GREELEY, Colo. — </strong>The Colorado State Rams men's lacrosse team opened Wednesday’s game with a fierce attack, scoring two goals against the University of Northern Colorado within the first 45 seconds, and they didn’t let up the pressure. The Rams ended the game with a convincing 17-6 win over the Bears.
The Rams were able to dominate the game thanks in large part to winning 22 of the 25 face-offs. “We used four face-off guys and winning that part of the game by such a large margin was really a boost. I hope to see the face-offs continue to be a strength of our team as the season continues,” said head coach Alex Smith.
In the final 30 seconds of the first quarter, UNC fought hard to get on the scoreboard, but it was to no avail. CSU ended the first quarter with a 5-0 lead, and continuing the power seen in the face-off throughout the game.
During the second quarter CSU hit a lull, and while they still scored four goals, the offense made fundamental errors, like committing six turnovers, and taking weak shots on goal, seven of which were saved by UNC.
“UNC is a nice Division II team, but I think we put our stamp on this game,” said Coach Smith. CSU scored an unanswered six points during the third quarter, three of which were made in the final minute of the quarter.
Overall CSU rode UNC hard, not giving them a break and made them work for every goal they scored. UNC scored their last four points during the fourth quarter after taking 11 shots on goal.
A high scoring win was what the coaches predicted for this game, as UNC is a Division II team and CSU is Division I. But of course, the players, parents and coaches are excited about it, although they are not willing to compare it to the next game this Saturday against Colorado College.
“This was a nice win for us to start the year, but it all means nothing when we play Colorado College this weekend. They are a very strong, NCAA Division III team and have been impressive so far. We will have to eliminate some of the unforced errors that we still make to be in a position to win this weekend,” Coach Smith said.
Colorado State (1-0 (0-0 RMLC)) vs.
Northern Colorado (0-1 (0-0 RMLC))
Date: Feb 17, 2010
Attendance: 220
Weather: Cloudy and 50 degrees
SCORE BY PERIOD 1 2 3 4 Tot
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Colorado State........... 5 4 6 2 - 17
Northern Colorado.........0 2 0 4 - 6
Colorado State SCORING: GOALS: Kehoe, Cooper 5; Miller, Luke 2; Larson, Paul 2;
Konkel, Greyson 2; Devlin, Alex 2; Scoville, Conrad 2; Fugier, Garrett 1; Jui,
Matt 1.
ASSISTS: Flax, Jake 4; Fugier, Garrett 2; Kehoe, Cooper 2; Fisher, Austin 1;
Jui, Matt 1; Miller, Luke 1.
Northern Colorado SCORING: GOALS: Luallen, Garrett 2; Bockenfeld, Jake 1;
Wakefiled, Tyler 1; Boyd, Kyle 1; Perkins, Chris 1.
ASSISTS: None.
SHOTS BY PERIOD 1 2 3 4 Tot
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Colorado State...... ..19 11 15 9 - 54
Northern Colorado... 3 3 9 11 - 26
GROUND BALLS BY PRD 1 2 3 4 Tot
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Colorado State...... 9 10 7 9 - 35
Northern Colorado... 3 2 6 4 - 15
FACE-OFFS BY PRD 1 2 3 4 Total
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Colorado State...... 6-6 7-7 4-5 5-7 - 22-25
Northern Colorado... 0-6 0-7 1-5 2-7 - 3-25
CLEARS BY PERIOD 1 2 3 4 Total
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Colorado State...... 2-3 5-5 5-6 3-5 - 15-19
Northern Colorado... 1-5 5-8 5-5 4-7 - 15-25
EXTRA-MAN OPPS 1 2 3 4 Total
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Colorado State...... 0-0 1-2 2-4 1-2 - 4-8
Northern Colorado... 0-0 1-1 0-2 1-2 - 2-5
SAVES BY PERIOD 1 2 3 4 Tot
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Colorado State...... 1 1 3 4 - 9
Northern Colorado... 5 3 3 0 - 11
TURNOVERS BY PRD 1 2 3 4 Tot
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Colorado State...... 4 6 3 3 - 16
Northern Colorado... 3 7 5 5 - 20
PENALTIES - Colorado State 5/4:30; Northern Colorado 8/6:00.
Officials: JD Doyle; Brian Mauney; Buzz Ellsworth. Scorer: Ben Weston.