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Early Lead Too Much For Cougars, CSU Runs Away With 14-8 Win
Fort Collins, CO
By Alex Smith
April 9, 2004
Coming off a disappointing showing against UC-Santa
Barbara last Sunday, the #2 Colorado State Rams knew that in order to gain
victories against the nation’s best, they would have to play much better.
As the team prepped for a visit from their biggest rivals, they learned that
they would be without the services of sophomore goaltender Pete Jokisch
(Rockhurst Jesuit, MO), who’s injured thumb would leave him watching the
game against Brigham Young from the sidelines. But under a steady and
unseasonable snowfall, Colorado State used a team effort to put away the #3
Cougars 14-8 in a key RMLC showdown.
The game was played a few minutes away from campus at Rocky Mountain High
School. Luckily for both teams, the school was outfitted with a field turf
surface that drained the majority of the water away before it could turn
into dangerous wet spots. The Cougars struck early as Mark Davis dodged his
man and stuck a shot low to beat freshman Kurt Bisnette (Hinsdale Central
HS, IL) just under a minute into the game. BYU wasted no time in testing
Bisnette, who was making his first collegiate start in the cage. After
Derek Koll (Fort Collins HS, CO) tied the game at 1 about three minutes
later, neither team was able to find the back of the net for the majority of
the quarter.
Bisnette stoned a breakaway off a bad clear while the game was tied and
settled into a rhythm that carried him through the rest of the contest.
Bisnette finished with a career high 10 saves, several of which were simply
outstanding.
With 1:45 left in the first frame, the Rams got a nice goal from Brian Stone
(Air Academy HS, CO) to take the lead, but that was just the beginning of
their decisive first quarter run. Colorado State’s Dave Clark (Cherry Creek
HS, CO) won the next two face-offs, both of which culminated in CSU goals in
the next thirty seconds. Michael Murphy (Lake Oswego HS, OR) fed Danny
Stevens (Suffern HS, NY) at 1:25 and Koll scored his second of the game with
1:15 remaining to give the Rams a sudden 4-1 lead that took everyone in the
stadium by surprise.
Koll and the CSU midfield were unstoppable for much of the night. While the
Cougars were content in sending long stick middie Mo Poole to cover Tim
Farquhar (Collegiate HS, VA), the other CSU midfielders had a field day with
the Cougar short sticks. Pat Bird (Bishop O’Dowd HS, CA) and Murphy each
had three points and Koll ended up with four goals in his most complete
effort this season.
Murphy and Koll got goals in the middle part of the second quarter to open
up a 6-1 lead. Then, Stevens danced behind the goal and fired a pass into
the waiting stick of Kelten Johnson (Bainbridge HS, WA) who fired a shot
behind the back past BYU goalie Tyler Storer. BYU’s Justin Hier finally
ended a 27:16 scoreless drought for the Cougars with 1:48 remaining and the
half ended with the Rams in control 7-2.
While Bisnette was doing just fine in cage, he was aided by a stalwart
defensive effort from all of the CSU longsticks. Mark Plonkey (Golden HS,
CO) held Hier to just two goals while Ryan Price (Arapahoe HS, CO) did not
allow Davis to score again after his early first quarter tally. Michael
Greeson (East Grand Rapids HS, MI), Kellin Bershinsky (Fort Collins HS, CO)
and Adam Schnirel (Mount Lebanon HS, PA) were all over the field in
protecting their freshman goalkeeper. Short stick defenders Pat Bird and
Phil Eichhorn (Rangeview HS, CO) kept the dangerous BYU middies at bay,
holding Mark Tschaggeny and Jordan Peel to one goal a piece.
The Rams scored three more goals in the third quarter, while the Cougars
continued to struggle on the offensive end of things. Bisnette made four
third quarter saves to give CSU a 10-2 lead at the end of the third. BYU
finally caught a break when the Rams were flagged for a three minute
non-releasable stick penalty. The Cougars blasted home three goals during
the man-up by Peel, Tschaggeny and Hier to get BYU within five and suddenly
the Rams were in a game again. BYU notched six fourth quarter goals, but
CSU got four of their own. Kelten Johnson scored three goals in a row in
the fourth to help put the Cougars away. Johnson also played a great game,
adding two helpers to his four goals to give him a game-high six points.
CSU won every statistical category, a far cry from the UCSB game in which
they lost every category. The Rams (16-1; 2-0 RMLC) were scheduled to play
Boise State on Saturday, but the snow will likely postpone that game. BYU
(10-2; 2-1) will need to find a way to play #7 Colorado before they head to
Colorado Springs to take on Division III Colorado College on Monday.
Barring rescheduling, CSU’s next game will be played at Shea Stadium in
Denver, CO against the Buffaloes in a key RMLC game.
Game Notes:
- The Rams move to 2-0 at RMHS, beating Michigan there 11-6 last year.
- CSU has now won four in a row dating back to 2002 against BYU, but the six
goal margin of victory is the largest since the 2002 RMLC title game, won
16-9 by CSU.
- BYU’s loss was their first since their opening game against UCSB, ending a
ten game winning streak.
- Mark Plonkey led the game in groundballs with 6, and committed 0
penalties.
- BYU’s six goal fourth quarter was the largest outburst by a team in a
quarter this season against the Rams.
- The snow kept the expected attendance down, but about 200 souls, mostly
alumni and families of both squads braved the elements to watch the
proceedings.
Score by Quarter:
CSU: 4 – 3 – 3 – 4 = 14
BYU: 1 – 1 – 0 – 6 = 8
Goals:
CSU: Johnson and Koll (4), Murphy (2), Disney, Bird, Stevens and Stone (1)
BYU: Hier and R. Mangum (2), Davis, Peel, Tschaggeny and J. Mangum (1)
Assists:
CSU: Johnson and Bird (2), Stanitz-Harper, Murphy and Stevens (1)
BYU:
Goaltenders:
CSU: Bisnette (60:00 minutes, 10 saves, 8 goals against)
BYU: Storer (60:00 minutes, 6 saves, 14 goals against)
Shots:
CSU: 48
BYU: 30
Groundballs:
CSU: 37
BYU: 24
Face-Offs:
CSU: 15/24
BYU: 9/24
Penalties:
CSU: 2 for 3:30
BYU: 3 for 2:30
Extra-Man:
CSU: 1/4
BYU: 3/2
Attendance: 215 |
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