ROSEMOUNT, Minn. (March 2, 2008) - In the showcase game of the Chris Jenkins Memorial Invitational tourney this weekend, both the Bulldogs of the University of Minnesota - Duluth and the Rams of Colorado State University entered with unblemished tourney records. In an up-tempo contest between the two evenly-matched squads, CSU proved to have a little more of the staying power necessary to win over this long weekend as it prevailed on the strength of five unanswered second-half goals, 9-7.

Rams coach Flip Naumburg figured the game would be more a battle of will than skill when he said, beforehand: “I do think that the nature of the schedule this weekend will make it a game where survival might be more important in concept than tactical preparation.”

Assistant Alex Smith echoed that sentiment, but also voiced a little concern about UMD’s experience versus the Rams’ youth going in. “A lot of the Duluth game is going to be about survival… Our hope is that our youth and energy can overcome some of the experience they have on the other sideline - we’re looking for our depth to help us out.”

On the other side the Bulldogs’ Rob Horn saw the game for what it was, a serious test for a serious contender.

“These two teams are going to get at each other from the first whistle. The theme today is going to be very, very fast. Both teams can get up and down the field very well. They (CSU) have been a premiere program in the league for quite some time… Their attack is very, very skilled and they have a great sense of the field. It’s a very athletic group, so we’re going to see if they can hang with our athletes at midfield, and go from there.”

The teams sparred early but both went awhile without scoring success, the only really good chance coming from CSU about halfway through the first period.

This effort, though, would be stoned by the Bulldogs’ Jake Launert at point-blank range. Launert would have at least two more saves off shots from in close by the time ten minutes had elapsed in the first quarter, and the game remained a scoreless tie as the stifling defense in evidence on both sides of the field ensured a dearth of quality looks in that span.

At a little over eleven minutes into the first, the Rams managed to draw first blood on the afternoon as a low, skidding bouncer from CSU’s Cooper Kehoe, off a feed from attackman Kevin Wolff, got by Launert. The score occurred just as the teams were returning to all-even after a UMD penalty.

That Rams goal seemed to skew the equilibrium for the rest of the first half—the Bulldog midfield appearing to be thrown off balance by the temporary momentum shift in CSU’s favor, thus upsetting, at least momentarily, the advantage Duluth had anticipated there.

Nonetheless, with less than two minutes left in the first frame Duluth’s Casey Mithun answered, as he somehow found the back of the CSU net off a close-in shot in front, and from there the scoring picked up incrementally. With only two seconds left in the first quarter CSU’s Kehoe again succeeded on individual effort as he drove from X and around the right of the cage to flare a shot over the UMD keeper’s left shoulder, making it CSU 2 – UMD 1 at the end of one.

The second quarter tempo, scoring-wise, picked up yet again as Colorado State began finding better spacing for some outside shots and began sustaining longer possessions, thus stretching the Duluth defense. Shortly into the second Ryan MacDonald dished off to Wolff for a goal, this one a low shot that found its mark to make the interim second quarter score 3-1, Rams.

Within moments UMD answered that tally, as the Bulldogs’ Dan Pitzl accepted a feed from freshman middie Brandon Nispel about ten yards out and pushed a jump shot past the Ram’s goalie to bring the score to 3-2. Another scoring strike, this time from Duluth’s Brian Hochman from Pete Nelson, knotted the score at 3 with about 4:09 left in the second, which is where score was left when the half ended.

The second half opened with the same intensity as before, but with Colorado State tightening up a little more on its close defense. That notwithstanding, Duluth began to settle in to a controlled offense and, with a succession of three consecutive scoring strikes after an early exchange of goals to start the third, opened up a 7-4 lead that looked, at the time, like it would only get bigger.

It was then that CSU showed the tourney crowd its pedigree in tough games, as the Rams reeled off goals by Ben Wallace and Cooper Kehoe to claw back to within one goal of the Bulldogs.

As the fourth quarter began UMD appeared to yield to the pressure of the game, if only a little bit, and despite having thrown CSU to the ropes with a three goal margin in the third, could only watch as the Rams asserted ultimate control in the final stanza, racking up two goals in the fourth quarter to add to the unanswered three they had tallied to end the third.

The Duluth offense would not be heard from again on this day, as Colorado State would “survive” to emerge the victor, 9-7.

After the game Coach Naumburg discussed his program. “You know, we talk about ‘family’ all the time, and I think we exhibited that today. We just held together, we didn’t give up. We felt like we weren’t getting all the calls - you know how that is on the road - we just kept fighting away and punching away. We don’t expect superstars to make plays for us, we just expect to be solid, and we did it, and played great defense down the stretch.”

The Bulldogs’ staff was gracious despite the bitter defeat, offering no excuses. As head coach Rob Graff conceded:

“They [CSU] have a history of winning championships, and when times were tough they relied on that and responded well. We’re trying to build on that as well - find that identity - and today, we didn’t have it. Today we were up three; we should have done better when we were up three, and we didn’t. If we don’t learn from that that’s our fault, but it’s a long season… We’ll have our opportunities to show that we’ve learned from this, and if we don’t, shame on us.”

Next up for the Bulldogs will be the undefeated Michigan Wolverines at Augsburg on Saturday, March 8. The Rams will face the University of Texas Longhorns on March 11.