Rams Defense Steps Up in 8-4 Win Over Oregon - 3/25/08
Fort Collins, CO – Senior goaltender Garrett Fitzgerald (Regis Jesuit; CO) made a career-high 19 saves and freshman Scott Gelston (Air Academy HS; CO) won 13 of 16 face-offs as the #2 Colorado State Rams allowed only 2 even-strength goals and defeated #5 Oregon by a score of 8-4 on a beautiful spring day on the campus of Colorado State University. CSU’s defense was absolutely stifling on the day, holding an Oregon team that had reached double digits in 10 straight games to their lowest scoring output in over three years. Thanks to the face-off success and a healthy 53-35 edge in the groundball battle, the Rams never trailed and exacted some measure of revenge for their 12-11 loss to the Ducks in the national semifinals last season.
The Rams scored on their first possession of the game less than 30 seconds in and kept the pressure on for much of the first quarter. Gelston won all five of his face-offs in the period as CSU peppered the Oregon goal. When the Ducks did get possession, Fitzgerald spearheaded a smart and gutsy defensive effort, holding Oregon off the scoreboard for the first 20 minutes of the game.
After Oregon cut the lead to 4-3 with 6:43 left in the second quarter, CSU rattled off three straight goals to end the period, including tallies from Ben Wallace (Thomas Jefferson HS; CO) and Luke Cantwell (Golden HS; CO) in the last minute of the half. Cantwell’s goal came with just :02 left on the clock as the Rams took a 7-3 lead into the halftime break.
The second half saw two traditionally high-powered offensive teams settle into a tightly contested defensive battle. Both teams could only manage one goal each over the final two quarters as the defenses took control. While Fitzgerald was making plays on one end of the field, Oregon goaltender Paul Swanson had a nice day in his own right, saving 18 CSU shots. Oregon midfielder Will Desiervo played very well also, scoring 1 goal and 1 assist and contributing a strong all-around effort to lead the Ducks.
The Rams were led by Wolff, who notched 3 assists to go along with his first quarter goal, and a welcome 2 goal outburst by Wallace. Cooper Kehoe (Robert Louis Stevenson HS; CA) added 2 goals and Ryan MacDonald (Smoky Hill HS; CO) had 2 assists in a balanced offensive effort for the Rams. Sophomore Luke Miller (Regis Jesuit; CO) continued his goal scoring streak by getting a key tally in the second quarter as well.
CSU (7-2) continues a challenging homestand with up and coming #13 Cal Poly on Thursday. The Mustangs play in Boulder Tuesday night before tripping up to Fort Collins for their first ever regular season meeting with the Rams. Oregon (10-1) suffers their first defeat of the season and will have a key two-game stretch next weekend against Simon Fraser and Washington in PNCLL league play.
Game Stats:
Univ. of Oregon vs Colorado State Univ. (Mar 25, 2008 at Fort Collins, CO)
Univ. of Oregon (10-1) vs.
Colorado State Univ. (7-2)
Date: Mar 25, 2008 Attendance: 560
Weather: sunny with intermittent clouds
SCORE BY PERIOD 1 2 3 4 Tot
-------------------------------------
Univ. of Oregon..... 0 3 0 1 - 4
Colorado State Univ. 4 3 0 1 - 8
Univ. of Oregon SCORING: GOALS: Desiervo, Will 1; Kopca, Ben 1; Blackmore,
Justin 1; Purcell, Danny 1.
ASSISTS: Desiervo, Will 1.
Colorado State Univ. SCORING: GOALS: Kehoe,Cooper 2; Wallace,Ben 2; Wolff,Kevin
1; Bowman,Dylan 1; Cantwell,Luke 1; Miller,Luke 1.
ASSISTS: Wolff,Kevin 3; Macdonald,Ryan 2; Larson,Paul 1.
SHOTS BY PERIOD 1 2 3 4 Tot
-------------------------------------
Univ. of Oregon..... 9 12 11 4 - 36
Colorado State Univ. 12 8 8 9 - 37
GROUND BALLS BY PRD 1 2 3 4 Tot
-------------------------------------
Univ. of Oregon..... 9 7 10 9 - 35
Colorado State Univ. 14 13 14 12 - 53
FACE-OFFS BY PRD 1 2 3 4 Total
----------------------------------------------------
Univ. of Oregon..... 0-5 1-7 0-1 2-3 - 3-16
Colorado State Univ. 5-5 6-7 1-1 1-3 - 13-16
CLEARS BY PERIOD 1 2 3 4 Total
----------------------------------------------------
Univ. of Oregon..... 6-7 5-6 6-8 5-8 - 22-29
Colorado State Univ. 9-11 4-6 4-8 5-5 - 22-30
EXTRA-MAN OPPS 1 2 3 4 Total
----------------------------------------------------
Univ. of Oregon..... 0-1 1-1 0-0 1-1 - 2-3
Colorado State Univ. 0-0 0-0 0-1 0-2 - 0-3
SAVES BY PERIOD 1 2 3 4 Tot
-------------------------------------
Univ. of Oregon..... 6 3 4 5 - 18
Colorado State Univ. 6 2 8 3 - 19
TURNOVERS BY PRD 1 2 3 4 Tot
-------------------------------------
Univ. of Oregon..... 1 3 3 3 - 10
Colorado State Univ. 1 2 4 4 – 11
PENALTIES - Univ. of Oregon 3/2:00; Colorado State Univ. 3/2:00.
Officials: Scorer: Tiana.
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