Coach's Corner with Joe Sharrock

3/17/08 - Rams finish 9th in the Nation:

The team had a good showing in Florida at the National Tournament this past week, but a couple awkward bounces of the puck was all it took to keep the team from moving into the semi-finals and capping a good season with a very good ending.

From the first night, after numerous titling of our pool as the "pool of death" for us and the other pool participant, UConn, the Rams looked to shock the other participants with a couple unexpected wins. (Grand Valley, Florida Gulf Coast, and Davenport were the top teams in the tournament based on regular season play and most assumed that the Grand Valley vs. Florida game would decide the opponent for Davenport to face in the championship.) The first morning against the co-favorite to win it all this year, Grand Valley State, the team came out with a sluggish start in the first 10 minutes giving up a powerplay goal to end the period 0-1. The Rams battled back to make it 1-1, and then 2-2, but after some great Grand Valley plays and being down 2-4 with 5 minutes to go in the game, the Rams put their play into gear, notched a blast off the stick of Derek Odonnel to make it a one goal game and with 1 minute to play AJ Hau burnt a Laker defensemen and roofed it on the Laker goalie to tie the game at 4-all. With seconds left in the game, a frustrated Laker player dragged Ram forward Tim Stiller to the ice but as the Rams focused on getting a powerplay to start the overtime period, the ref let the game continue letting a Laker player dump the puck into the zone where an unexpecting CSU defensemen let it hit off his leg and slowly roll across the crease with 2 seconds left. After a great back and forth game all night and the ref just trying to "let the teams decide the victor" the non-call allowed a sloppy and awkward play to decide the game. The Grand Valley coach even laid into the ref for allowing such a call and play to decide the final. Whatever the case, the game did not end favorably for the Rams with a 4-5 loss with seconds left in the game.

The next night, the Rams entered a packed house barn versus the host team, Florida Gulf Coast, and this night were the team to start off hot, netting 3 goals in the first period to enter the locker rooms with a 3-1 lead. However, penalties would hurt the Rams in the second allowing the Gulf Coast "Eagles" to reenter the game and actually take a 3-4 lead half way through the third period. Ram skater, Tim Stiller netted a front-door puck off a great pass from line-mates AJ Hau and Dan Malone to tie the game at 4-4 to send it to overtime. However, once again, the hockey Gods were not smiling upon the team as a rap-around pass on a breakout would take a bounce off the boards, off a defensemen's shin and into the net just 27 seconds into overtime to give the Eagles the win. The ACHA officials at the tournament mentioned that no-one could believe that either of our games ended in such a fashion, but nonetheless they did. ACHA Division Commissioner did mention that our first two games were the best games of the 27 played at the tournament, but that was of little consolation to a Ram team that watched the semi-finals and Championship game in disappointment.

The final game of the season was a lack-luster game as both CSU and UConn were already out of the tournament, but the team was able to put a few points on the board to win 6-1.

Congratulations to Indiana (runner-up) and Davenport (Champions) for their great tournament play.

Team Captain Jordan Stover was once again named to the 1st Team All-Tournament Team by the coaches of the participating hockey programs. Seniors Jordan Stover, Tim Stiller, Adam Havens, and Brian Minor all played very well in their final games of their Ram hockey careers. Thank you for your efforts, your leadership, and your awesome representation of the team and school on and off the ice.

Stay tuned for information concerning off-season and next season's highlights and events. Thank you to all the support from CSU, the CSU Sports Club office from Aaron Harris and Marsha Smeltzer, from all of the team's interns, trainers, fans and parents. We'll see you back on the ice sometime soon.

2/25/08 - CSU earns bid to Nationals with wins at Regionals:

The Rams visited lovely Oakland, CA this pass weekend as the #3 seed in the West and the top seed at the Western Regionals and needed and got two big wins to carry the season on for another few weeks and across the U.S. to Nationals in Ft. Myers, FL March 12-15, 2008.

The team first took on #10 seed Oregon who the Rams beat 5-2 earlier in the season. The guys looked sluggish on the open Olympic-size ice and early in the morning, but still controlled the game for the most part. Oregon played tough and gave a lot better showing than the previous match up wtih the Rams back in January. The guys got up 2-0 after the first with goals from AJ Hau and Casey Schermerhorn. The team swapped goals with Oregon in the second after an Oregon player batted the puck from 8 feet high and into the net for their lone point on the day. Jordan Stover blasted a one-timer off of a 4-3 powerplay to make the score 3-1 going into the 2nd intermission. The game continued to go back and forth with some big hits and nice plays and Eric Griffin ripped one from the blue to finish the game with a 4-1 win.

#9 San Jose State upset #4 seed Long Beach State on Friday and so earned a chance to take on the Rams on Saturday. The Rams came out strong getting up 4-0 with a few minutes left in the second before San Jose State capitalized on a 5-3 powerplay for two scores before the 2nd period buzzer. A Spartan speedster got around some Ram defenders early in the third to narrow the lead with a nice break-away move and score. However, the team buckled down and finished strong ending the game in the Spartan end of the ice with a security goal off of AJ Hau to finish off the game 5-3. The game was fast-paced and the Spartan's provided a great game that the Rams definitely had to work hard in to earn the win. Jake McFarland and Jordan Stover earned goals from the point and Mike Saint started off the night with a goal in the first to get the team started. Brian Minor played great in net both games on the weekend and stopped 31 of 33 shots on Sat.

