The Rams jumped out to an early 4-0 lead behind goals from the team’s top four scorers. Mike Napolilli (6 goals, 5 assists), Jim Hasson (3g, 1a), Ryan Davis (5g, 3a), and Mike Roth (6g, 6a) all tallied for CSU as they scored four within the first eight minutes of the game. Arizona answered back, but the Rams kept the pressure on to take a 6-2 first quarter lead.
In the second, Davis got another quick one from Kale Nelson (2a) and the lead was five. Arizona scored again on a goal by Josh Morrison (1g), but were then held scoreless by the CSU defense for almost the rest of the quarter. By the time Charlie Mink (2g) put in another for U of A, the score was 12-4. With one second left on the clock in the half, Roth got his third of the game on a feed from Adam Sisbarro (1a) to push the lead to 13-4 at the half.
CSU took advantage of a ball control offense as Arizona didn’t see the ball
on their offensive half for much of the game. A controlled ride kept the Cats at bay and kept the ball in the hands of the potent Ram attack. The face-off trio of Pat Lambert, Nate Mueller, and Andy Wolper won the majority of the draws as well.
The second half saw much of the same for CSU as they controlled the ball offensively and shut down the Arizona attack on defense. The Rams were happy to welcome back freshman defenseman Mark Plonkey and Cale Vanvelkinburgh (8 saves, 5 goals against), who along with Ryan Robichaud, Pat Coy, and Jeremy Smith played an extremely tight game against an athletic and talented Wildcats offense.
The Rams kept the pressure on, outscoring the Cats 12-3 in the second half to seal the victory.
Also playing well for CSU was freshman Nick Harper (2g, 1a) and junior Doug Priebe (2g). John Naab (1a) and Andy Schultz (1a) also saw significant playing time. While the Ram midfield did not necessarily score a lot of points, they were able to control the middle part of the field, gaining many ground balls and stopping Arizona fast breaks on their way to victory.
Next up for the Rams (11-2) is a trip to Boulder to take on league rival and
#11 Colorado on Wednesday. The winner will have the #2 seed in the RMILL tournament to be held on April 28 and 29 in Durango. The Wildcats (9-3) will try to regroup as they make the trip to Boulder to battle the Buffs on Sunday.
| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| CSU | 4 | 9 | – | – | 25 |
| AZ | 0 | 1 | – | – | 7 |