After Sonoma's John Maxwell won the opening face-off of the overtime period, senior long stick midfielder Matt Reiss (Sycamore HS; Cincinnati, OH) checked the ball away and gave the Rams a chance to clear the ball from their own restraining line. Senior midfielder Michael Murphy (Lake Oswego HS; Lake Oswego, OR) made a great play to clear the ball on the ensuing play and fed MacDonald at midfield. As the shifty sophomore made a spin dodge just inside the Sonoma box, he found himself with no one between him and the goal and fired a shot just under the arm of Sonoma goaltender Warren Pringle to win the game.

Colorado State led the Seawolves 9-8 at the end of three quarters, but Sonoma scored two goals in just over a minute to give them a 10-9 lead with 11:46 left in the game. Sonoma attackman Cito Williams had a hand in both goals and finished with a game-high five points on two goals and three assists. Down by one with just over six minutes left in the game, junior Danny Stevens (Suffern HS; Suffern, NY) ended a long groundball scrum by shoveling the ball between his legs and into the top of the Sonoma net. Sonoma retained possession for the majority of regulation, but the CSU defense was up to the task and forced overtime.

Stevens added three assists to his game-tying goal to finish the day with four points. Sophomore attackman Tyler Treece (Upper Arlington HS; Columbus, OH) contributed in a big way with four goals, including three in a row for the Rams during the second and third quarters. The only other player for the Rams with multiple points was defensive midfielder Brian Vickery (Rangeview HS; Aurora, CO). Vickery played well on both ends of the field and gave the Rams a boost by pitching in with his two points.

Sonoma led 2-1 after a fairly sloppy first period, but both offenses started clicking in the second quarter as the two teams combined for ten goals. After Sonoma's Rod Sweet scored a goal after a Maxwell face-off win at the start of the second, CSU scored six of the next eight goals in the quarter to open up a 7-5 lead. The run was spearheaded a couple of unheralded players as freshman midfielder Will Cantwell (Lakewood HS; Lakewood, CO) and sophomore attackman Dylan Bowman (Fairview HS; Boulder, CO) both got big goals in the second quarter. Sonoma finally stopped the bleeding with a key goal by attackman Dan McDonald to make it 7-6 at halftime. McDonald played well, finishing with two goals and two assists.

The game was tightly officiated in the first half as the Rams found themselves on the wrong end of six penalties in the first thirty minutes. CSU cleared up the mental mistakes in the second half and stayed out of the penalty box. While Sonoma won the face-off battle by winning 16/25 draws, the Rams scooped up 37 groundballs to the Seawolves' 32. On a muddy field, both teams found a little trouble with their footing as the game progressed.

Senior goaltender Pete Jokisch (Rockhurst Jesuit; Overland Park, KS) and Sonoma's Warren Pringle both showed why they are considered two of the best goalies in the land. Jokisch finished with 11 saves while Pringle made 10, including three big ones in the fourth quarter.

Colorado State (3-1) will now take Sunday off before traveling to take on Division II Notre Dame de Namur on Monday. The Rams will then have Stanford on Tuesday before returning to Fort Collins for their first home game against Missouri on Monday, March 19.

Game Notes:

- The win was Colorado State's fifth consecutive against Sonoma State going back to SSU's win in the 2002 national championship game. CSU now leads the all-time series 7-3.
- Stevens' four-point output was his fourth of the season. He continues to lead the team in points with 16 on the young season. He is averaging four points per game.
- Sonoma broke CSU's man-down streak by scoring a goal with a two-man advantage in the second quarter. CSU had killed the previous 12 man-down chances.

         Colorado State vs Sonoma State (Mar 11, 2006 at Sonoma State)


Colorado State (2-1) vs.                          SCORE BY PERIOD       1  2  3  4 OT  Tot
Sonoma State (4-0)                                ----------------------------------------
Date: Mar 11, 2006  Attendance: 200               Colorado State......  1  6  2  1  1 - 11
Weather: Sunny and muddy                          Sonoma State........  2  4  2  2  0 - 10


Colorado State SCORING: GOALS: Tyler Treece 4; Danny Stevens 1; Brian Vickery 1;
Ryan MacDonald 1; Campbell Diebolt 1; Pat Bird 1; Dylan Bowman 1; Will Cantwell 1.
ASSISTS: Danny Stevens 3; Lee Cates 1; Matt Reiss 1; Brian Vickery 1.


Sonoma State SCORING: GOALS: Cito Williams 2; Dan McDonald 2; Travis Cornelison
2; Mark Arjam 1; Brian Alexander 1; Clatin Kuhns 1; Rod Sweet 1.
ASSISTS: Cito Williams 3; Dan McDonald 2; Brain Johnson 1.


SHOTS BY PERIOD       1  2  3  4 OT  Tot       		   
----------------------------------------       
Colorado State......   6 10  9  9  1 - 35
Sonoma State........  12 11  6  9  0 - 38


SAVES BY PERIOD        1  2  3  4 OT  Tot
----------------------------------------
Colorado State……....   4  2  2  3  0 - 11
Sonoma State………....... 2  2  2  4  0 - 10


GROUND BALLS BY PRD   1  2  3  4 OT  Tot          
----------------------------------------
Colorado State......   7 11  9  9  1 - 37
Sonoma State........  10  7  9  5  1 - 32


TURNOVERS BY PRD      1  2  3  4 OT  Tot
----------------------------------------
Colorado State......  7  3  5  5  0 - 20
Sonoma State........  9  3  5  7  1 - 25


FACE-OFFS BY PRD       1     2     3     4     OT    Total
----------------------------------------------------------
Colorado State......  1-4   5-11  3-5   0-4   0-1  -  9-25
Sonoma State........  3-4   6-11  2-5   4-4   1-1  - 16-25


CLEARS BY PERIOD       1     2     3     4     OT    Total
----------------------------------------------------------
Colorado State......  3-7   5-5   6-6   4-5   1-1  - 19-24
Sonoma State........  4-7   2-4   5-7   5-6   0-0  - 16-24


EXTRA-MAN OPPS         1     2     3     4     OT    Total
----------------------------------------------------------
Colorado State......  1-1   1-1   0-1   0-1   0-0  -  2-4
Sonoma State........  0-3   1-3   0-0   0-0   0-0  -  1-6