#5 Denver also won both their games on the weekend against #8 BYU and #7 Utah State to earn a spot at Nationals. CSU, CU, DU and EWU will represent the Western Region at Nationals.

2/18/08 - CSU fights through injuries, DQs to earn win in last home game of the season:

The Rams were missing three key players due to DQs and another three starters due to injuries, but were able to focus on defense behind great play in net by Mike Dlugos to earn the win versus a tough Eastern Washington squad.

During a tradition weekend break following the final ranking period of the season and prior to the Regional and National Tournaments, the Rams ventured out onto the ice for one more match to send the fans home smiling. Both teams kept the puck off of the net until Nik Burge snuck one past the Eagle goalie on a power play in the first period. The Rams leading pointman, Tim Stiller, flopped a bouncing rebound into the net after a hard drive to the slot by Mitch Hoover in the second to take a 2-0 lead. In the third, the Rams remembered a blown 3-1 lead to the Eagles that ended in a 4-4 tie last November as well as the blown 2-1 lead the last weekend against CU and remained focused on the prize and played out the game to earn the win. The Eagles did power back with a power play goal of their own and we had to scramble to keep the visitors from tying the game with seconds remaining on another power play opportunity, but were able to preserve the win. The Ram's final season record ends at 20-11-2 this year with the victory against the #2 ranked EWU Eagles.

2/11/08 - CSU splits weekend and takes the season series vs. CU:

The Green and Gold stormed into the weekend looking to gain the autobid to Nationals by sweeping the #1 CU squad, but was only able to earn a split on the weekend. The team visited Boulder Friday in front of a packed barn and fought a back and forth game all the way through getting up by one in the first off a Mike Saint beauty of a move for the first tally of the night. The second started off with another Ram score off an Alex Jurhs tip in the slot to take a 2-0 lead. The Buffs came back with a powerplay score of their own off of penalty to Nik Burge, who quickly left the sinbin and popped one of his own to get the score back to a 2 goal lead. The third started with a Buff score, but the Rams battled to the end and Jordan Stover nailed the empty netter with less than a minute to play to earn the win.

Saturday night was much the same style of play as Friday as the Rams put the Buffs down early with a goal again off the stick of Mike Saint to start the night. The Buffs, however, would handpass a bouncing puck in the slot of some equipment and then into the net to tie the game at 1 to end the 1st. The Rams would completely control the second period, outshooting the Buffs 25-3 during the 20 minutes. But the team could only manage one goal during the period (rooftop shot off a driving Mitch Hoover) of frequent cheers by the fans and the Ram bench who all had thought the team scored only to see the puck dribble lose. The third was pretty much the exact opposite of the second, starting off with sloppy coverage around the net to give the Buffs a goal and some hope. From that goal on, the team quickly succombed to frustration as penalty after penalty seemed to pile up on our side of the scoresheet and the Buffs could do no wrong in the eyes of the stripes. The team got down 2-4 before Derek O'Donnell embarrassed a Buff defenseman and his goalie on a beauty move and shot to bring the Rams back to a 3-4 score. The Buffs would get 3 more powerplay goals to finish the night with a 3-7 win. Overall, the Buffs had 10 powerplays in the third period alone (49 minutes total) and over 10 minutes of 5-3 powerplay during the game. The game was a lot closer than the score and Brian Minor played very well facing shots mostly during Buff man advantages - 2 final scores with less than a minute to play on a 5-3 when the Rams had only 8 players left on the bench due to disqualifications and misconducts handed out by the ref to the extremely frustrated Rams. The team did take some solace in packing the house with over 1,200 fans and giving them a lot to cheer about. This game is a great one to feed the Rocky Mountain Showdown CSU - CU rivalry for years to come. Overall, the Rams finished 2-1-1 against CU this season.

2/5/08 - CSU sweeps Utah weekend trip:

The Rams took a bus from Fort Collins and through the snow of Utah to battle it out with #6 Utah Valley State, #7 Utah State, and the Weber State DI teams on their home turf. After a rough start to the weekend against a fiesty Wolverine crew in Park City that saw frequent disruption of play due to injury and penalties, the Ram crew really got cookin'. The team thoroughly outplayed Utah Valley, but kept finding themselves in the box facing 3-5 and 4-5 situations. The team had enough 5-5 time to tally a 4-3 win on the night behind solid goalie work by Brian Minor. Dane Cella, Mike Saint, AJ Hau, and Dan Malone each got goals for the Rams.

Friday night, the team visited traditional DI and DII stronghold of Weber St. However, the Weber program has had a rough year and the Rams took advantage of it cremating the home team 12-3. AJ Hau, Derek Odonnell and Jake McFarland each notched 2 goals and Dane Cella got a playmaker on the night.

Saturday night, the Rams took a wild one in the packed Aggie home rink. Utah St nothced the first goal of the game, but all that did was to wake the team up. The Rams compleated an unanswered 11 goals to finish the night with a 10 goal spread against the very frustrated Utah St team.

