FORT COLLINS, Colorado— Minnesota-Duluth came after CSU with a vengeance on Friday night, but they couldn’t outscore them. While the game was close at halftime the Rams surged ahead during the second half to defeat them 13-6.
Duluth dominated the game early, scoring four early goals. “I was definitely worried the way we started the game,” Head Coach Alex Smith said. “It wasn’t even like they were getting fast breaks, they were creating transition off the clear which is something that just shouldn’t happen.”
But the lead would not last too long. With less than five seconds left in the half CSU faceoff man Scott Gelston scored, tying the game 6-6. From there the game took a complete turnaround.
“After their initial surge, we did a great job settling in defensively and making them work for shots,” Smith said. The defense held the Bulldogs at six points for the rest of the game.
“Our defense continues to shine. We were uncharacteristic early on, but not allowing a goal for the entire second half really spoke volumes to our work ethic on that side of the field. Coach Winston has really got them playing as a unit and Andrew Stein is one of the best in the country,” Smith said.
The offensive line had an especially good game Friday as well. “One major positive about today is that we scored 13 goals and only one was from our midfield. Having Stephen Unkrich and Matt Jui step up and get some points really makes us more dangerous and creates a lot of problems for other teams defensively,” Smith said.
This was a rougher game for CSU than normal, physically speaking. Multiple unnecessary roughness penalties were called on both teams. It was clear that the Rams were not going to allow Duluth to disrespect them without a little retaliation.
While it was a gritty win, the team certainly showed its strength and skills on the field, and they once again proved they deserve their ranking. Information on the rest of the season can be found at <a href="https://csulacrosse.com/">www.csulacrosse.com</a>.
Game Statistics
Lacrosse Box Score (Final)
Minn-Duluth (6-3) vs. Colorado State (12-0)
SCORE BY PERIOD 1 2 3 4 Tot
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Minn-Duluth......... 4 2 0 0 - 6
Colorado State...... 2 4 3 4 - 13
Minn-Duluth SCORING: GOALS: Pitzl, Daniel 1; Nispel, Brandon 1; Gaydos, Kevin 1;
Madden, Matt 1; McNamara, Alex 1; Hutton, Chris 1.
ASSISTS: Thomas-Olsen, Max 1.
Colorado State SCORING: GOALS: Fisher, Austin 3; Larson, Paul 3; Kehoe, Cooper
2; Unkrich, Stephen 2; Fugier, Garrett 1; Jui, Matt 1; Gelston, Scott 1.
ASSISTS: Fugier, Garrett 2; Jui, Matt 2; Fisher, Austin 1; Kehoe, Cooper 1.
SHOTS BY PERIOD 1 2 3 4 Tot
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Minn-Duluth......... 16 5 3 8 - 32
Colorado State...... 7 14 11 6 - 38
GROUND BALLS BY PRD 1 2 3 4 Tot
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Minn-Duluth......... 8 1 7 7 - 23
Colorado State...... 5 8 6 6 - 25
FACE-OFFS BY PRD 1 2 3 4 Total
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Minn-Duluth......... 2-7 0-6 2-4 1-4 - 5-21
Colorado State...... 5-7 6-6 2-4 3-4 - 16-21
CLEARS BY PERIOD 1 2 3 4 Total
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Minn-Duluth......... 3-3 5-7 4-5 2-2 - 14-17
Colorado State...... 4-6 3-5 5-5 6-7 - 18-23
EXTRA-MAN OPPS 1 2 3 4 Total
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Minn-Duluth......... 0-1 0-0 0-0 0-3 - 0-4
Colorado State...... 0-0 2-2 0-1 0-0 - 2-3
SAVES BY PERIOD 1 2 3 4 Tot
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Minn-Duluth......... 2 4 3 1 - 10
Colorado State...... 6 1 0 3 - 10
TURNOVERS BY PRD 1 2 3 4 Tot
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Minn-Duluth......... 3 5 8 6 - 22
Colorado State...... 3 5 1 3 - 12