2015 National Collegiate Club Division III Championship Schedule & Results

SAINT PAUL, Minn. -- Mike Lee (Jr., Santa Clara, Calif.) scored seven times and goalie Jeff Elsner (Sr., San Diego, Calif.) made 13 saves as the Washington University in St. Louis Bears defended their 2014 co-Division III Collegiate Club Championship title by downing the Middlebury College Panthers, 14-9, to capture the 2015 crown at Macalester College's Riley Pool.

It marks Washington's third National Championship in five years as the 2011, 2014 and now 2015 titlists used a 5-0 advantage in scoring during the second quarter to pull away from Middlebury and hang on for a five-goal margin of victory.

The Bears jumped on the board first as Lee finished on even-strength (6:34) and man-up (2:38) chances to hand Washington a 2-0 lead less than 4:30 into the game.  Kevin Benscheidt (Jr., Fresno, Calif.) cut the margin in half prior to the conclusion of the first quarter as he cashed in a man-up chance at 2:06 to make it 2-1 after seven minutes.

It would mark the last time Middlebury would find the back of the cage until the 4:53 mark of the third quarter as Washington dominated the second quarter behind the play of Flynn Walker (So., Princeton, N.J.).

Leading by the narrowest of margins with 21 minutes of competition left to go, the Bears wasted little time in building an advantage which the Panthers would not be able to overcome.

Flynn Walker ignited the 5-0 spurt 38 seconds into the second quarter as he put away a power-play chance at 6:22 prior to netting an even-strength tally at 5:02 to expand the gap to 4-1.

Max Bernstein (Fr., Saint Louis, Mo.), Will Nickerson (So., Saint Louis, Mo.) and Lee closed out the half with back-to-back-to-back natural markers at 3:19, 2:08 and 59 seconds, respectively, to make it 7-1 in favor of Washington.

Middlebury attempted to equal the Bears' feat as J Whelan (Sr., Greenwich, Conn.) and Brian Rowett (Sr., San Francisco, Calif.) notched consecutive goals at 4:53 and 4:16 to break the seal on the third quarter and move the Panthers within 7-3.

The teams traded runs until the conclusion of the quarter as Lee (3:52) and Sky Walker (Sr., Princeton, N.J.) (1:12) ripped in man-up and even-strength scores before Rowett (19 seconds) and Whelan (five seconds) answered in the final 20 seconds of the frame to keep Middlebury within striking distance at 9-5 entering the fourth quarter of play.

Benscheidt shrank his team's deficit to three 17 seconds into the final quarter, but Lee countered seven seconds later at 6:34 to return the lead to four at 10-6.

Middlebury appeared to have the Bears trapped as Jacob Epstein (Sr., Westport, Conn.) and Whelan wheeled and whirled in shots at 5:55 and 5:25, respectively, to squeeze Washington's lead down to 10-8.

However, Charlie Guise (Fr., Birmingham, Mich.) and Lee launched in tallies at 4:16 and 3:23 to expand the lead back to four at 12-8 with the clock winding down on Middlebury's chances to rally back and force overtime.

Whelan attempted to fire-up the Panthers for one final run by bombing in a five-meter penalty shot at 3:10 to move Middlebury within 12-9, but Bernstein converted on a man-up chance at 2:59 and Lee put the final nail in the coffin with a natural goal at 2:07 for the 14-9 final.

Whelan led the way for Middlebury with four goals, while Benscheidt (two), Rowett (two) and Epstein (one) also found the back of the cage in coming up just short of the program's first National Championship since 2003.  Ethan Strayer (Sr., Niskayona, N.Y.) stopped seven of Washington's 21 shots on cage in taking the loss.

Overall, this year marked Middlebury's ninth postseason berth at a National Club Championship following three trips to the National Collegiate Club Championship (2004 - 12th at the University of Notre Dame; 2005 - 11th at Williams College; 2007 - Eighth at the University of Arizona).  In Division III Club play, the Panthers previously finished high and low in the standings with prior trips in 2003 (First at Bowdoin College), 2009 (Seventh at Bowdoin), 2011 (Seventh at Franklin & Marshall College), 2012 (Eighth at home) and 2014 (Third at Bowdoin) as the second establishes the second best mark in program history behind its 2003 National Championship.

For Washington, which joins the University of California-Santa Cruz (2013, 2014) and Lindenwood University (2006, 2007, 2008) as the only programs to repeat as Division III National Champions, Bernstein and Flynn Walker joined Lee in posting multi-goal games in racking up pairs.  Nickerson, Sky Walker and Guise each chipped in solo markers, while goalie Jeff Elsner (Sr., San Diego, Calif.) made 13 saves to earn the victory.

The defending Division III co-National Champion due to a power outage at Bowdoin College last year that prevented the 2014 Division III Club Championship title game from occurring between the Bears and UC-Santa Cruz, Washington claims its second National Championship after appearing the past five D-III title games.

The Bears, who appeared in the past four Division III title games (2011-to-2014) as the Bears defeated Bowdoin (13-10 W) at Hamilton College in 2011, lost a heartbreaker in sudden death overtime to now varsity program Monmouth College (12-11 L OT SD) in 2012 at Middlebury and fell 13-9 at the hands of UC-Santa Cruz at Franklin & Marshall College in 2013 prior to tying the Banana Slugs last year, equaled Wesleyan University as the only squads to ever qualify for five consecutive Division III Club Championship games.

Unlike their predecessors, the Bears will take home their third crown in five attempts as Wesleyan fell to the Rochester Institute of Technology (2002) and Middlebury (2003) before downing New York University (2004, 2005) for back-to-back titles.  Wesleyan's run concluded in 2006 as Lindenwood University, the reigning 2014 Men's National Collegiate Club Champion, captured the program's first National Championship by taking home the Division III crown.

For fans of Midwest water polo, Washington's victory guarantees that at least one National Championship in the sport will remain in the Heartland of the country with Lindenwood slated to defend its 2014 National Collegiate Club Championship in two weeks at the 2015 edition of the 16-team tournament at UC-Santa Cruz.

Washington U Goals: Mike Lee (7); Max Bernstein (2); Flynn Walker (2); Will Nickerson; Sky Walker; Charlie Guise

Middlebury Goals: J Whelan (4); Kevin Benscheidt (2); Brian Rowett (2); Jacob Epstein

Saves: Washington U - Jeff Elsner (13) ; Middlebury - Ethan Strayer (7)

Exclusions: Washington U - 5 ; Middlebury - 6

Advantage Opportunities: Washington U - 4-for-6 ; Middlebury - 2-for-5

Sprints: Washington U - 0-for-4 ; Middlebury - 4-for-4

Officials: Tiffani Ruiz-Urbanski, Andy Mattson

Washington University in St. Louis' Christian Olay looks for a pass as Middlebury College's Taylor Moore aims for a field block

Middlebury College's Kevin Benscheidt

Washington University in St. Louis - 2015 Division III National Collegiate Club Champions

Middlebury College - 2015 Division III National Collegiate Club Championship Runner-Up