The first half went to CSU. The Rams ran the show and undoubtedly caught Illinois off guard with their high intensity. It took almost ten minutes to see the first goal, which came from CSU’s set offense with Kelten Johnson scoring off a feed from Jimmy Hasson. The Rams scored twice more before the quarter was finished with Jimmy Hasson’s bouncer and Bo Everett’s quick stick.

The Rams picked up four more tallies in the second quarter. John Naab scored on an isolation goal in the first two minutes to make it 4-0 and with what turned out to be the game winner. Kelten Johnson followed his lead a few minutes later from a great pass from Mike Murphy. Less than a minute later, it was 6-0 CSU when Matt Disney scored off a pass from Tim Chorey. Jimmy Hasson scored his second goal in the last minute of the half, while Illinois was still looking for their first goal. The Rams were able to take a 7-0 lead into the half.

After the half, the action slowed significantly. The third quarter saw only two goals, one from each side. The Rams scored early when Derek Koll dodged from behind the net to catch Illinois’ goalie, Eric Heller, off guard to make it 8-0 CSU. The Rams changed goalies from Alex Smith to Pete Jokish in the middle of the third. Illinois wasn’t about to give up and finally got on the scoreboard late in the quarter when Ben Burnham bounced one past the CSU goalie. The score was 8-1 going into the final quarter. The last quarter saw a little more action with three goals. The Rams found one more goal early from Matt Riese and Clint Chafin. That would be the last one for the Rams. Illinois scored two more goals mid-quarter from Gus Granchaled and Ben Burnham (his 2nd). The final score was 9-3 in favor of the Rams.

The Colorado State Rams will host the University of Northern Colorado Tuesday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. at the intramural fields before heading to Florida for a four game road trip against Virginia Tech, Florida, Florida State and Auburn.

QUOTES:
CSU Head Coach (Flip Naumburg): “I would like to have more practice. It is hard to play without much practice. There are definitely some things we need to work on, but I am glad we could get the game in today and everyone could play.”

Illinois Head Coach (Paul Parasugo): “It is difficult to start against two tough ranked teams like CSU and CU, but these two non-conference games have given us valuable experience to help us with our conference play.”

NOTES:
CSU ranked #2 in the RMILL and undefeated
Illinois ranked #2 in the GRLC and #22 in the nation

Colorado State vs. Illinois
Sunday, March 2, 2003
Site: Lafayette, CO (Peak to Peak Charter School)
Records: CSU (3-0), Illinois (0-2)

STATS:

Box Score:

Colorado State Goals:
Kelten Johnson, 3 points (2 goals, 1 assist)
Bo Everett, 1 point (1 goal)
Jimmy Hasson, 3 points (2 goals, 1 assist)
John Naab, 2 points (1 goal, 1 assist)
Derek Koll, 1 point (1 goal)
Clint Chafin, 1 point (1 assist)
Mike Murphy, 1 point (1 assist)
Matt Disney, 1 point (1 goal)
Matt Riese, 1 point (1 goal)
Tim Chorey, 1 point (1 assist)

Illinois Goals:
Gus Granchaled, 1 point (1 goal)
Ben Burnham, 2 points (2 goals)
Mike Kozak, 1 point (1 assist)

Goaltenders:
CSU: Alex Smith (30:00 minutes, 11 saves, 0 goals against on 14 shots); Pete Jokish (30:00 minutes, 6 saves, 3 goals against on 13 shots).
Illinois: Eric Heller (60:00 minutes, 24 saves, 9 goals against on 53 shots)

Ground Balls: CSU 46, Illinois 23
Shots: CSU 53, Illinois 27
Face-offs: CSU 16, Illinois 16
Extra Man: CSU 0/6, Illinois 1/8