After CSU got the lead to 6-4 in the third quarter, senior midfielder Pat Bird (Bishop O’Dowd HS; Oakland, CA) scored his second goal of the period as he fell to his stomach in the UMD offensive zone. Just as he was about to hit the turf, Bird flung a shot just past Bulldog goaltender Jake Launert’s off-stick hip with what would eventually be the game-winning goal.

UMD scored twice in the opening two minutes of the fourth quarter to draw the game close, but CSU looked to its defense for help in securing the rest of the game. Senior long pole Ian Wilson (Arapahoe HS; Littleton, CO) had a great all around game. In addition to three shots and five groundballs, Wilson had a critical strip of Minnesota-Duluth’s Pete Nelson in the waning moments to secure the victory.

The story of the first half was Bulldog goaltender Jake Launert. The acrobatic goaltender had 14 stops in the first thirty minutes alone on his way to 23 total for the game. Many of those saves were right on the doorstep as the Rams struggled to finish some very good opportunities. Wilson Chung stepped in at a critical moment in the third quarter and made a nice save for UMD as well. Junior Tyson Ehinger (Heritage HS; Littleton, CO) played all 60 minutes for the Rams, making 8 saves in his third win of the season.

The Rams never trailed in the game, getting out to a 2-0 lead late in the first quarter behind junior midfielders Ryan MacDonald (Smoky Hill HS; Aurora, CO) and Dylan Bowman (Fairview HS; Boulder, CO). MacDonald capped off a very nice weekend that saw him score four goals against Utah and UMD. Fellow midfielder Stephen Lundberg (Cherry Creek HS; Englewood, CO) pitched in with a goal as well for the Rams.

Neither team found much success on man-up opportunities. UMD had three chances and CSU had four, none of which were successful. The Rams outshot the Bulldogs by a 47-21 margin, mostly thanks to the efforts of the CSU defense, who for the most part made life easy on Ehinger in the nets.

Senior attackman Danny Stevens (Suffern HS; Suffern, NY) had the lone two CSU assists on the game and the Rams got one goal a piece from MacDonald, Bowman, Lundberg, Justin Backstrom (Heritage HS; Littleton, CO) and John Tomlinson (Smoky Hill HS; Aurora, CO) in a balanced effort. Minnesota-Duluth attackman Casey Mithun had three points to lead the Bulldogs, who also got two points each from Nelson and Scott Wishart. Former CSU Ram Kyle Klossner netted one goal as well against his old team.

Colorado State (6-2; 2-1) has now passed the halfway point of their season and will enjoy a week off before welcoming four WCLL teams to Fort Collins in one week’s time. Chico State, #10 UC-Santa Barbara, UC-San Diego and #19 Chapman are all on the docket for CSU’s Spring Break at Home. The Rams move to 2-0 all time against the Bulldogs, who play BYU on Thursday and Utah Saturday before returning home.

                           Lacrosse Box Score (Final)
#8 Minnesota-Duluth vs #5 Colorado State Univ. (Mar 13, 2007 at Brigham Young Univ)


Minnesota-Duluth (2-1) vs.                        SCORE BY PERIOD       1  2  3  4  Tot
Colorado State Univ. (6-2)                        -------------------------------------
Date: Mar 13, 2007  Attendance: 60                Minnesota-Duluth....  1  2  1  2 -  6
Weather: Pleasant and Sunny                       Colorado State Univ.  2  3  2  0 -  7


Minnesota-Duluth SCORING: GOALS: Mithun, Casey 2; Wishart, Scott 1; Nelson, Pete
1; Goertz, Nate 1; Klossner, Kyle 1.
ASSISTS: Mithun, Casey 1; Nelson, Pete 1; Wishart, Scott 1.


Colorado State Univ. SCORING: GOALS: Bird, Pat 2; Lundberg, Stephen 1;
MacDonald, Ryan 1; Backstrom, Justin 1; Tomlinson, John 1; Bowman, Dylan 1.
ASSISTS: Stevens, Danny 2.


GOALTENDER SUMMARY
Colorado State Univ.      Minutes   GA   W/L Saves
--------------------------------------------------
18 Ehinger, Tyson......     60:00    6    W      8


GOALTENDER SUMMARY
Minnesota-Duluth          Minutes   GA   W/L Saves
--------------------------------------------------
11 Launert, Jake.......     58:42    7    L     22
15 Chung, Wilson.......      1:18    0           1


SHOTS BY PERIOD       1  2  3  4  Tot             SAVES BY PERIOD       1  2  3  4  Tot
-------------------------------------             -------------------------------------
Minnesota-Duluth....  7  5  5  4 - 21             Minnesota-Duluth....  5  9  4  5 - 23
Colorado State Univ. 11 15 13  8 - 47             Colorado State Univ.  3  3  2  0 -  8


GROUND BALLS BY PRD   1  2  3  4  Tot             TURNOVERS BY PRD      1  2  3  4  Tot
-------------------------------------             -------------------------------------
Minnesota-Duluth.... 14 14  9  9 - 46             Minnesota-Duluth....  6 13  7  9 - 35
Colorado State Univ. 15 15  7 17 - 54             Colorado State Univ.  4  7  4 10 - 25


FACE-OFFS BY PRD       1     2     3     4     Total
----------------------------------------------------
Minnesota-Duluth....  1-4   3-6   2-3   1-3  -  7-16
Colorado State Univ.  3-4   3-6   1-3   2-3  -  9-16

CLEARS BY PERIOD       1     2     3     4     Total
----------------------------------------------------
Minnesota-Duluth....  8-8   5-10  5-7   8-9  - 26-34
Colorado State Univ.  7-8   7-9   8-8   4-7  - 26-32

EXTRA-MAN OPPS         1     2     3     4     Total
----------------------------------------------------
Minnesota-Duluth....  0-0   0-0   0-3   0-0  -  0-3
Colorado State Univ.  0-0   0-2   0-0   0-2  -  0-4

PENALTIES - Minnesota-Duluth 4/3:30; Colorado State Univ. 4/3:00.
Officials: Salatto, M.; Mauck, P.; McQuad, E.J.. Scorer: Andy Flax.