Colorado State Sloppy in Win over Arizona
News Release—Colorado State University Lacrosse
March 15, 2010
TUCSON, Ariz.—The Colorado State Rams played an ugly game against the University of Arizona on Monday. Some messy plays allowed the Wildcats to take possession and keep up with CSU on the scoreboard for the first half, but the Rams pulled it together in the second half to defeat U of A 13-8.
“I would classify this as an ugly win,” CSU head coach Alex Smith said. “I don’t mean to take anything away from Arizona because they played great, but we played out of character.” Little mistakes cost the Rams the ball a number of times, and it seemed like the players weren’t 100 percent in the game. “We are better than what we showed today and if we bring that effort again we might not get a win,” coach Smith said.
The Wildcats kept neck and neck with the Rams for the first half, never letting a goal go unanswered with their own in return. The Rams’ offense had to work hard for every goal it scored and the Wildcats kept their defense busy as well. Rams goalie Alex Jacques made several great saves during the game and stopped 13 shots.
The game wasn’t always bleak for CSU, however. Rams attackmen Cooper Kehoe and Austin Fisher were part of many plays that got the stands cheering. At one point, Kehoe snagged the ball from the Arizona goalie during a Wildcat clear attempt and shot it back into the goal. Another moment saw Fisher carry the ball around the crease and toss it over the goalie’s shoulder for a score.
After about 45 minutes of struggle, the Rams started to play at the caliber that they’ve usually played this season. They took smarter shots and kept the Wildcats’ goalie busy guessing where the shot would come from. The CSU defense also worked harder to disrupt the Wildcats’ plays.
The Rams outplayed Arizona in the second half, as is traditionally their style. They bolted ahead on the scoreboard, scoring six more points and getting a five-point lead on the Wildcats.
“I was happy with the way we finished the game, but I think we learned a lesson in how to prepare today. We had an idea of what they were all about but we did a bad job getting individually ready to play,” coach Smith said. “I hope that’s not a problem looking forward.”
The Rams will play one more game while on their trip to Arizona this Wednesday against Chico State at the Arizona State University fields. A live Twitter feed will be available by following CSUMensLAX.
