LOVELAND, Colorado – The Rams faced a challenging doubleheader this weekend as they went against two hard-working teams. Winning against UNC on Saturday and Adams State on Sunday showed that they could handle the pressure, and the game against Adams State especially revealed their strengths this season. “In these two-game weekends, you really need a lot of depth. The fact that we pretty much rolled through ten offensive middies and seven close defenders in both games shows that we are in a good place that way,” Head Coach Alex Smith said. “I like that we have competitive depth at just about every position on this team. The players know they will be held to a high standard, not just by me, but by the people pushing them on the depth chart as well.” The first half started slow. Hard fought plays put the Rams in a 5-2 lead at halftime. The third quarter was where the Rams turned the game around, in part, due to face-offs. A few of the best plays during the game resulted from face-offs won by Scott Gelston, a senior Communications major. “We like our face-off game right now and if Scott Gelston and Dan Warfield continue to improve as the season goes on, we are going to have the ball a lot,” Coach Smith said. “We turned the ball over a few too many times in the first half, though, and I think we need to learn how to value the ball a little better still.” In addition to strong face-offs, the offence made many high-quality plays, especially Austin Fisher, a sophomore business major. “Fisher was a huge spark today. He took a penalty on a hit while riding, but he came right back after that and got a couple of points in what seemed like just a minute or two,” Coach Smith said. I think he had a five minute spurt in the third quarter that pretty much put our stamp on the game and put it out of reach.” Party way through final quarter the Rams were ahead 13-3, far enough ahead to prevent Adams State from making a comeback, but Adams State’s intensity amped up and the team scored four goals in quick succession before the game ended. “Today went about as well as we could have hoped I think. Defensively, we played great until the fourth quarter when we were mixing some things up with our personnel. We knew they were going to be well-coached, but we also knew they were going to be young, so I think we did a good job of exploiting that. We got goals in transition too, and that’s a good sign for us.” Next week the Rams take to the road to play against Cal-Poly and UC-Santa Barbra, two tough teams that have been playing well this season. “We really get into it next weekend in California. We are looking forward to the challenge and the opportunity to spend some time together on the road,” Coach Smith said. More information in the Rams is available by following CSU Men’s Lacrosse on Facebook and @CSUMensLAX on Twitter. Game Stats Adam's State vs Colorado State Univ. (Feb 20, 2011 at Loveland Sports Park) Adam's State (1-1 0-0) vs. Colorado State Univ. (2-0 0-0) SCORE BY PERIOD 1 2 3 4 Tot ------------------------------------- Date: Feb 20, 2011 Attendance: 125 Adam's State........ 2 0 1 4 - 7 Colorado State Univ. 2 3 6 2 - 13 Colorado State Univ. SCORING: GOALS: Kehoe, Cooper 3; Fisher, Austin 3; Smith, Sean 2; Devlin, Alex 2; Konkel, Greyson 1; Campbell, Braxton 1; Grybinas, Dustin 1. ASSISTS: Kehoe, Cooper 4; Flax, Jake 2; Siegmund, Andy 1; Unkrich, Steven 1. SHOTS BY PERIOD 1 2 3 4 Tot ------------------------------------- Adam's State........ 4 5 4 10 - 23 Colorado State Univ. 19 8 13 11 - 51 GROUND BALLS BY PRD 1 2 3 4 Tot ------------------------------------- Adam's State........ 5 4 1 10 - 20 Colorado State Univ. 18 13 9 5 - 45 FACE-OFFS BY PRD 1 2 3 4 Total ---------------------------------------------------- Adam's State........ 0-5 0-4 1-8 4-7 - 5-24 Colorado State Univ. 5-5 4-4 7-8 3-7 - 19-24 CLEARS BY PERIOD 1 2 3 4 Total ---------------------------------------------------- Adam's State........ 1-5 5-10 5-10 3-4 - 14-29 Colorado State Univ. 2-3 5-8 6-7 5-7 - 18-25 EXTRA-MAN OPPS 1 2 3 4 Total ---------------------------------------------------- Adam's State........ 0-0 0-1 0-1 0-1 - 0-3 Colorado State Univ. 0-2 0-0 0-0 0-0 - 0-2 SAVES BY PERIOD 1 2 3 4 Tot ------------------------------------- Adam's State........ 11 4 6 3 - 24 Colorado State Univ. 1 4 3 3 - 11 TURNOVERS BY PRD 1 2 3 4 Tot ------------------------------------- Adam's State........ 2 3 4 5 - 14 Colorado State Univ. 7 7 8 3 - 25 PENALTIES - Adam's State 2/2:00; Colorado State Univ. 3/2:30. Officials: Brian Mauney; Dave Pratt; Jim Read. Scorer: Brandon & Julie.