Cal Maritime sweeps Saturday’s slate, earns berth in Sunday’s 9:30 a.m. PT National Championship match vs. UC San Diego
By: CWPA Staff
Watch Cal Maritime vs. UC San Diego — Championship Match
GAINESVILLE, Florida – Cal Maritime's outstanding playoff run continued on Saturday with victories over Washington University in St. Louis a Collegiate Water Polo Association National Club Championship quarterfinal, and a hard-fought result over Boston University to earn a spot in Sunday's 9:30 a.m. title match vs. UC San Diego.
No. 3 Cal Maritime 19, No. 14 Boston University 12
Kevin Kraatz and Warren Cooper accounted for six and five goals, respectively, as Sierra Pacific Division Champion/No. 3-ranked Cal Maritime overmatched New England Division Champion/No. 14 Boston University, 19-12, to advance to the 2024 Men's National Collegiate Club Championship's title game on Sunday, November 10, at the University of Florida's Anne Marie Rogers Swimming & Diving Pool in the O'Connell Center.
This match will start at 9:30 a.m. Pacific / 12:30 p.m. Eastern.
The victory holds historical impact for Cal Maritime:
- In the history of the Collegiate Club Championship, a Sierra Pacific Division team has never won the event since the group was created prior to the 2011 season.
- Cal Maritime will at least tie the Cal for the highest finish by a Sierra Pacific Division program as the Golden Bears finished in second in 2012 with a 11-10 loss to the USC at the Osborn Aquatic Center in Corvallis, Oregon.
- A two-time National Collegiate Club Championship participant, the Keelhaulers hold a prior top-10 finish as the team captured eighth place in 2019 at Pitt as the squad stopped Oregon State (16-12) before falling to UC San Diego (10-7), Michigan State (15-11 L) and Penn State (12-6).
The Keelhaulers will need to defeat another California squad to return to the West Coast with the title plaque as 2022 and 2023 National Champion/Southwest Division Champion and No. 1 seed UC San Diego downed 1999, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2007 National Champion/Pacific Coast Division Champion/No. 2 Cal Poly by an 11-4 score in the other semifinal.
Cal Maritime will look to prevent UC San Diego from joining elite company as only one team claimed three consecutive National Championships — Lindenwood University (2014, 2015, 2016) is the lone school to accomplish this feat —prior to the run coming to an end in 2017 when San Diego State University took home the big plaque.
Cal Maritime Scoring
Kevin Kraatz 6; Warren Cooper 5; Riley Kraatz 3; Ethan Osorio 2; Matthew Turecek, Joaquin Auger, Griffin Glassmire 1
Boston University Scoring
Liam Egan 4; Jaden Chen 3; Alim Kura, Hoku Eggertsen, Nikola Otic, Sam Silverman, Justin Kam 1
No. 3 Cal Maritime 18, No. 6 Washington University in St. Louis 9
Warren Cooper scored seven times to earn Player of the Game status as Sierra Pacific Division Champion/No. 3 Cal Maritime topped Great Lakes Division Champion/Division III No. 1 and sixth-seeded Washington University in St. Louis, 18-9, in Saturday's quarterfinal of the 2024 Men's National Collegiate Club Championship.
The Keelhaulers never trailed in the game as the team opened up lead of 6-2, 10-2 and 14-6 by the conclusion of the first, second and third quarters, respectively
With this victory, CSUM is guaranteed their best finish ever at this tournament; in 2019, they placed eighth.
Cal Maritime Scoring
Warren Cooper 7; Kevin Kraatz 4; Riley Kraatz 3; Matthew Turecek 2; Chris Frazier, Ethan Osorio 1
Washington University in St. Louis Scoring
Jake Engelberg 3; Matteo Dall'Olmo 2; Mason Roth, Owen Limbrick, Luke Brawer, Nic Ekstrand 1