1/28/08 - Rams sweep the Cowboys/Trojans weekend:

After last weekend's injury-filled games, the team quickly caught their breath to face the fan-favorite Border War against DIII opponent Wyoming and usual DII strength, USC. The Rams let a number of players rest up and heal some bruises this weekend, but the team was still able to pack away both teams in fine fashion.

Friday night in front of a healthy audience at EPIC, the visiting Cowboys struggled to step up to the Ram pace of hockey until an unfortuante turnover deep in the Ram zone led to a tied 1-1 score in the first period. The visiting Cowboy fans' cheering got the Brown and Gold triggered up a notch and the game settled into a bit of a faster pace. Unfortunately for the Cowboys, this favored our style and we ended the night with a good 7-1 win. Emotions ran high as usual and the fans had many hits and plays for which to cheer. Dan Malone finished with 1 goal and 4 assists on the night. Tim Stiller, Doug Robinson, Mike Saint, and Jake McFarland each netted 1 and AJ Hau earned to Gs on the night.

Saturday night saw the rematch between USC and the Rams; in November the Rams won a 9-2 game in California. After USC's close score with CU the night before, the team was pumped up for good game, but the Trojans never really settled into their skates and hovered around their net for most of the night. The Rams peppered the USC goalies for over 70 shots and earned 9 goals for their efforts. USC's lone goal came off a blocked shot and breakaway that was originally called off by the ref and then reversed against CSU tender Doug Lesch. Doug faced only 12 shots on the night. USC first goalie was ejected for a head butt to start the 3rd period and the Trojan back-up goalie was injured with 9 minutes to play. The USC team refused to put a 6th player out on the ice to finish the game and not wanting to add too much more insult to the visitors the refs simply ran the clock out to complete the game. Dale Dinnebeck and Tim Stiller got 2 goals each, and AJ Hau, Jake McFarland, Doug Robinson, Dan Malone, and Mike Saint earn netted one as well. All in all, a sloppy game, but the Rams were able to finish right on the scoreboard.

1/21/08 - Hockey in the heartland:

The Rams traveled to Oklahoma City to battle the Division I #19 ranked Central Oklahoma Bronchos and the Division I #4 ranked Oklahoma Sooners. The team stepped it up and played very well against these tough Division I opponents, though only getting one win on the weekend. Friday night, the team played very well for 54 of 60 minutes on the ice. Over a 3 minute stretch in the mid second period the boys allowed the Bronchos to net 3 goals. Again and during the last three minutes of the game, the allowed a 3-goal run. Beside these moments of let-up, the team looked great. They battled back in the second and third to tie the game at 4-4 with 5 minutes left. From that point on the team just ran out of steam and the unforgiving Bronchos took advantage and netted their three sloppy goals to steal a 7-4 win in an otherwise great game. AJ Hau, Dan Malone, Tim Stiller, and Mitch Hoover netted points on the night.

The team loooked to rebound against the Sooners Saturday night and rebound they did, scoring on the first shift of the game off a snapshot by Dan Malone followed later in mid-first by a Nik Burge power play goal to get up 2-0 in front of a very silent Sooner crowd. The Sooners got one late in the period to close the lead to one. However, the Rams ' Dan Malone got another hotshot between the pipes to start the second and get a 3-1 lead. The tough Sooner squad did battle back with three unanswered goals to tie the game at 4-4, but with 1 second left in the 2nd period, Dan Malone fed Tim Stiller in the slot for a sneaky last second slap-in-the-face goal to take a 5-4 lead into the locker room. AJ Hau netted another goal for the Rams to start the third and the Sooners could only manage one more goal past Ram tender Brian Minor before AJ Hau got the empty netter to solidify the win 7-5.

Sunday, the boys looked for some revenge against the Bronchos, but the UCO team was prepared for another battle and tested the Rams for the entire game. All in all, an absolute great game with good puck movement, big hits, some trash talking, great saves, and numerous Sports Center highlight set-ups that had both teams and the fans shaking their heads and smiling. The team lost both the first and second periods 1-2 to enter the third period down 2-4 behind goals by Dan Malone and Jake McFarland. Once again, the team roughed it through the period netting Dan Malone's second goal off a sweet pass from the corner by AJ Hau. Down one with seconds to play, the team pulled goalie Brian Minor for forward Casey Schermerhorn and rushed up the ice one last time. Casey set a perfect pick, while Malone left the drop pass to Tim Stiller who fed a quick pass to AJ Hau for the one-timer and game equalizer with 3 seconds left in the game. However, a quick 7 minutes worth of penalties at the beginning of OT spoiled the Ram bid to complete the comeback as the Bronchos took advantage and the powerplay game-winner to finalize the weekend.

1/15/08 - Good start for the spring; Rams go 3-0 to start:

The team came back from winter break early for a trio of games against Denver, Oregon, and Metro State. While the team was short some key players to include team captain, Jordan Stover (who was recovering from his participation with the ACHA Select Team in Europe), the Rams did see the return of Doug Robinson to help shore up the defensive line.

