Cal Maritime advances to winner's bracket with 16-9 win over Army
By CWPA Staff
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Kevin Kraatz and Riley Kraatz combined for 10 goals to share Player of the Game recognition as Sierra Pacific Division Champion/No. 3-ranked Cal Maritime sank New York Division Champion/No. 13 the United States Military Academy, 16-9, in the opening round of the 2024 Men's National Collegiate Club Championship at the University of Florida's Ann Marie Rogers Swimming & Diving Pool in the O'Connell Center.
The victory advances Cal Maritime into the tournament quarterfinals as the Keelhaulers will return to the water at 9:30 p.m. Pacific on Saturday, November 9, to face Missouri Valley Division Champion/Division III No. 1 Washington University in St. Louis.
If it wins that quarterfinal, CSUM will compete in tomorrow's 3:20 p.m. PT semifinal. If Cal Maritime drops that match, Saturday's second game is set for 4:30 p.m. PT.
The game was closer than the final score in the first quarter as K. Kraatz and Army's Max Orlowski exchanged goals in the first minute to make it a one-all game. Cal Maritime acquired a lead they would not relinquish the rest of the way as Ethan Osorio and K. Kraatz swished natural and penalty shot markers, respectively, to push the Keelhaulers ahead 3-1. Christopher Perera answered for Army at 4:51 via a man-up tally to shave the Cadets' deficit down to one at 3-2 but Griffin Glassmire spun home a power-play response with 4:12 left in the opening seven minutes to return Cal Maritime's lead to a pair at 4-2.
Robby DeMont chipped the deficit back to 4-3 at 3:25, but Austin Hochadel and Osorio closed out the first quarter with back-to-back strikes at 2:25 and 1:50, respectively, to help double-up Army, 6-3, exiting the opening seven minutes of action.
The lead continued to balloon in the dawning moments of the second quarter as Matthew Turecek and Kevin Kraatz lined in shots with 5:46 and 4:14 remaining until halftime to make it an 8-3 contest. Wesley Baca terminated Cal Maritime's 4-0 scoring run by rocketing in a response with 3:20 on the clock prior to delivering once again by converting a man-up chance with 1:34 left in the first half to shave the Keelhaulers' margin down to 8-5.
However, Cal Maritime began to put the contest away in the first three minutes of the third quarter as R. Kraatz and K. Kraatz connected on shots to expand their squad's lead to 11-5.
Jeremy Poster hung a goal on the Cal Maritime with 3:57 to play in the third quarter before Vincent Wong and Orlowski followed with strikes of their own to shrink Army's deficit to 11-8 heading into the fourth quarter.
Kraatz and Kraatz did not the rest as the pair combined for four goals in the fourth quarter to provide some insurance for Cal Maritime to escape with a seven score win.
Kevin Kraatz started the final seven minutes by torquing home a tally with 5:58 on the clock. Perera answered for the Cadets at 4:43 to inch Army back to within three at 12-9, but Kevin Kraatz, R. Kraatz and Warren Cooper combined for a 4-0 outburst in the closing minutes of the game to lock-up the 16-9 victory.
For Cal Maritime, K. Kraatz and R. Kraatz and Osorio posted multi-goal games, while Glassmire, Turececk, Cooper and Hochadel slipped in solo markers. Jacob Idris stopped 13 shots to earn the win in cage.
Across the pool, Orlowski, Baca and Perera each put away pairs of shots with Wong, Poster and DeMont tacking on single scores. Joshua Merrill made seven saves in the loss.
Cal Maritime 16, Army 9
Cal Maritime Scoring
Kevin Kraatz 6; Riley Kraatz 4; Ethan Osorio 2; Griffin Glassmire; Matthew Turecek; Warren Cooper; Austin Hochadel 1
Army Scoring
Max Orlowski, Wesley Baca, Christopher Perera 2; Vincent Wong, Jeremy Poster, Robby DeMont 1