Fort Collins, Colorado- In a back and forth game, #10 Colorado State Rams were on the back end of #18 Sonoma State Seawolves as the game came to a close, losing 8-9 after a goal with 1:36 remaining by Jordan Ambler. The score did not exceed a two point differential the entire game, and while Colorado State appeared to control the stat sheet, Sonoma State controlled the scoreboard for much of the game. That was in large part due to excellent play by Sonoma State goalie Mike D’Angelo, who racked up 19 saves against the Rams.<!--more--> Colorado State did some things right in the game: they took nearly double the shots, won more than twice the groundballs as Sonoma State and the face-off midfielders, Scott Gelston (Air Academy; CO) and Patrick Miller (Air Academy; CO), won a combined 17 of 21 face-offs. One thing they couldn’t do, however, was put the game away after they re-took the lead with 9:17 left in the fourth quarter off a goal from Cooper Kehoe (Stevenson HS; CO). “We couldn’t finish and we made a few errors down the stretch when we had the 8-7 lead,” commented Colorado State coach Flip Naumburg. The Rams started off the scoring after a goal from Paul Larson (Columbine HS; CO), who had two other goals and an assist during the game, but the Seawolves responded less than a minute later with a goal of their own. The rest of the first quarter continued in this back and forth format, and ended with a score of 3-3. Sonoma State pulled away from Colorado State in the second quarter, scoring two goals to Colorado State’s none taking the game into halftime with a 5-3 score in favor of the Seawolves. The third quarter was much the same as the first, with both teams scoring two goals to move the score to 7-5 in Sonoma State’s favor, but the Rams went on a three goal scoring run in the fourth quarter to give them their first lead since the first quarter. They managed to hang on to the lead for about five minutes before Sonoma State tied up the game, and subsequently scored the winning goal with 1:36 left. It is an unfortunate loss for the Rams, one that can really hurt their chances of making it to the MCLA championship tournament. “We just keep working,” said coach Naumburg about what this loss means to the rest of Colorado State’s season. “We have to beat CU and win the RMLC to get to the nationals, I think.” Fortunately for the Rams, they will have nearly a week to prepare for Colorado before they play them at Folsom Field in Boulder on Saturday the 18th. It will be a hostile crowd, as it usually is when these two schools are pitted against each other, and both have a lot to play for. Colorado will try and redeem themselves from quite a few losses in a row to Colorado State, and Colorado State needs to run the table if they want a shot at the national championship. “It is a must-win situation,” said coach Naumburg. “We need to play as if there is no tomorrow because there may not be.”
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