Friday night, the boys came out firing in Denver against an equally upbeat Denver squad. The team had two goals called off in the first period both times due to frustrating penalties away from the play. Before we knew it, we were heading into the locker room down 1-3 off of two breakaways and a penalty shot. The Rams rebounded nicely and refrained from allowing their frustration to get the better of them even after DU opened up a cherry picker who outraced the Ram defense to the goal to start the second and widen the Pioneer lead to 1-4. However, the team never caved in even after a third shot into the net was waved off in the mid-second period. Dane Cella tipped in a Eric Griffin pass to end the second down 2-4. The third period opened with a quick Ram score which sparked the DU squad into a parade of penalties on which the Rams capitolized to score two more unanswered points and take a 5-4 lead with minutes remaining off of a Nik Burge powerplay shot. Mitch Hoover, Dane Cella, Nik Burge, Jake McFarland, and Dru Lucchesi each scored for the Rams. Brian Minor played well in net for the team.

Saturday night witnessed a rugby match of a hockey game when Oregon visited EPIC in Fort Collins. The team got up 2-0 before coughing up an ugly powerplay goal to Oregon. The Rams nailed a third goal in the second to stretch the lead, but again failed to control a Duck forward behind the net who was able to feed another Duck for a quick shot and score. The team would put in two more goals in the second secure a win and spent the rest of the game wrestling in the corners and standing by the timekeeper's box to figure out all the penalties. It was an ugly game, but the team easily found a way to win; the score was very friendly to the Ducks. Mike Dlugos played well in net for the Rams. Tim Stiller, Mike Saint had two goals each and Mitch Hoover rounded out the scoring with a score of his own. Adam Havens and Casey Schermerhorn had two assists each.

Monday afternoon was much a repeat of the Oregon game down in Denver, but with a more fitting score: 9-1. The Roadrunners fought well the entire game and provided an entertaining game requiring the Rams to earn the win. The team fought all the way to the buzzer to secure a 9-1 win behind great play by Mike Dlugos between the pipes. Eight different Rams earned goals on the afternoon; AJ Hau had a goal and 2 assists and Tim Stiller had a goal and three assists to lead the point tallies.

12/3/07 - CSU earns Western Classic Runner-up:

The Rams looked to rebound off of a less than stellar road trip to California by ending the winter semester well with solid play in the Western Classic. The team got off to a very strong start in all of their pool games, earning 12-0, 7-0, and 11-1 wins. Idaho stepped off the bus with some road legs and looked a bit sloppy in a 12-0 romp. Casey Schermerhorn and Dan Malone each earned hat tricks on the night with Brian Minor earning the shutout. The next night was a circus playing Minnesota State Mankato. The game was sloppy and full of play stoppage, but the Rams remained dedicated to finishing up strong on the scoreboard with a 7-0 win. Dan Malone and Tim Stiller nailed 2 each in the win and Mike Dlugos earned the shutout and made an outstanding glove save in the first period against a point-blank slapshot; that save spread disappointment up and down the Mankato bench and allowed CSU to roll through the rest of the game. For the third game in a row, the team forced the visitors to take a time-out in the first period to figure out how to respond to the Ram force. Against San Jose, the team put up an impressive 5 goals in 5 minutes in the first to put the game away in a hurry. Tim Stiller, Jake McFarland, and Derek Odonnell got two goals each and Mitch Hoover got a playmaker on the game. The team looked to Eastern Washington in the Championship and came to play early on, getting a 3-1 entering the thrid and 4-2 lead with only 15 minutes left. However, the team took some penalties to end regulation play and allowed EWU's sharpshooters to get two goals to tie the game and send it into overtime. The teams remained tied after OT and after the first shootout. EWU frustrated the Rams for the second year in a row by winning the tournament in a shootout - this time in sudden death format. Dan Malone earned his second hattrick of the tournament in the game. The team would like to thank all volunteers, participating teams and players, and CU (co-hosts) for their efforts in facilitating a great tournament. The team will look forward to hosting the Sam Spady Charity game this Friday and a well-deserved winter break before returning to Fort Collins to rev up for the Spring semester and some more hockey.

11/20/07 - Rams slip in California:

The team took a much anticipated trip to California this past weekend just prior to the Thanksgiving Break and returned home disappointed. The team failed to score a goal on Thursday night in a 0-1 loss to Long Beach; the team had plenty of opportunities, but just couldn't figure out how to finish the job. Road legs and all, the team looked pretty good and it was an exciting game, but the majority Ram fans and family in the stands helped confirm that the team once again had that frustrating combo of playing well without the appropriate results.

The boys must have been saving the goals up Thursday night for Friday as the team posted a 9-2 victory over the struggling USC Trojans. The boys outshot USC 72-14 on the night with the only let downs being in the first 5 minutes of the game as the team quickly faced a 0-2 deficit to the Trojans. Once the team got started, though, there was no looking back as the guys dominated the rest of the game. Overall great effort led by Mike Saint and Tim Stiller notching playmakers on the evening and AJ Hau, Dan Malone, and Casey Schermerhorn netting 2 goals each with Nik Burge, Dale Dinnebeck, and Jake McFarland rounding out the night.

