Leading 7-5 after three quarters, Colorado State turned to their captain for a spark and the powerful midfielder from Oakland took control of the game. Bird scored three unassisted goals in the fourth quarter, including the Rams' eleventh goal after Arizona scored two in a row to tighten the score to 10-7. Bird had an assist in the first quarter in addition to one other goal in the third to give him a share for the team lead with five points on the afternoon.

Colorado State led 6-4 with time running down in the third quarter when Danny Stevens (Suffern HS; Suffern, NY) scored the goal of the game to finish a fast break and get the lead to three. Sophomore attackman Tyler Treece (Upper Arlington HS; Columbus, OH) fed Stevens across the cage with a pass that was just off target. Stevens adjusted to the pass and left his feet, catching the feed and firing the ball into the upper corner of the net while airborne for an emotional and important goal. Arizona answered with just :33 left in the period to keep the lead at two.

Arizona's Brian Etheridge scored both of his goals in the first quarter as the Laxcats jumped out to a 2-1 advantage. But CSU scored four goals while holding Arizona scoreless for nearly two quarters of game time to keep the pesky Cats at bay. Sophomore attackman Campbell Diebolt (Central Bucks East HS; Doylestown, PA) scored two goals during the run in what was his most complete effort of the season. Diebolt added an assist in the fourth quarter as well.

Both teams suffered a bit from the penalty bug with fourteen penalties and 10:30 of penalty time called between the two teams. Arizona had four penalties in the fourth quarter alone to hinder their comeback effort. CSU finished the day 2/8 on the man-up. Arizona had four players with multiple points as Steve Luna (1g, 2a), Christian Burrows (1g, 1a) and Eric Poole (2g) added to Etheridge's two goals. Laxcat goaltender Charles Salemi had a solid effort with 13 saves.

With Colorado State struggling once again at the face-off 'x,' the Rams turned to midfielder Lee Cates (Rangeview HS; Aurora, CO) and long stick midfielder Jay Matlin (Boulder HS; Boulder, CO) to turn the tide. CSU finished 10 of 21 on the day on draws. Shots were relatively even as CSU took 36 to Arizona's 33. The Rams also won the groundball war 38-34.

Colorado State (16-3) moves on to the semifinals, where they will see a familiar foe in #5 Brigham Young. BYU defeated the Rams 11-8 in March and holds a two game winning streak over CSU going back to 2005. The Cougars defeated Michigan handily 14-9 on Wednesday.

Game Notes:
- Colorado State now holds a 4-0 lead in the series against Arizona since 1999. CSU beat the Cats in 25-7 2001, 6-5 in 2003 and 9-4 in 2004. This is first time the two teams have met in the USL-MDIA tourney.
- The Rams won every quarter except for the third, which ended in a tie at 3-3.
- Junior midfielder Brian Stone (Air Academy HS; Colorado Springs, CO) scored a goal for the second consecutive tournament game.
- Other tourney notes: #3 Colorado advanced to their first semifinal appearance after dispatching #11 Cal Poly 13-6. #4 Michigan continued to struggle in the quarterfinals, where they have lost in seven of the last eight years. #2 Sonoma State was upset by #10 UC-Santa Barbara 6-5 on a controversial ending. UCSB scored with :04 left in the game to get back to the semis for the sixth straight season.

Score by Quarter:  1  2  3  4  F
Arizona            2  0  3  2  7
Colorado State     3  1  3  4  11

Goaltenders:
Arizona - Charles Salemi (60:00 minutes, 13 saves, 11 goals against)
Colorado State - Pete Jokisch (60:00 minutes, 10 saves, 7 goals against)