Colorado Springs, CO – The #2 Colorado State Rams rallied from a 9-6 deficit with just over five minutes remaining to force overtime against Division III Colorado College on Saturday at Washburn Field in Colorado Springs. But the Tigers capitalized on the opening face-off of the sudden death period when Brendan Gangl scored on an uncontested shot to win 11-10 and give the Tigers their first victory over CSU since 2003. The Tigers capitalized on 5 of 7 man-up opportunities and got 4 goals from midfielder Hunter Combs as the Rams fell in their opening contest of the season.
After leading the Tigers 4-2 at halftime, the Rams gave up five straight goals in the first eight minutes of the third quarter. The CSU settled defense was stingy but penalties ultimately undid the Rams as the Tigers gained momentum with their man-up success.
CSU’s new look attack had 12 points on the afternoon as sophomore Kevin Wolff (Don Bosco Prep HS, NJ) netted 3 goals to go along with 3 assists to lead all scorers. Freshman Paul Larson (Columbine HS, CO) also had 4 goals as the young Rams showed a lot of heart before ultimately succumbing. Senior midfielder Ryan MacDonald (Smoky Hill HS, CO) pitched in with 1 goal and 3 assists as well.
While the game was sloppy at times for both teams trying to clear the ball, the final five minutes was an entertaining slugfest. Larson sandwiched two goals around a Wolff man-up tally to tie the game 9-9 with 1:39 left but CC answered when Hunter Combs blistered home a shot 29 seconds later. Undaunted, the Rams fought back to tie it again when Wolff caught a feed from MacDonald and finished with just 16 seconds left in the contest.
Senior Garrett Fitzgerald (Regis Jesuit HS, CO) played admirably in goal, registering 13 saves while playing all 60:21 in the loss. The Tigers used three freshmen goalies but it was Scott MacArthur’s 10 saves in 30:21 of second half action that sealed the victory.
Next up for the Rams (0-1) is a trip to Minnesota next weekend for the 2nd annual Chris Jenkins Memorial Tournament hosted by the University of Minnesota. CSU will play three games in three days against #7 Boston College, Minnesota and #4 Minnesota-Duluth in a grueling test.
Game Stats:
#2 Colorado State Univ. vs Colorado College (Feb 23, 2008 at Colorado Springs)

Colorado State Univ. (0-1) vs. SCORE BY PERIOD 1 2 3 4 OT Tot
Colorado College (2-0) —————————————-
Date: Feb 23, 2008 Attendance: 500 Colorado State Univ. 2 2 1 5 0 - 10
Weather: Sunny, windy, snowy, all over the map Colorado College…. 0 2 6 2 1 - 11

Colorado State Univ. SCORING: GOALS: Larson, Paul 4; Wolff, Kevin 3;
Macdonald, Ryan 1; Wallace, Ben 1; Bowman, Dylan 1.
ASSISTS: Macdonald, Ryan 3; Wolff, Kevin 3; Tromburg, Joel 1; Wallace, Ben 1.

Colorado College SCORING: GOALS: Combs, Hunter 4; Dugan, Tom 2; Gangl, Brendan
2; Widnauer-Haigney, Ky 2; Love, Chris 1.
ASSISTS: Dugan, Tom 4; Bamberger, Joe 1; Boyle, Joe 1; Gangl, Brendan 1; Love,
Chris 1; McGeary, Michael 1; Widnauer-Haigney, Ky 1.

GOALTENDER SUMMARY
Colorado State Univ. Minutes GA W/L Saves
————————————————–
8 Fitzgerald, Garrett. 60:21 11 OTL 13

Colorado College Minutes GA W/L Saves
————————————————–
40 Pluss, Max………. 15:00 2 2
30 MacArthur, Scott…. 30:21 6 W 10
36 Haas, Brendan……. 15:00 2 1

SHOTS BY PERIOD 1 2 3 4 OT Tot
—————————————-
Colorado State Univ. 6 4 10 15 0 - 35
Colorado College…. 10 6 14 7 1 - 38

GROUND BALLS BY PRD 1 2 3 4 OT Tot
—————————————-
Colorado State Univ. 6 9 9 15 0 - 39
Colorado College…. 7 13 11 12 2 - 45

FACE-OFFS BY PRD 1 2 3 4 OT Total
———————————————————-
Colorado State Univ. 1-3 3-5 2-8 1-7 0-1 - 7-24
Colorado College…. 2-3 2-5 6-8 6-7 1-1 - 17-24

CLEARS BY PERIOD 1 2 3 4 OT Total
———————————————————-
Colorado State Univ. 5-8 7-9 7-9 3-6 0-0 - 22-32
Colorado College…. 2-3 5-10 4-8 1-6 0-0 - 12-27

EXTRA-MAN OPPS 1 2 3 4 OT Total
———————————————————-
Colorado State Univ. 0-0 0-0 0-2 2-3 0-0 - 2-5
Colorado College…. 0-0 2-4 3-3 0-0 0-0 - 5-7

SAVES BY PERIOD 1 2 3 4 OT Tot
—————————————-
Colorado State Univ. 5 2 4 2 0 - 13
Colorado College…. 2 1 6 4 0 - 13

TURNOVERS BY PRD 1 2 3 4 OT Tot
—————————————-
Colorado State Univ. 5 11 5 6 0 - 27
Colorado College…. 5 8 6 7 0 - 26

PENALTIES - Colorado State Univ. 7/6:00; Colorado College 5/3:00.