The team looked sharp in their return to Long Beach Saturday night starting off with an early 3-1 lead off of hard work and great defense. However, the team lost composure late in the second period allowing the down Long Beach crew to battle back with 2 goals of their own, one a short handed point, to tie the game entering the third. A few more errors and mistakes early in the third period gave the 49ners a 5-3 lead. With 10 minutes remaining the team, shocked by the lackluster play that allowed 4 unanswered Long Beach goals, returned to work with a awesome cross zone pass by Casey Schermerhorn to Dale Dinnebeck to cut the lead to one. With minutes remaining Tim Stiller got a rush to the crease and netted the game tying goal to make it 5-5. The team controlled the remaining time in the third in the Long Beach zone nearly completing the comeback with multiple close shots on net and an early whistle that cancelled the game winner. Entering overtime, the team seemed to have it in the bag, not allowing Long Beach out of their zone, until a great dive with 2 minutes remaining by a Long Beach player suckered the ref into a call to give the 49ners a powerplay opportunity. The 49ners battled back into the Ram zone and with 8 seconds remaining in overtime sealed the game with a cross-crease rebound goal. Overall, this was a great job by both teams and the fans witnessed a very exciting game. Casey Schermerhorn had a hat-trick and assist on the night, with additional goals by Dale Dinnebeck and Tim Stiller. Mike Saint earned a playmaker on the evening.

The team would like to thank the Stiller and Stover families for their hospitality this past weekend in housing and feeding the team. Thank you!

The next games for the Rams will be Pool Play games versus Idaho, San Jose State, and Minnesota State during the Western Classic Tournament. Other teams involved are CU, E. Washington, Utah Valley State, and Arizona State.

11/12/07 - Rams command the Rockies:

The Rams once again bounced back from a disappointing weekend to put out a stellar performance tying 5-5 and then defeating 4-1 the #1 ranked CU Buffs on the weekend. Friday night gave the fans their money's worth as both teams battled back and forth physically and on the scoreboard. The Rams took a quick 1 goal lead off of a Dane Cella goal mid-way through the 1st only to give up two undeserved goals to CU to end the period 1-2. The Rams battled back in the 2nd to get two goals and take the lead back 3-2. The 3rd period saw the Buffs tie the game up only for the boys to pull away again with a 4-3 lead. A rough penalty late in the 3rd gave CU a 5 minute powerplay during which they tallied two points to once again take the lead. However, Dane Cella - already with two goals on the night once again struck the back of the CU net to even up the game at 5 -5. The game went into a 5 minute OT and started looking good as the Rams were hounding the Buffs in there zone, but a holding call led to a CU powerplay to finish the extra period and the Rams had to settle for defending their net for the rest of the game. Dane Cella lead the way with a hat trick and Dan Malone and Tim Stiller each nailed a point for the team. The home CSU fans were awesome and the team truly appreciated your efforts in cheering the team on.

Saturday night, the Rams travelled to Boulder to face CU in their own barn. The team once again got off to a fast start notching a goal by Jordan Stover in the 1st. After a scoreless 2nd period full of penalties and good defense particularly by tender Brian Minor, the Rams settled back into the norm with a hardwork, man-down goal by Casey Schermerhorn to take a 2-0 lead early in the 3rd. The Buffs battled back finaling finding a way to sneak a puck past Brian Minor with a shot through traffic to cut the lead to one. The Rams quickly responded with a shot from the point of their own by Brad Hau to take a 3-1 lead. A few minutes later, Dan Malone got his second goal of the weekend with an empty netter to finish off the game for the Rams with a 4-1 victory. Thanks for the fan support on the road!

The Rams look forward to giving their fans more to cheer about when they head out west to LA to take on California State Long Beach and Southern California.

11/5/07 - Rough weekend at home:

The Rams returned from Arizona with a new confidence that they can beat the good teams and lost it just as quickly. The Rams came out flying against Utah Valley Friday netting the first goal and mastering the first minutes of play. Unfortunately, at that point, it seemed they sat back thinking the game was won. The rest of the first period saw an easily preventable goal by Utah Valley to tie the game, though the favor still remained with the Rams. The second period looked awful - Utah Valley got two goals off of poor turnovers and poor coverage. The Rams battled back in the third outshooting the Wolverines 18-4 in the period and simply unable to get back up to par on the scoreboard. Too bad for the Rams that they only showed up for the first 5 minutes of the game and the third period as they handed Utah Valley a victory and some credibility that they were looking for after their recent #2 ranking in the Western Region of the ACHA.

Saturday night saw much of the same disappointment. The team came out flying, but quickly started handing out undeserved opportunities to Denver on which they capitalized to take a 2-1 lead. The third period opened with a Ram powerplay, but a frustrating turnover gave DU a quick 2-0 mandown breakaway and goal to make it 3-1. The Rams battled back keeping much of the play in the DU end and missing numerous scorer chances, but DU once again spoiled the work by nailing another goal off of a bad turnover in CSU's end.

The team outshot both opponents on the weekend; Brian Minor (Friday) and Mike Dlugos (Sat) played excellently in net and made some great saves.

The guys will look to rebound and redouble their efforts when they strap on their sweaters Fri and Sat against the current #1 team in the West and cross-state rivals, the CU Buffs.

10/29/07 - Rams tackle the desert:

After a great homestand against MSU and USU, outshooting their opponents 17-1, the Rams travelled to Tempe and Tucson Arizona to battle ASU and UA. Thurs night, the Rams overpowered the SunDevils 10-1 with 9 different players notching goals on the night behind an all-around, up and down the ice effort. Doug Lesch was good in net for the Rams allowing 1 goal on 27 shots.

