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#1 Colorado State Tops #4 Sonoma State 10-6 in Top Five Rivalry Showdown
Eugene, OR
By Alex Smith
March 13, 2004
Ever since the 1999 National Semifinal game won by the Colorado State 12-11,
Sonoma State and the Colorado State Rams have become two of the MDIA’s
greatest rivals. Saturday afternoon’s game between the Rams and Seawolves
was the eighth such meeting with CSU leading the series 4-3 coming into the
game. The game did not fail to live up to its billing as one of the top
match-ups in the MDIA this season and the Rams’ first game against a top
five opponent. #1 Colorado State used another balanced effort to slowly pace
themselves from a game #4 Sonoma team and won 10-6 on the University of
Oregon’s home field.
Both teams were patient in the first quarter, waiting to find a chink in the
other’s defensive armor. The Rams struck first on a coast-to-coast goal by
Pat Bird (Bishop O’Dowd HS, CA) four minutes in. Sonoma battled back to tie
as two of their promising young attackmen, Brian Alexander and Dan McDonald
combined for a goal with just under 6:00 in the first. The two teams slowed
the pace down for the rest of the first quarter until CSU’s Matt Johns
(Arapahoe HS, CO) picked up a ball on the crease and buried it to give the
Rams the lead after one quarter of play. Johns provided an unexpected boost
for the Rams’ midfield as he scored twice on the day.
Sonoma came out of the gate early in the second, scoring the first two goals
of the quarter. MJ Crickmore took control for the first three and a half
minutes by netting two goals, one off a feed from fellow middie Brian
Cummings and one on a nice man-up play. The Sonoma middies gave the Rams
fits for most of the day, and early in the second quarter, it appeared like
they were about to take the game completely over. With the Rams trailing
3-2, Thomas Robinson (Memphis University School, TN) and Nick Stanitz-Harper
(Eaglecrest HS, CO) scored two goals in two minutes to give the Rams a lead
they would not relinquish for the rest of the day.
Both defenses played extremely well by limiting scoring opportunities.
Sonoma outshot Colorado State 37-33, but goaltender Pete Jokisch (Rockhurst
Jesuit, KS) played very well. Jokisch made 17 saves, three of which were
sparklers in the middle quarters. Sonoma’s ‘D’ played inspired in front of
Dominic Gomez (11 saves), but the Rams were able to ride their depth to
victory. Four CSU attackmen scored points, including Danny Stevens (Suffern
HS, NY) who’s diving goal with 6:01 left in the fourth put an exclamation
point on a very encouraging game for the defending National Champions.
Leading 5-3, the Rams got on the scoreboard first in the second half.
Thomas Robinson drove from the top of the box and fired a cross-field pass
to a jumping Tim Farquhar (Collegiate HS, VA) to give the Rams a three-goal
cushion. But Sonoma was not going to go quietly and Rod Sweet answered
right back to get the Seawolves within two again. The Rams continued to
push the pace and got a goal from Matt Disney (Heritage HS, CO) before
putting the clamps on defensively for the rest of the quarter. Neither team
had much success for the rest of the quarter and the Rams took a 7-4 lead
into the fourth.
CSU’s defense was stellar once again. Kellin Bershinsky (Fort Collins HS,
CO) had one of the best games of his young career, playing solid defense,
scooping up groundballs and clearing effectively from start to finish. The
fourth quarter also belonged to face-off middie Dave Clark (Cherry Creek HS,
CO), who won all six of his draws in the final stanza to help wear down the
Sonoma defense.
After Brent Johnson scored to bring the Seawolves within two again, the
Rams’ defense did not allow another goal for the next thirteen minutes.
Colorado State’s offense did not waste the chance to put the Seawolves away
and got goals from Johns, Robinson and Stevens to get up 10-5 with six
minutes left in the game. Chris Esposito scored a man-up goal for the
Seawolves with under a minute left, but it was not enough and the Rams came
away with the game 10-6.
Both teams played well and the ball stayed off of the ground for the most
part of the game. The Rams got multiple goal efforts from three members of
the midfield (Johns, Robinson and Farquhar) and were well-balanced again.
The Seawolves face a hungry Oregon squad on Sunday at noon while the Rams
take a couple of days off in preparation for Pacific Lutheran on Tuesday.
Colorado State will play PLU, Chico State, Washington and Simon Fraser next
week in a serious test of their road mettle. The Rams move to 8-0 on the
season while the Seawolves suffered their second loss to a top three team,
the other being Santa Barbara in February.
Game Notes:
- The game was played at the University of Oregon in front of a fairly good
crowd of about 200.
- Matt Johns’ two goals were a season high after scoring only one goal
before the Sonoma game.
- CSU continued to win the face-off battle, taking 13/20 of draws.
- There were only a total of 40 groundballs in the game as both teams had
quality possessions from start to end.
- Thomas Robinson, Kelten Johnson and MJ Crickmore each had three points to
lead scorers.
- Colorado State’s four-goal victory was the largest margin of victory in
the Sonoma-CSU series.
- The Rams won each quarter by one, 2-1; 3-2; 2-1 and 3-2.
Goals by Quarters:
CSU: 2 – 3 – 2 – 3 = 10
SSU: 1 – 2 – 1 – 2 = 6
Goals:
CSU – Farquhar, Robinson and Johns (2), Disney, Stanitz-Harper, Stevens
SSU – Crickmore (2), McDonald, Johnson, Esposito, Sweet
Assists:
CSU – Johnson (3), Murphy (2), Robinson
SSU – Alexander, Crickmore, Cummings
Goaltenders:
CSU – Jokisch (60:00 minutes, 17 saves, 6 goals against)
SSU – Gomez (60:00 minutes, 11 saves, 10 goals against)
Face-Offs Won:
CSU – 13/20
SSU – 7/20
Shots:
CSU – 33
SSU – 37
Ground Balls:
CSU – 23
SSU – 17
Extra Man:
CSU – 0/2
SSU – 2/6
Penalties:
CSU – 6 for 5:00
SSU – 2 for 1:30
Attendance: 200 |
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