Championship.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | -- | Final | |
| University of North Carolina |
5 | 0 |
4 |
3 |
-- | 12 |
| No. 20 Villanova University |
0 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
-- | 4 |
Villanova Goals:
Danny Quigley (2); Ben Mix (2)
UNC Goals: Daniel
Wilco (3); Stefanos Kechagias (3); Daniel Small (2); JP Sypniewski;
Danny Trotier; Robert Boland; Stefan McCarver
Saves: Viillanova - Ryan French (5) ; UNC - Steve Sinclair (11)
Exclusions: Villanova - 3 ; UNC - 9
Advantage Opportunities: Villanova - 2-for-9 ; UNC - 3-for-3
Sprints: Villanova - 2-for-4 (1st, 3rd) ; UNC - 2-for-4 (2nd, 4th)
Villanova University head coach Dan Sharadin offers advice in the second period
