Orange, California- It was another beautiful day in Southern California during the Colorado State Rams’ five game road trip, but the Chapman Panthers demonstrated why they are one of the best teams in the MCLA as they defeated the Rams 15-5 on Wednesday evening. “Chapman beat us in every facet of the game tonight,” reflected interim coach Alex Smith. “We weren’t quite up to the challenge and I thought everything we did well in the past six games, we didn’t do well tonight. I can’t fault our effort, but when push came to shove, it seemed like they were a step quicker all over the field.” All the pieces of the puzzle fell right in place for the Panthers Wednesday night against the Rams. Chapman was faster, more physical, and more accurate with their shots than any team the Rams have faced so far this season. Once they were on a roll, there was no stopping them. “They’re shooters were simply lights out,” said Smith. “I was very impressed with how they ran in transition and the pressure that they were able to put on our goal. To me, their best defense tonight was their offense. We couldn’t get anything going and they got great looks going from defense to offense and we just didn’t have an answer.” Chapman’s defense was well prepared to handle the Rams offensive attack, which has proven fatal for six teams so far this season. Chapman prevented a lot of potential shots, and forced many of the shots taken to be errant. On a bright spot, the Rams top three scorers on the season were able to light up the scoreboard at least once. Cooper Kehoe (Stevenson HS; CA) and Garrett Fugier (Regis Jesuit HS; CO) both scored twice, while Paul Larson (Columbine HS; CO) had one goal. Larson also had an assist on the day, with Kevin Wolff (Don Bosco Prep; NJ) and Travis Wrenn (Grandview HS; CO) helping out with the other two. That was the last of the games in California for the Rams, and now they will head off to Utah where they will play #4 BYU on Friday and Utah on Sunday. The game against BYU on Friday is much anticipated for a couple reasons: the Colorado State University versus Brigham Young University rivalry is considered the best rivalry in the MCLA, according to the MCLA magazine, and it will be a good chance for the Rams to redeem themselves for the loss to Chapman. “I’d like to see us really bounce back for our game against BYU,” said Smith. “It would be easy to get extremely down on ourselves, but this is a conference game coming up on Friday and we have to prove to ourselves that we can play with the big boys in the MCLA. Tonight, Chapman took us behind the woodshed, but the true mark of a team is how you respond to adversity. I think we have a lot of fight left in us and Friday night will be a big test of how much heart we really have.”
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