#2 Sonoma State Jumps Ahead On #1 Colorado State, Never Looks Back In
11-9 Win

Colorado State vs. Sonoma State
Saturday, March 10, 2002
La Jolla, CA
UCSD Track and Field Stadium

While #1 Colorado State was dispatching Stanford on Friday night, the #2
Sonoma State Cossacks sat in the stands resting and watching. Seeing the
Rams in action proved beneficial for the Cossacks as they jumped out to a
4-3 first quarter lead before hanging on for the 11-9 win in front of a
large crowd at UC-San Diego’s Track and Field Stadium. Sonoma was anchored
by an unbelievable defensive effort from its long poles and 15 saves by
sophomore Dominic Gomez in the win.

The first quarter started fast for both teams as they combined for five
goals in the first eight minutes. Colorado State looked to expand on the
momentum they had built in the Stanford victory as they jumped out to a 3-1
lead behind goals from senior Doug Priebe (1 goal, 1 assist), freshman Tim
Farquhar (2g), and senior Mike Napolilli (3g, 1a). Sonoma countered with a
tally from junior attackman Will Burson (2g). Two of Sonoma’s powerful
middies Mike Fritz (2g) and M.J. Crickmore (3g) tied the score up late in
the period before Jay Wollert (1g) scored with just :07 left in the first to
give the Cossacks their first lead of the day at 4-3.

In the second, Sonoma built on its lead with goals from Mike Flynn (1g, 1a)
and Burson. After holding the explosive Rams to no goals for most of the
period, Sonoma shot itself in the foot as Gomez raked the ball into his own
net to make it a two goal game. Thanks to a man-up goal from Kale Nelson
(1g), CSU trailed by only one with 1:40 left in the half. But Sonoma would
add another from Brian Cummings (2g), who incidentally put his team man-down
on the last goal scored by Rams. Atoning for his mistake, he helped the
Cossacks take a 7-5 lead into halftime.

Momentum seemed to switch back to Colorado State after the break as they got
goals from Farquhar and Napolilli to tie the game. Napolilli’s goal with
11:13 left in the period would be the last the Rams would see in the third,
however, as Gomez (15 saves, 9 goals against) and the Sonoma defense put the
clamps down. Fritz scored with 8:11 left to give the Cossacks the lead
again before Crickmore fired an absolute rocket past junior netminder Alex
Smith (16 saves, 11 goals against) to reestablish the Sonoma lead at
9-7.

The fourth quarter saw Sonoma push its lead to three as Cummings scored his
second goal while being slashed by Farquhar. This penalty would open the
floodgates for the Rams who were flagged six more times in the period.
However, Colorado State was not willing to fade away and made the game
interesting again. A diving save by Smith led to a fast break goal by
Kelten Johnson (1g) with 11:02 left. This was followed by a quick face-off
win by Nate Mueller (1a), who fed Napolilli to make it a one goal game with
over 10:45 remaining. But then Sonoma would show its mettle as Crickmore
finished his hat trick with 8:00 left on the clock. That was be the last
goal anyone scored on the day before the Cossack defense tightened and
rallied around Gomez. Gomez was called for an illegal body check with 2:27
left and the CSU man-up was given the opportunity they had been waiting for.
But enior goalie Jamie Refvem (3 saves, 0 goals against) was up to the
challenge as he shut the door on any possible Ram comeback. Refvem played
the final three minutes for the Cossacks and continued the strong goalie
play Gomez had started. A penalty call against Nick Stanitz-Harper was
compounded with a mental error by Ryan Davis giving Sonoma a two man
advantage for the last minute. CSU could not get the ball back as the
Cossacks ascended to #1.

The story of the game was the Cossack defense, which held Ryan Davis to just
one assist on the day. The Colorado State attack only managed eight points
on the stingy Sonoma defense. Colorado State’s own defense corps of Jeremy
Smith, Mark Plonkey, Jeff Schmid and Ryan Price held their own as well
allowing only six points from the Cossack attack.

Over the last four years, the Sonoma State Cossacks and Colorado State Rams
have played four games. During those four games, each team owns two
victories and two defeats. The aggregate score for those four contestscomes out to an even 41-41.

Box Score:
Team: 1st Qtr – 2nd Qtr – 3rd Qtr – 4th Qtr – OT: Final
CSU: 3 – 2 – 2 – 2: 9
SSU: 4 – 3 – 2 – 2: 11

Goals:
CSU: Napolilli (3), Farquhar (2), Nelson, D. Priebe, Johnson and Schultz
SSU: Crickmore (3), Burson, Cummings and Fritz (2), Flynn and Wollert

Assists:
CSU: Stanitz-Harper (2), Davis, Napolilli, D. Priebe, Hasson and Mueller
SSU: Alexander and Flynn

Goaltenders:
CSU: Smith (60:00 minutes, 16 saves, 11 goals against)
SSU: Gomez (57:00 minutes, 15 saves, 9 goals against), Refvem (3:00
minutes, 3 saves, 0 goals against)

Penalties:
CSU: 8/7:00
SSU: 4/4:00

Man-up:
CSU: 3/4
SSU: 1/7

Officials: Brown, Carroll, Byrd