No. 3 Simon Fraser falls 12-6 to No. 9 Colorado State
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - Simon Fraser University Men’s Lacrosse
Event: Men’s Lacrosse
Site: Shea Stadium, Littleton, Colorado
Score: #3 Simon Fraser University 6, #9 Colorado State University 12
Record: SFU (1-1, 0-0 PNCLL), CSU (4-0, 0-0 RMLC)
Next SFU Game: Sunday, March 7, 2010, 7:00pm MST – vs. #11 University of Colorado – Boulder, CO (Kittredge Field)
LITTLETON, CO (March 5, 2010) No. 3 Simon Fraser (1-1, 0-0 PNCLL) played their second game of the 2010 regular season on Friday, March 5 falling 12-6 to No. 9 Colorado State (4-0, 0-0 RMLC). With SFU leading 5-4 at halftime, the Rams stunned the Clan with an 8-1 second half on route to earning the upset. Fraser was led by senior attack Adam Foss (Cochrane, AB / Cochrane High School) with 2 goals and junior attack Chris Tessarolo (New Westminster, BC / New Westminster Secondary) with 1 goal and 1 assist.
SFU would find themselves down early, as a slow start put the Clan behind 3-0 to open the first quarter. CSU executed an aggressive riding game to dominate time of possession in the game’s opening minutes as several Clan turnovers in transition would lead to early chances for the Rams. CSU freshman Austin Fisher (Highlands Ranch, CO / Rock Canyon) initiated the scoring as he converted a feed from fellow attack Cooper Kehoe (Chico, CA / Stevenson) to take a 1-0 lead. Colorado State’s Stephen Unkrich (Highlands Ranch, CO / Mountain Vista) then made the score 2-0 on a screen shot from top right before Fisher and Kehoe hooked up again for Fisher’s second goal of the quarter. Finally able to solve the CSU ride, Fraser would go on the offensive to end the quarter with senior captain Adam Foss getting the Clan on the board to close the score to 3-1.
SFU would maintain the momentum to start the second quarter. Foss scored his second goal of the half, from Chris Tessarolo to make the score 3-2. Midfield Eric Ransom (Sherwood Park, AB / Bev Facey High School) then buried a shot from inside to cap off a lengthy Clan possession and tie the game at three. Fellow freshmen Colton Dow (Coquitlam, BC / Heritage Woods Secondary) gave the Clan their first lead of the game as he finished on a nice drive from the side of the cage to put Fraser ahead by one. A solid Clan ride was key in turning the tides in transition while the SFU defense did a good job of limiting the Ram’s few chances. Sophomore midfield Rick Bezuidenhout (Campbell River, BC / Timberline Secondary) scored in traffic to cap off a 5-0 Clan run and extend the lead to two before CSU midfield Garrett Fugier (Greenwood Village, CO / Regis Jesuit) was able to stop the bleeding and put the Rams back on the score sheet for a halftime score of 5-4 SFU.
Fraser would again come out slow to start the second half with a re-focused CSU quick to take advantage of the Clan’s return to poor execution. Kehoe scored his first of the game to level the score at five before Fisher completed the hat-trick to give the lead back to the Rams. A fired-up CSU squad refused to take their foot of the gas and SFU struggled to match the Rams intensity. Mistakes began to add up for the Clan as CSU capitalized on their chances and began to click in the offensive end. A 5-0 third quarter would be part of six unanswered goals for the Rams as Greyson Konkel (Aurora, CO / Regis Jesuit) opened the fourth quarter scoring to give CSU a 10-5 lead. Tessarolo would spark the Clan’s chances early in the fourth quarter with his first of the game before Konkel scored his second to extend the Ram lead back to five. CSU freshmen Austin Fisher closed out the scoring and put an exclamation mark on an impressive five goal performance to give Colorado State a 12-6 win.
SCORE BY QUARTER 1 2 3 4 Total
Simon Fraser 1 4 0 1 6
Colorado State 3 1 5 3 12
NOTES
- Seven SFU players registered points: Foss 2g; Tessarolo 1g, 1a; Bezuidenhout 1g; Dow 1g; Ransom 1g; Russel Thomas (Nanoose Bay, BC / Ballenas Secondary) 1a; Ben Towner (Port Coquitlam, BC / Terry Fox Secondary) 1a.
- Clan senior Towner who finished the game with 1 assist was held without a goal for the first time in his collegiate career.
- Junior Dean Stewart played the entire 60:00 minutes in the SFU goal, making 9 saves with 12 goals against.
- Clan freshmen Dow (1g) scored his first collegiate point.
- SFU registered only 22 ground balls. Junior LSM Luke Genereux (Port Coquitlam, BC / Terry Fox Secondary) and senior midfield Thomas led the Clan with 4 ground balls each.
- The Clan’s regular season winning streak was snapped at 23 games. Fraser’s last regular season loss was on February 28, 2008 to Brigham Young.
QUOTES
SFU Co-Head Coach Brent Hoskins
On Colorado State: “Colorado State out played us in three quarters tonight and deserve a lot of credit for how well they executed on both sides of the ball. The Rams are always tough in transition and Coach Smith has got them competing hard on every shift. It was also nice to see Coach Naumberg back on the sidelines.”
SFU Co-Head Coach Jeff Cathrea
On Simon Fraser: “As a group, we are disappointed in our level of execution tonight. CSU did a great job of challenging us in all areas and we failed to perform at the level that we need to in order to be successful against an elite team. Tonight was a good lesson for us but we are confident in our athlete’s ability to respond and get better with each game.”
