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4-1 Fourth Quarter Carries #2 UCSB Past #1 Colorado State
Ann Arbor, MI
By Alex Smith
April 4, 2004
The Colorado State Rams and UC-Santa Barbara Gauchos were
ranked #2 and #1 respectively when they met in the 2003 National
Championship Game. The Rams won that game 6-4 in a defensive struggle that
gave the Rams their third National Championship. In the third day of the
Michigan Invitational, the roles were reversed, with the Rams holding a #1
ranking and taking on the #2 Gauchos. This year, as in last, the #2 team
came away with the victory as Santa Barbara used a 4-1 fourth quarter to
beat the Rams 10-8.
Colorado State was coming off impressive wins on Friday and Saturday,
beating #5 Michigan 11-4 and #12 Minnesota-Duluth 22-4. The Gauchos beat
Duluth 13-8 and lost to Michigan 4-3 in a defensive game on Saturday. UCSB
got the game started off right when Hank Caulkins scored a man-up goal just
two and a half minutes in. Just as in the Michigan game, the Rams would
have to come from behind early. Eric Johnson made the score 2-0 on an
unassisted goal before CSU was able to get on the scoreboard on Tim Chorey’s
(Algonquin HS, MA) rebound goal. The first quarter ended tied 3-3 as Nick
Stanitz-Harper (Eaglecrest HS, CO) closed the period out with two
consecutive goals in the last three minutes. Those goals would be the only
points of the game for the RMLC’s leading scorer.
The game was nip and tuck throughout as neither team opened up more than a
two-goal lead on each other. Derek Koll (Fort Collins HS, CO) came from
behind the goal and buried one low to give the Rams their first lead of the
half and both teams turned up the defensive pressure for the next ten
minutes. The Gauchos were having success with their zone defense, which was
causing the Rams to force the ball and lose many possessions. Colorado
State committed a plethora of penalties in the first half. The Gauchos took
advantage of Ryan Price’s (Arapahoe HS, CO) slash with under four minutes in
the half and got a goal from Luke Wilson. Then, just a few minutes later,
the Rams were in the penalty box again. This time, Pat Bird (Bishop O’Dowd
HS, CA) took the ball coast to coast man-down to take the lead for the Rams,
but CSU’s miscues were clearly about to become a factor in the game.
UCSB won every phase of the statistical game, outshooting CSU 38-24 and
outgroundballing them 31-24. But the key difference in the game was at the
face-off ‘x’. Will Patton won 14 of 19 face-offs for UCSB, several of which
turned into quick fast breaks. A bright spot for the Rams was sophomore
goaltender Pete Jokisch (Rockhurst Jesuit, MO), who made 16 saves to keep
CSU in the game.
Directly after the halftime break, Tim Farquhar (Collegiate HS, VA) ripped
home a man-up goal to give the Rams a 6-4 lead. CSU looked like they were
about to open up an insurmountable lead, but the Gauchos answered with two
goals in the next two minutes to tie the game. Will Patton and Hank
Caulkins were playing some very good lacrosse, and the Rams were having all
sorts of trouble penetrating the UCSB zone defense. Thomas Robinson
(Memphis University School, TN) finally got into the middle and snuck a shot
past Ryan Brittain (8 saves) to give the Rams the lead at the end of the
third quarter, 7-6. Brittain played well when he had too, but Colorado
State was unable to put the type of pressure they had in previous games on
the Gauchos.
CSU did not do themselves any favors with penalties, and started the fourth
quarter down for two minutes. The Gauchos struck quickly on man-up thanks
to a goal from Nick Schooler, who bounced a lefty home from the right side
of the field. Caulkins promptly gave the Gauchos the lead as he crossed the
middle of the field and fired home a lefty of his own from fellow attackman
Steve Christiansen. The Rams would not lead for the rest of the game.
Even after Thomas Robinson got his second goal of the game from Tim
Farquhar, the Gauchos seemed in complete control. Stefan Isaksen scored
UCSB’s ninth goal of the game to give them the lead and then Will Patton got
the backbreaker with just over two and a half minutes left. UCSB controlled
the ball with smart possessions in the final moments of the game while
Colorado State was not able to regain the ball. The final horn sounded in a
quality victory for UCSB, 10-8 over CSU.
Both teams played a very good game that was much more entertaining than
CSU’s 6-4 victory in St. Louis last year. The Rams (15-1 overall; 1-0 RMLC)
now start the meat of their RMLC league schedule with a Friday night game
against #3 Brigham Young. The Rams will play four league games in a row
before a visit from Lindenwood on the last day of the season.
Game Notes:
- The UCSB victory was the culmination of a very exciting weekend at the
Michigan Invitational. The #1, 2, and 5 ranked teams in the country each
finished with two wins and one loss on the weekend.
- Patton’s face-off game was the best statistical game against the Rams in
over two years. He also led the game in groundballs by a large margin with
13.
- Patton, Caulkins and Robinson were tied for game high in points with 3.
- Colorado State committed nine penalties while UCSB was flagged for five.
- The loss to UCSB is the first in series history against the Gauchos.
Previously, the Rams had won three in a row in 1999, 2002 and 2003.
- The ten goals against was a season high for the Rams, who previously had
given up eight to Texas A&M. It was the first time since the Colorado
College game in 2003 that the Rams gave up more than ten goals. CSU also
scored a season low of eight goals. Their previouis low was nine against
Arizona in the first game of the season.
- The loss snapped a 25 game winning streak for CSU, dating all the way back
to April 6th of last year. The Rams had not lost a game for 365 days
(including Leap Year) prior to this game.
Score by Quarter:
CSU: 3 – 1 –2 – 4 = 8
UCSB: 3 – 2 – 2 – 1 = 10
Goals:
CSU: Robinson and Stanitz-Harper (2), Farquhar, Koll, Bird and Chorey (1)
UCSB: Caulkins (3), Patton (2), Wilson, Schooler, Christiansen and Isaksen
(1)
Assists:
CSU: Farquhar, Robinson and Stevens (1)
UCSB: Wilson and Smith (2), Christiansen, Patton and Schooler (1)
Goaltenders:
CSU: Jokisch (60:00 minutes, 16 saves, 10 goals against)
UCSB: Brittain (60:00 minutes, 8 saves, 8 goals against)
Shots:
CSU: 38
UCSB: 24
Groundballs:
CSU: 24
UCSB: 31
Face-Offs:
CSU: 6/20
UCSB: 14/20
Penalties:
CSU: 9 for 7:30
UCSB: 5 for 4:00
Extra-Man:
CSU: 1/5
UCSB: 3/9
Attendance: 341 |
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