NORCO, Calif. (Dec. 19, 2021) – The best offense for Oklahoma Christian on Sunday afternoon was a strong defense, which the Eagles rode to a win that stunned the world of college Ultimate.

Fourth-seeded OC seized control with five first-half defensive breaks and held off a second-half run by No. 1 Richmond to win 14-11 in the semifinals of the USA Ultimate Division III College Championships at the SilverLakes Sports Complex.

Making its first appearance in the national tournament, OC will face third-seeded Middlebury (Vt.), which edged second-seeded St. Olaf (Minn.) 14-13 in the other semifinal. The title game will begin at noon Central time (10 a.m. Pacific) and will be streamed live here.

As he did in a 15-11 quarterfinal win over Whitman (Wash.), graduate student Kyle Henke led the Eagles against Richmond, scoring six goals and assisting on three others. Elliott Moore's five assists led the Eagles in that category, as he routinely hit Henke on long scoring passes.

"We had some Richmond film last night and we really analyzed that," Henke said. "Honestly, across the D-line, we really crushed their setup there (and) things went well between our star power on the O-line.

"We're a dominant team on (offense), especially, so there's not much we're going to change (for the title game). We're going to use our athletes and we're going to dig deep."

Richmond entered as the favorite, having allowed only 21 goals total in four previous game. To make matters worse for OC, the match started poorly for the Eagles, who received the disc to start but failed to complete a pass on its opening possession. That led to a break for the Spidermonkeys when Richmond scored. That proved to be the only time OC trailed.

Moore's first long completion to Henke tied the match, and the Eagles earned their first break on Richmond's next possession, with Jonathan Costello hitting Henke for the go-ahead goal.

Another OC break put the Eagles up 3-1, as Samuel Roberts connected with Henke on a long pass. After a hold by Richmond, Moore threw another long pass, which Henke laid out to catch in the end zone to put OC up 4-2. The Eagles then recorded their third break, which Roberts converted by making a nice catch on a throw from Costello.

Richmond held to pull within 5-3, but OC ended the half with three straight points, two coming on breaks. A Moore-to-Costello goal sent the shellshocked Spidermonkeys to halftime trailing 8-3. OC continued to pour it on after the break and the Eagles led 10-4 after Costello hit Kevin van Roosmalen with a nifty cross-field pass.

Richmond then made its run, scoring four straight points, breaking the Eagles three times along the way. With OC needing an answer, Moore provided one for the Eagles, launching a pass into the end zone that found its way into the hands of a diving Roberts for yet another break for OC. OC then held to go up 12-8 as Henke connected with Emmanuel Kameri.

A Richmond hold, and then a break by the Spidermonkeys, pulled them within 12-10, but their subsequent pull went out of bounds, giving OC good field position. Michael Paniagua took advantage with a short scoring pass to Henke. Richmond answered with a goal, with Chris Cassella hitting Xavier McCormick to make it 13-11.

The game's soft time cap then went into effect, meaning the winner would need to score only 14 points instead of the usual 15. OC made it a moot point, with Paniagua making a short upline throw to Henke for the clinching score.

Emmett Rice led Richmond with three goals, while McCormick had two. Alex Pistolesi had five assists for the Spidermonkeys, who won the 2017 Division III title.

Match video can be viewed here.

Story on Ultiworld.com here.