Fort Collins, CO – Coming off a heartbreaking 11-10 loss in 5 overtimes last Saturday against unranked Utah, the #4 Colorado State Rams bounced back to defeat the #25 Arizona Wildcats 11-8 at home in a non-conference match-up between two storied programs in the MCLA.  Much like their game against Utah, CSU led 10-7 midway through the fourth quarter, but this time they held on for the victory, playing smart and physical down the stretch.  Sophomore defenseman Andrew Stein (Columbine HS; CO) was on point in the defensive end and even pitched in with a goal and an assist to help propel the Rams to their ninth victory on the season with an 11-8 win.

Arizona jumped out to an early 3-1 lead thanks to some precision shooting, but CSU roared back with 4 goals in less than 3 minutes to take a lead they would not relinquish for the rest of the day.  The Rams got balanced scoring in the first half as 6 different players scored the team’s 7 goals.  Arizona hung tough in the second quarter only to watch as senior midfielder Dylan Bowman (Fairview HS; CO) scored a huge goal with just :13 left in the half to put the Rams up 7-5 at the break.

Arizona knotted the score at 7-7 midway through the third quarter on consecutive goals by Curtis Fillmore.  After that however, CSU’s offense outscored the Wildcats 4-1 over the final 21:24 of the contest to secure the win.  Freshman Paul Larson (Columbine HS; CO) had a game-high 3 goals on the afternoon while Bowman had 2 goals.  Arizona had five players tally two points, including Eric Poole, who had 2 goals and 1 assist to lead the Wildcats.

CSU found some success at the face-off ‘x’ as Scott Gelston (Air Academy HS; CO) and Pat Miller (Air Academy HS; CO) combined to go 16/23.  Freshman long stick midfielder Mark Moskovics (Monarch HS; CO) had 4 groundballs on the afternoon, but the groundball award for the day went to CSU’s senior midfielder Ryan MacDonald (Smoky Hill HS; CO).  While MacDonald had one goal, his 12 grounders far outpaced anyone on either team. 

Half of Arizona’s 8 goals were scored on the man-up as CSU was flagged for 7 penalties on the day, but the six on six defense was good enough for the Rams to hold U of A at bay.  The win marks CSU’s second straight over Arizona by this 11-8 score as the Rams defeated the Wildcats in the national quarterfinals in 2006. 

Colorado State (9-3 overall; 0-1 RMLC) has one of their biggest games of the year on Saturday afternoon as the #6 Brigham Young University Cougars come calling for a crucial RMLC match-up.  CSU has not defeated the Cougars since the 2006 MCLA semifinals and will need to play well to beat BYU in the country’s premiere rivalry.

Game Stats:

                           Lacrosse Box Score (Final)
                      The Automated ScoreBook For Lacrosse
#17 Univ. of Arizona vs #4 Colorado State Univ. (Apr 03, 2008 at Intramural Fields)

Univ. of Arizona (5-7) vs.                        
Colorado State Univ. (9-3)                        
Date: Apr 03, 2008  Attendance: 150               
Weather: Sunny, windy, COLD                       

SCORE BY PERIOD       1  2  3  4  Tot
-------------------------------------
Univ. of Arizona....  3  2  2  1 -  8
Colorado State Univ.  5  2  2  2 - 11

Univ. of Arizona SCORING: GOALS: Poole, Eric 2; Fillmore, Curtis 2; Hoselton,
Peter 2; Smith, Corey 1; Beauchamp, Alex 1.
ASSISTS: Beauchamp, Alex 1; Brand, Dilon 1; Poole, Eric 1; Schenone, Benjamin 1;
Smith, Corey 1.

Colorado State Univ. SCORING: GOALS: Larson,Paul 3; Bowman,Dylan 2; Stein,Andrew
1; Macdonald,Ryan 1; Backstrom,Justin 1; Rosa,Kyle 1; Tromburg,Joel 1;
Wilbanks,Clayton 1.
ASSISTS: Stein,Andrew 1; Wallace,Ben 1; Wolff,Kevin 1.

SHOTS BY PERIOD       1  2  3  4  Tot
-------------------------------------
Univ. of Arizona.... 13  7  5  9 - 34
Colorado State Univ. 10  9  9  5 - 33

GROUND BALLS BY PRD   1  2  3  4  Tot
-------------------------------------
Univ. of Arizona.... 13  9 11  9 - 42
Colorado State Univ. 10 13 15 12 - 50

FACE-OFFS BY PRD       1     2     3     4     Total
----------------------------------------------------
Univ. of Arizona....  3-9   1-5   1-5   2-4  -  7-23
Colorado State Univ.  6-9   4-5   4-5   2-4  - 16-23

CLEARS BY PERIOD       1     2     3     4     Total
----------------------------------------------------
Univ. of Arizona....  3-3   7-8   5-7   5-5  - 20-23
Colorado State Univ.  4-5   3-7   6-7   4-8  - 17-27

EXTRA-MAN OPPS         1     2     3     4     Total
----------------------------------------------------
Univ. of Arizona....  0-3   0-0   1-1   1-3  -  2-7
Colorado State Univ.  0-1   0-2   0-0   0-1  -  0-4

SAVES BY PERIOD       1  2  3  4  Tot
-------------------------------------
Univ. of Arizona....  2  1  3  1 -  7
Colorado State Univ.  2  0  2  4 -  8

TURNOVERS BY PRD      1  2  3  4  Tot
-------------------------------------
Univ. of Arizona....  4  6  7  3 - 20
Colorado State Univ.  4  3  4  3 - 14

PENALTIES - Univ. of Arizona 4/3:30; Colorado State Univ. 7/5:30.
Officials: JD. Scorer: Andrew Chapman.