Rams Run Away with Showdown 13-5 over Buffaloes

Denver, CO – For a second consecutive year, the #2 Colorado State Rams and #6 Colorado Buffaloes met at INVESCO Field at Mile High Stadium in the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse Showdown on Saturday night. In a rematch of last year’s national championship game, the Rams got huge efforts from senior attackman Brian Stone (Air Academy HS; Colorado Springs, CO) and Tyson Ehinger (Heritage HS; Littleton, CO) as they dispatched of their rivals from the south with a resounding 13-5 victory.

Stone had a career-high seven goals on only eight shots while fellow attackmen Danny Stevens (Suffern HS; Suffern, NY) and John Tomlinson (Smoky Hill HS; Aurora, CO) added a combined seven points themselves in a very solid effort up front. All of Stevens’ three assists came on Stone tallies in the victory.

While CSU’s offense was getting open looks on one end of the field, the Rams’ defense held up their end of the bargain on the other. After CU tied the game at 1 early in the first quarter, Ehinger spearheaded a defensive effort that kept the Buffs off of the scoreboard for almost 30 minutes. The junior netminder had 15 saves on the evening, including 12 in the first three quarters as the Rams built a commanding 9-1 lead after three.

Colorado State struck early in the opening stanza when Stone and Stevens connected for a goal just :40 in. CU answered back less than a minute later, but then fell victim to the offensive doldrums as CSU’s defense dug in. The Rams got the score up to 5-1 after one quarter and 6-1 at the half.

Colorado did get some offensive production in the fourth quarter. After finally breaking their scoreless streak on a fast break early in the final frame, CU rattled off two more goals in the next three minutes to make the score 9-4, but CSU answered with two Stone goals to put the game out of reach.

Seniors Adam Schnirel (Mt. Lebanon HS; Pittsburgh, PA) and Ian Wilson (Arapahoe HS; Littleton, CO) played extremely well at close defense for the Rams. Freshman Andrew Stein (Columbine HS; Littleton, CO) was credited for three caused turnovers as well as the long poles did a great job on CU’s attackmen.

A big story in the game was the even play of face-offs. Tyler Wood was very good in the first half for the Buffaloes, winning 7 of 9 draws. But the Rams drew even in the second half, mostly thanks to the play of junior Lee Cates (Rangeview HS; Aurora, CO), who captured 9 of his 13 face-off attempts. CSU has struggled to win face-offs in recent history and a solid effort by Cates helped neutralize CU’s possession game.

CSU midfielders Stephen Lundberg (Cherry Creek HS; Greenwood Village, CO) and Ryan MacDonald (Smoky Hill HS; Aurora, CO) continued their strong seasons as well, contributing two goals and one assist each. Colorado was paced by junior midfielder Tyler Baruch, whose two goals led all scorers for the Buffs.

For their efforts, Stone and Ehinger were named co-MVPs by the CSU Lacrosse Alumni Association while CU’s nominee was do-it-all midfielder Scott Cadiz. The game was attended by a rabid fan base that was estimated at nearly 6,000 fans, almost double of last year’s attendance figures.

Next up for both teams is a rematch in Boulder two weeks from now in the RMLC conference semifinals. Colorado State (12-2 overall; 3-1 RMLC) clinches the #2 seed with the victory while Colorado falls to 14-4 and 2-2 in conference. The winner of the game will play the winner of Brigham Young and Utah in the other semifinal.

Lacrosse Box Score (Final)
#2 Colorado State Univ. vs #6 Univ. of Colorado (Apr 21, 2007 at Denver)

Colorado State Univ. (12-2) vs.
Univ. of Colorado (14-4)
Date: Apr 21, 2007
Attendance: 5,800
Weather: Cool and Rainy at times

SCORE BY PERIOD 1 2 3 4 Tot
————————————-
Colorado State Univ. 5 1 3 4 - 13
Univ. of Colorado… 1 0 0 4 - 5

Colorado State Univ. SCORING: GOALS: Stone, Brian 7; Lundberg, Stephen 2;
MacDonald, Ryan 2; Stevens, Danny 1; Tomlinson, John 1.
ASSISTS: Stevens, Danny 3; Tomlinson, John 2; Bird, Pat 1; Bowman, Dylan 1;
Lundberg, Stephen 1; MacDonald, Ryan 1; Vickery, Brian 1.

Univ. of Colorado SCORING: GOALS: Baruch, Tyler 2; Atwood, John 1; Upah, Andrew
1; Lemery, Brian 1.
ASSISTS: Eckenhoff, Jeff 1.

GOALTENDER SUMMARY
Colorado State Univ. Minutes GA W/L Saves
————————————————–
18 Ehinger, Tyson…… 54:55 5 15
8 Fitzgerald, Garrett. 3:31 0 0
45 Simmons, Lance…… 1:34 0 0

Univ. of Colorado Minutes GA W/L Saves
————————————————–
13 Moriarty, Kevin….. 54:55 12 8
33 Murphy, James……. 5:05 1 0

SHOTS BY PERIOD 1 2 3 4 Tot
————————————-
Colorado State Univ. 7 3 10 10 - 30
Univ. of Colorado… 8 10 3 12 - 33

SAVES BY PERIOD 1 2 3 4 Tot
————————————-
Colorado State Univ. 5 5 2 3 - 15
Univ. of Colorado… 2 1 2 3 - 8

GROUND BALLS BY PRD 1 2 3 4 Tot
————————————-
Colorado State Univ. 6 9 9 19 - 43
Univ. of Colorado… 5 9 4 11 - 29

TURNOVERS BY PRD 1 2 3 4 Tot
————————————-
Colorado State Univ. 4 9 4 10 - 27
Univ. of Colorado… 5 7 5 8 - 25

FACE-OFFS BY PRD 1 2 3 4 Total
—————————————————-
Colorado State Univ. 2-7 0-2 3-4 6-9 - 11-22
Univ. of Colorado… 5-7 2-2 1-4 3-9 - 11-22

CLEARS BY PERIOD 1 2 3 4 Total
—————————————————-
Colorado State Univ. 4-5 7-7 5-5 1-2 - 17-19
Univ. of Colorado… 3-4 3-4 1-3 3-5 - 10-16

EXTRA-MAN OPPS 1 2 3 4 Total
—————————————————-
Colorado State Univ. 0-0 0-0 0-2 1-2 - 1-4
Univ. of Colorado… 0-2 0-2 0-1 0-0 - 0-5

PENALTIES - Colorado State Univ. 5/4:30; Univ. of Colorado 4/4:00.
Officials: Malmquist, Dave; Schulszki, Anton; Mauney, Brian. Scorer: Andy Flax.