Fri and Sat nights, the Rams travelled south to Tucson to battle the always strong Division I UA Icecats. After sticking close for the majority of a very offensive game (51 shots a peice for both teams) and the score level 3-3 with ten minutes to go, the Rams tired out and let in 3 unanswered Icecat goals to end the night with a 3-6 loss. The following night got the team off to a quick start quinching the frustrations of the previous night by jumping out to a 3-0 1st period lead. The Rams would stay even with Arizona for the remainder of the game finishing with a 6-3 victory in front of a very entertaining 4,000 strong crowd at the Tucson Convention Center. Casey Schermerhorn led the Rams with 1 goal and 3 assists on the night followed closely by AJ Hau with a goal and two assists.

The team will take a two game home stand next, battling Utah Valley State and hosting a rematch with Denver this Friday and Saturday nights at 730pm at EPIC.

10/22/07 - The Rams strike back:

After playing a tough game against the Greeley UNC Bears the previous Friday and on home ice, the Rams whipped into shape for this past weekend against visiting Montana State and standard Western Region contender Utah State. The Rams lost a 3-2 overtime decision to the Bears following a penalty-filled game in which the intensity was high and the rink was packed. The game environment was a lot of fun, but once again, the Ram's visited the penalty box too often and were unable to take advantage of scoring opportunities to take the game. See DNA Media's site for pictures of the game.

On Friday, the Ram's played against Montana State and quickly took advantage of the Hellcat's road legs by taking a 4-1 advantage after the first. Doug Lesch was limited to facing only 12 shots on net, while up front, Dan Malone led the charge with a 4 goals followed closely by rook Aaron Bain with 2 notches of his own as well as Tim Stiller with 2 goals. Mike Saint, Casey Schermerhorn, and Dane Cella nailed down goals for the Rams as well. The game was fast paced and fun with few penalties to slow down the action. The Rams nailed 4 more goals in the second period and sealed the game with 3 in the third.

Saturday night saw a welcomed rematch of the Utah St. Aggies and the Rams; remember last year when the Aggies stole a disappointing 6-5 win against the Rams early in the season. Behind a shutout performance in net by Brian Minor, the Ram's notched 2 goals a period to send USU home on the bus with a 6-0 loss and their second shutout in two games (CU beat the Aggies 8-0 the previous night.) Tim Stiller got two goals on the night, followed by Dale Dinnebeck, Casey Schermerhorn, Mike Saint, and AJ Hau.

The Rams head to Arizona this weekend to play Arizona State in Tempe and and U. of Arizona in Tucson.

10/7/07 - Slow start for the Rams:

Your new Ram hockey team lost their first two games of the season this year with disappointing play in both Friday and Saturday night games. Friday night saw the Rams lose to the UNC Bears in Greeley 2-5 in front of a packed and wild Bear fanbase. The team got flustered quickly by the excited UNC team physical play and intensity and never was able to recover floundering many scoring opportunities along the way. The Rams got down 0-1 quickly with a responding powerplay goal by Nik Burge to tie the match. The Bear's capitolized on their powerplays getting a 1-3 and then 2-4 lead. The Ram's picked up some intensity late in the third, but were unable to put the puck on net and finish their plays. UNC finished disappointing the Ram's in the opener with a quick shot with a couple minutes to play to finish the game 2-5. On Saturday, the Ram's travelled to Magness Arena in Denver to battle long-time rivals, the DU Pioneers. The game started a bit differently with the Ram's taking a 2-1 lead early, but, once again, penalties and poor decisions allowed the DU players the opportunity to battle back and take the game 3-5.

The team is a hell of a lot better than how they played this weekend and will look to get focused and pick up the intensity to battle back into league play. Your team gets a re-match against UNC this Friday night at EPIC at 730pm.

3/12/07 - Ram's finish 4th in the Nation:

Your 2006-2007 Ram Hockey team finished 4th in the Nation, again losing to the eventual League Champion, this time Michigan State University. For those of you who have asked, EWU finished ranked 3rd based on having less goals scored against the Rams during tournament play. Here are your final tournament scores:

March 7th: #2 CSU vs. #3 Siena College (L 3-4)

March 8th: #2 CSU vs. #4 Grand Valley State (W 6-5)

March 9th: #2 CSU vs. #1 Miami (OH) (W 4-3)

March 10th: Semi-Final CSU vs. Michigan State (L 4-7)

The Michigan State Spartans defeated the Davenport Panthers at EPIC Saturday night 5-4 in the first overtime. This was the third year that the Championship was decided in overtime. The Rams played MSU in February and lost 2-4. The semi-final game Saturday morning again pitched the Rams against a very fast and skilled Michigan State team that took a quick 1-0 lead in the 1st. In the last minute of the first period, the Rams let in two more goals to stay down 3-0 going into the locker room. Dane Cella lead a comeback in the second notching the Rams first goal, but it was not enough to stay in the game as the Spartans continued their pace keeping a 6-2 and eventual 7-4 lead. Nick Buffington had a goal and an assist, as did Mike Sheehan. Doug Robinson led the way with a goal and two assists on the night. Ram tender Jeff Ronkoske played solid in net for the team stopping 37 shots on net. The MSU goalie, who eventually earned Tournament MVP, provided some amazing stops against the Rams (32 of 36 Ram shots.) CSU team captain, Jordan Stover, earned 1st Team All-Tournament honors. Congratulations to all team members, interns, and Sports Club staff who helped with the team this year for another successful season. Thank you to all sponsors, the Ft Collins Convention and Visitor's Bureau, the Northern Colorado Sports Commission, Northern Colorado TV, DNA Media, and the crew at EPIC for their outstanding support during our regular season and for hosting the Western Classic Tournament last November and the ACHA DII National Championship this March.

