CSU got a huge day from junior attackman Danny Stevens (Suffern HS; Suffern, NY), who scored four goals and one assist to pace the offense. Whittier's three attackmen had five points a piece as Anthony Lackey (5g), Dave Gerbarg (4g, 1a) and Mike Prickett (5a) were solid throughout the game for the Poets. Senior midfielder Michael Murphy (Lake Oswego, OR; Lake Oswego HS) pitched in with two goals for the Rams as well.

Colorado State trailed by one goal at the end of each quarter break before their run in the fourth. Behind 7-6 at the start of the fourth quarter, freshman midfielder Steven Lundberg (Cherry Creek HS; Englewood, CO) drove his man down the side and stuffed home a goal to tie the game. His tally with 12:18 left in the game ignited a barrage of pressure on the Whittier goal for the next three minutes. After Murphy scored his second goal of the game with 10:43 to go, senior goaltender Pete Jokisch (Rockhurst Jesuit; Overland Park, KS) made a save and lobbed a 70 yard pass just over the stick of a Whittier defenseman to Stevens. The junior attackman found himself with no one between him and the goalie and dunked his shot to give CSU their first two-goal lead of the game. Sophomore Joel Tromburg's (Heritage HS; Littleton, CO) ensuing face-off win led to another goal just :14 later when senior attackman Matt Reiss (Sycamore HS; Cincinnati, OH) finished off a fast break to push the lead to three.

Unfortunately for the Rams, Reiss's goal was their last of the day. Whittier got an answer by Gerbarg with 7:28 to go and never looked back. The Poets ramped up the offensive pressure and poured shots on the CSU goal for the next five minutes. When the dust settled, they led by two with 2:15 to go and were able to keep the Rams from any meaningful offensive possessions as the clock ran out.

CSU definitely did not lack an attacking mentality on offense throughout the game. In addition to Stevens' big output, the Rams also got a goal and two assists apiece from Reiss and fellow attackman Campbell Diebolt (Central Bucks East; Buckingham, PA). Whittier transfer John Tomlinson (Smokey Hill HS; Aurora, CO) contributed with a big goal as well.

Colorado State outshot Whittier 45-35, but the Poets held a 39-29 margin on groundballs. Whittier also had the advantage on face-offs, winning 15 of 24 draws and 6 of 10 in the fourth quarter. The extra possessions certainly seemed to wear down CSU towards the end of the game. Both goaltenders also played well as Jokisch made 14 saves in goal for the Rams and Kevin Chenoweth made 12 for Whittier.

Colorado State (1-1) will play another Division III opponent next Saturday when they travel south to Colorado Springs and take on Colorado College. CSU has beaten the Tigers in each of the past two years and hope to make it three in a row against head coach Flip Naumburg's Alma Matter.

Game Notes:
- CSU's man-down unit had another perfect outing, killing all six of Whittier's man-up attempts. They have now killed 11 in a row going back to their five for five performance on Thursday against UC-Santa Barbara.
- Stevens has now scored at least four points in each of the Rams' two games, giving him a total of 9 points on the young season. He also led both teams in groundballs with 12.
- The game against Whittier was the first of three for the Rams against Varsity opponents. The Rams play at Colorado College next weekend before coming back to California to take on Division II Notre Dame de Namur on March 13th.

                           Lacrosse Box Score (Final)
         Colorado State vs Whittier (Feb 25, 2006 at Whittier College)

Colorado State (1-1) vs.                          SCORE BY PERIOD       1  2  3  4  Tot
Whittier (2-0)                                    -------------------------------------
Date: Feb 25, 2006  Attendance: 150               Colorado State......  2  2  2  4 - 10
Weather:                                          Whittier............  3  2  2  5 - 12

Colorado State SCORING: GOALS: Danny Stevens 4; Mike Murphy 2; Matt Reiss 1;
Campbell Diebolt 1; Steven Lundberg 1; John Tomlinson 1.
ASSISTS: Campbell Diebolt 2; Matt Reiss 2; Tyler Bue 1; Pete Jokisch 1; Steven
Lundberg 1; Danny Stevens 1.

Whittier SCORING: GOALS: Anthony Lackey 5; Dave Gerbarg 4; Chuck Wagner 2; AJ
Marciano 1.
ASSISTS: Mike Prickett 5; Dave Gerbarg 1.

SHOTS BY PERIOD       1  2  3  4  Tot             SAVES BY PERIOD       1  2  3  4  Tot
-------------------------------------             -------------------------------------
Colorado State......  6 13 12 14 - 45             Colorado State......  3  3  5  3 - 14
Whittier............  8  6 10 11 - 35             Whittier............  3  3  4  2 - 12

GROUND BALLS BY PRD   1  2  3  4  Tot             TURNOVERS BY PRD      1  2  3  4  Tot
-------------------------------------             -------------------------------------
Colorado State......  9  4 10  6 - 29             Colorado State......  8  7  6  7 - 28
Whittier............  7 13 10  9 - 39             Whittier............  9  8  7  6 - 30

FACE-OFFS BY PRD       1     2     3     4     Total
----------------------------------------------------
Colorado State......  3-6   0-3   2-5   4-10 -  9-24
Whittier............  3-6   3-3   3-5   6-10 - 15-24

CLEARS BY PERIOD       1     2     3     4     Total
----------------------------------------------------
Colorado State......  5-7   6-8   5-7   5-5  - 21-27
Whittier............  6-9   2-6   3-5   4-7  - 15-27

EXTRA-MAN OPPS         1     2     3     4     Total
----------------------------------------------------
Colorado State......  0-0   0-2   1-3   0-0  -  1-5
Whittier............  0-0   0-0   0-3   0-3  -  0-6

PENALTIES - CSU 6/4:30; WHIT 5/5:00.