Colorado Falls Late to New Hampshire
News Release—Colorado University Lacrosse
March 5, 2010
BOULDER, Colo.—The University of Colorado fell short Friday night to the University of New Hampshire, giving up two goals late in the fourth quarter en route to a final score of 9-8 in favor of the Wildcats. The Buffaloes won the ground ball battle with 37, clearing was not a problem as it had been in the preseason and CU registered 44 shots to New Hampshire’s 37 . But in the end, it was a combination of penalties (12) and New Hampshire’s Jacob Katz locking down the cage in the second half that sealed CU’s fate.
“It’s frustrating as a coach,” said coach Pete Stevenson. “I felt like we were better than we played tonight, and I hope we can show that later on in the year.”
It didn’t take long for the fireworks to start, with Colorado scoring just two minutes into the game and establishing an early three-goal lead after the first quarter. CU also dominated the second quarter with 13 shots compared to the Wildcats’ five. The Buffs led 6-3 going into halftime.
Two completely different teams took the field in the second half; New Hampshire’s offense woke up and started challenging the Buffs’ defense with 14 shots and capitalized on two of their six man-up opportunities in the third to levy the gap. In retrospect, Colorado’s offense kept the pressure on the Cats’ defense, but could only find the back of the net once on nine attempts in the quarter.
The fourth quarter looked much like the third; Colorado pressed on to get shots, but again could not get past the goal line with the exception of one. CU would also add three more penalties to its tally as UNH slowly continued to claw back. The Wildcats were finally able to knot up the score at eight with just over five minutes left in the contest and never led the game until a little over two minutes left, when they netted the final goal of the contest.
CU got a few more chances to re-tie the game, but continued to be shut down by Katz. As the final whistle blew, the Buffaloes’ bench was a mix of silence and irritation.
“We came in probably a bit more prepared than they were, but they out-coached us and out-played us the second half,” Stevenson commented.
Freshman Joe Gardiner highlighted UNH’s offense with four goals, including the game winner. Also credited are James Rubio, Garrett Buckley (2 goals), Evan Flower and Michael Maloney. In net, Katz turned away 17 shots on goal and let only two by him in the second half. Those two goals came from CU senior Tyler Snyder, who had three in the game alongside single tallies by Ryan Haines, Alex Pudly, Darren Hulick, Doug Lilburne and Tyler Patzik. Will Brown had 13 saves in net for the Buffaloes.
CU has 60 minutes left to play this weekend, hosting Simon Fraser Sunday night at Kittredge Field. UNH, meanwhile, will wrap up its Colorado visit in Fort Collins, Colo. to face the CSU Rams Sunday afternoon.