2/26/07 - Team readies for Nationals:

The Rams visited Jackson Hole, WY this weekend for a fun, non-league series against the Jackson Hole Moose. The team won 5-4 the first night in a beat the buzzer style win and offerred a 3-7 loss to the Senior A Men's team on Saturday night. Many of the Ram favorites didn't dress to rest their bodies for Nationals, but most made the trip and had fun.

The team now has a few practices to ready for a long weekend of games next week at Nationals. Hurry up and get your tickets as we're almost half sold-out two weeks from go time.

2/19/07 - Final weekends earn two splits:

Your Rams swapped spoilers last weekend as each team silenced the other's pack houses. The Rams visited the Buffs in Boulder Fri night and got up 2-0 before sharing goals from that point on behind solid tending by Jeff Ronkoske who turned away 52 shots on the night. Dan Malone got an empty netter to make the final score 6-3, but the game was very close with the Rams crashing the net and getting the bounces to secure the win. Saturday night bore the same result for the visiting team; CU got up on the board first and had a 3-1 lead going into the third. The Rams battled back with a tying goal from Doug Robinson, but gave up another to the Buffs with 5 minutes remaining. A powerplay chance at the end of the game was fruitless and the Buffs were able to get an empty net goal of their own to make the final 3-5. I'd like to thank the awesome crowds from both Friday and Saturday nights who cheered on their schools - both hockey teams loved the excitment you brought and we hope we returned the favor with our play on the ice.

This most recent weekend, the Rams flew to sunny Arizona to play the Division I Arizona State team. The Rams gave up three power play goals the first night in a 2-4 loss, but stormed back the second night to take a 5-4 victory. The team prepares for Nationals now for the next two weeks.

2/5/07 - Rams return 1-2-1 from trip to Michigan:

The Rams faced arguably the most difficult road trip you could do in the ACHA when they visited Grand Rapids, MI to play the #1,2,4, and 5 seeds in that Region known for its quality teams up and down the ranking ladder. The Rams skated to a 1-1 OT tie against #4 Grand Valley the first night behind outstanding goaltending by Jeff Ronkoske and a 1st period goal by Dan Malone. Both teams had repeated chances to make it a high-scoring game, but the goalies stole the show and offered eachother the tie for the evening. The next night, the Rams drove through a winter blizzard that closed the highways during and after the game to play Central Michigan up in Mount Pleasant, MI. The Rams came out slow in the first, but again behind save-our-butt goaltending by Brian Minor, the Rams pulled through the storm inside the rink to take the lead and eventually win the night 5-2 off of two goals by rook, fan favorite, former CSU Hockey stick-boy, and Fort Collins local, Nik Burge. Saturday afternoon pinned the Rams against the Davenport Panthers in an extremely fast paced game to which the Rams couldn't react quickly enough. Behind outstanding saves from Jeff Ronkoske, the Rams again started off slowly having to focus on fending off the Panther offense. After the #1 seed from Central took advantage on their power plays and buried two in the first, good forechecking by Pat Obester got the offense moving and popped in a quicky to make it 2-1. In the following periods, your Rams got their offense cracking and managed a lot of shots, but no fruit on the scoreboard. DU took advantage of some sloppy defense to stretch their lead to 5-1 before the Rams nailed their 2nd to finish the game at 5-2. By the end of the night the Rams actually out-shot the Panthers, but couldn't find the back of the net to even the game on the scoreboard. Lack of support for Ronkoske overshadowed an outstanding effort in net. The #2 ranked team in the Central Region, Michigan State Spartans took the ice against the team Sunday morning. Much like the previous afternoon, the team took their time getting into the game and gave up a powerplay goal and a weak follow up goal to get down 2-0 in the first. The team battled back quickly and tied the game off of hard-work goals by Dane Cella and Travis Barrett. The rest of the morning would see no lights changing on the scoreboard for the Rams, but the Spartans nailed 2 in the second to stretch their lead out to the final of 4-2.

This road trip was a weekend of face-paced hockey that the Rams and all their fans will see again at Nationals March 7-10th at EPIC. Overall, the team was disappointed in many aspects of the play on the ice, but look forward to the rematches at Nationals. Your Rams play their rival from the south this weekend at Boulder Friday night and at Fort Collins at EPIC Saturday night.

1/29/07 - Rams stay strong through home stand:

Your Rams did what they needed to do this past weekend to put a bid on the table for the #1 spot in the Western Region of the ACHA by beating the #2 Eastern Washington Eagles and #5 San Jose State both 4-3 at EPIC. The Rams were helped in their effort by Eastern Washington also defeating #1 ranked CU 4-3 and 4-1 in Boulder.

