Rosemount, MN – Freshman Cooper Kehoe (Robert Louis Stevenson HS, CA) registered a career-high 3 goals and added 1 assist as the #2 Colorado State Rams defeated the #3 Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs 9-7 in the much-anticipated finish to the 2nd annual Chris Jenkins Memorial Tournament.  The Rams rallied from a 7-4 deficit and held the Bulldogs scoreless over the final 21:21 to record a hard-fought victory over a talented and hungry Duluth squad.

CSU’s man-down unit continued its new-found success, shutting the door on 8 UMD man-up attempts.  CSU’s man-down defense has now killed off 14 straight penalties after allowing 10 goals in the first two games of the season.  The Rams were anchored by the strong and smart play of close defensemen Tom Fender (Thunder Ridge HS, CO) and Andrew Stein (Columbine HS, CO).  The two defenders held UMD’s talented attack duo of Pete Nelson and Casey Mithun to just 2 goals and 2 assists and also combined for 7 groundballs on the afternoon.

Kehoe netted the first two goals for CSU, the second of which coming on a drive from behind the goal with just :01 left in the first quarter.  The first half was mostly a defensive struggle, although both teams had some good chances and kept the pace of the game high.  The opening thirty minutes came to a close with the game tied 3-3.

CSU once again seemed to come out flat in the third as Duluth rattled off 3 of the game’s next 4 goals in a 3:00 span early in the quarter.  UMD added to their lead with 6:21 remaining in the third to make it 7-4, but CSU’s defense buckled down, holding the Bulldogs scoreless the rest of the way.  While CSU has outscored its opponents in every other quarter this season, they have allowed 13 goals and scored 8 in the third period of games this year.

It was all CSU in the fourth as the Rams kept the ball on the offensive side of the field for most of the frame.  Junior Joel Tromburg (Heritage HS, CO) had his best game of the season, registering 2 fourth quarter goals, including the final goal of the game on a running left-handed bouncer with 4:33 remaining.

Sophomore Kevin Wolff (Don Bosco Prep, NJ) had 1 goal and 3 assists to tie Kehoe for game-high scoring honors and senior Ryan MacDonald (Smoky Hill HS, CO) pitched in with 1 goal and 1 assist as well.  The Bulldogs were led by midfielder Daniel Pitzl’s 3 goals and Nelson’s 1 goal and 2 assists.  UMD had four other scorers with 1 goal each. 

Senior goaltender Garrett Fitzgerald (Regis Jesuit HS, CO) went toe to toe with UMD’s All-American Jake Launert on the afternoon.  Fitzgerald made 9 saves and allowed just 4 goals in 52 minutes of play while Launert made 10 saves.  Tyson Ehinger (Heritage HS, CO) had 5 saves in 8 minutes of action for the Rams as well.  While the man-down play was certainly improved, Fitzgerald made several acrobatic stops to thwart Bulldog chances on the crease as the Rams slowly outpaced UMD in the second half.

Colorado State (3-1) is off until Tuesday, March 11th when they will host the #24 University of Texas in their first home game of the season.  The Rams have now won both contests against Minnesota-Duluth in the series.  CSU eked out a 6-5 win last season.

Lacrosse Box Score (Final)
The Automated ScoreBook For Lacrosse
#2 Colorado State Univ. vs #3 Minnesota-Duluth (Mar 02, 2008 at Minneapolis)
			
Colorado State Univ. (3-1) vs.                    
Minnesota-Duluth (2-1)                            
Date: Mar 02, 2008  Attendance: 250               
Weather: inside                                   

SCORE BY PERIOD       1  2  3  4  Tot
-------------------------------------
Colorado State Univ.  2  1  3  3 -  9
Minnesota-Duluth....  1  2  4  0 -  7

Colorado State Univ. SCORING: GOALS: Kehoe,Cooper 3; Tromburg,Joel 2;
Wolff,Kevin 1; Macdonald,Ryan 1; Larson,Paul 1; Wallace,Ben 1.
ASSISTS: Wolff,Kevin 3; Kehoe,Cooper 1; Macdonald,Ryan 1.

Minnesota-Duluth SCORING: GOALS: Pitzl, Daniel 3; Nelson, Pete 1; Hochman, Brian
1; Wishart, Scott 1; Mithun, Casey 1.
ASSISTS: Nelson, Pete 2; Kruse, Matt 1; Prokop, Jonathan 1.

SHOTS BY PERIOD       1  2  3  4  Tot
-------------------------------------
Colorado State Univ. 12  5  4 10 - 31
Minnesota-Duluth....  4  9 17  4 - 34

GROUND BALLS BY PRD   1  2  3  4  Tot
-------------------------------------
Colorado State Univ.  5  8 10  8 - 31
Minnesota-Duluth.... 11 11 13  9 - 44

FACE-OFFS BY PRD       1     2     3     4     Total
----------------------------------------------------
Colorado State Univ.  1-4   1-4   4-7   1-4  -  7-19
Minnesota-Duluth....  3-4   3-4   3-7   3-4  - 12-19

CLEARS BY PERIOD       1     2     3     4     Total
----------------------------------------------------
Colorado State Univ.  8-8   6-6   1-1   6-6  - 21-21
Minnesota-Duluth....  5-7   7-7   4-4   5-6  - 21-24

EXTRA-MAN OPPS         1     2     3     4     Total
----------------------------------------------------
Colorado State Univ.  1-3   0-1   1-3   0-1  -  2-8
Minnesota-Duluth....  0-0   0-1   0-6   0-1  -  0-8

SAVES BY PERIOD       1  2  3  4  Tot
-------------------------------------
Colorado State Univ.  2  3  7  2 - 14
Minnesota-Duluth....  5  2  1  2 - 10

TURNOVERS BY PRD      1  2  3  4  Tot
-------------------------------------
Colorado State Univ.  4  6  1  2 - 13
Minnesota-Duluth....  6  6  1  3 - 16

PENALTIES - Colorado State Univ. 9/7:00; Minnesota-Duluth 9/5:30.
Officials: Brad Scibak; Daron Yates; Jeff Dolan. Scorer: Tiana and Melissa.