The first game started slowly as the Rams gave up a sloppy goal to the Eagles in the opening seconds of the game and a second pin-ball goal later in the first period that seemed to bounce off 3-4 legs and sticks before sneaking past tendor Brian Minor. The Rams held strong though and powered back with a goal later in the first. The Rams' speed and intensity kept the Eagles in their end the majority of the second and third periods and resulted in a 3-1 difference in the remaining two periods, capped off by the first goal of the season by Mike Sheehan who received a serious leg injury in practice earlier in the season prior to the first league game. The final score was 4-3. Satisfying play on the evening all-around against a tough opponent.

The second night saw the San Jose State team rebound off of an unexpected 6-1 blow-out by CU Friday night to challenge the Rams. The game started off slowly, until Scott Patz buried a rebound in the first. Tim Stiller zipped up and through the San Jose defense on a powerplay and easily tucked the team's second goal past their tendor. The game started to fall into an expected solid win for the Rams, but the Spartans showed their resolve by fighting back to make it 2-1. Dan Malone blasted one into the back of the net from the blueline to make it 3-1, but San Jose quickly countered to make it 3-2. As dual penalties effected the flow of both teams, the game stalled into a slower pace. The Spartans scored mid-way through the third to level the score, but Nick Buffington found a rebounded puck on his stick right in front of the Spartan goal and passed it between their tendor's legs for the winning goal with two minutes to play. Jeff Ronkoske returned for his first start since last semester for the team and faced 26 shots on the night. The Rams put 52 shots on the San Jose goal on the night. Final score was 4-3. Thanks to all the great fans for packing the rink both games this weekend! The Rams missed skilled-enforcer Jake McFarland and the sweet-hands of Mike Holthouser this weekend due to injuries, but both plan on healing quickly to help the team in the next few weeks.

The Rams head off to Michigan to face the #1, #2, #4, and #5 ranked teams in the tough Central Region of the ACHA this coming weekend.

1/22/07 - Rams stay on a roll:

The team pulled together for two great performances this past weekend with big wins over a good CalSt at Long Beach team and in-state rivals DU Pioneers. Friday night saw a 56-12 shot differential that provided Long Beach only a few true scoring chances, one of which was a 5-3 powerplay in the third period to spoil a Brian Minor shut-out. The team played well and thoroughly outskated the visiting 49ners though faced with a few injuries to key starters Nick Buffington, Dane Cella, and Garrett Hanson. The only disappointment was the lack of scoring on 56 shots, but the team fired on all cylinders besides that. Final score was 5-1.

The next night saw a regrouped Pioneer team visit EPIC. Behind a new, energetic coach and a defining 11-2 win over CalSt. at Long Beach on Thursday night, Denver demonstrated why they are one of the best in the west with their speed and individual talent. The game never slowed and neither team took an edge or had momentum during the entire game. Jared Hillier crammed in the Rams' first goal with just 10 seconds remaining in the 2nd period. Instead of coming out sluggish in the second, the Pioneers flew around the ice on their first shift and got a lucky bounce of a questionably elevated stick in front of Brian Minor. CSU tallied the game-winning goal off of Team Captain Jordan Stover's stick later in the period and fought off a DU attack for the remainder of the game. All-in-all, a great game and one of the best Ram victories of the year.

1/15/07 - Good start to the New Year:

Your CSU hockey team came back early from holiday break to face one of the best teams in the nation in ACHA DII. Wagner College, the team CSU beat 2-1 in a thriller last spring to earn a spot in the semifinals at Nationals in Rochester, NY visiting the Front Range for an equally thrilling rematch. CSU popped in two goals in the first period from a wrist shot by Doug Robinson and a rebound put-away by his defensive partner Adam Havens just seconds later. The Rams held a 2-0 lead until a fluke puck ended up giving a break-away goal to during a 5-3 powerplay. The Rams spent the last have of the third period a man-down and the last few minutes 5-3, but solid goaltending by Brian Minor held Wagner to just the one tally and finalized a repeat score of last-year's game at 2-1. Wagner is currently among the top of the NorthEast Region and an annual favorite for the top spot in the league. Wanger went on to beat Denver 7-0 and lose to CU 4-2 the following weekend to finish 1-2 during their tough Colorado trip.

Saturday night, your Rams visited Joy Burns arena in Denver to play a hungry Pioneer team looking to bounce back from their big loss to Wagner. The guys came out flying around Denver getting great shots on net, but a barrage of penalties and poor plays allowed DU to stay in the game. CSU held the lead for the majority of the game and out shot DU on the night by a healthy margin. A first for everyone involved with the game was Mike Holthouser's three short-handed goals during the first two periods. Luke Smith added a fourth short-handed goal to the Rams total of 7 on the evening. The Rams led 7-4 until a flurry of penalties in the last minute put the team on a man-down 3-5; the Pioneers scored a fifth goal with seconds remaining to end the game a 7-5 win for CSU. Your Rams look forward to taking on California State at Long Beach and a rematch against Denver this weekend at EPIC in Fort Collins.

12/4/06 - Rocky Mountain Faceoff weekend:

Your Rams rebounded from the Thanksgiving break with two of the most exciting games of the season. As expected, they were against our arch rival CU Buffs. Both games switched momentum and scoring on a whim and gave the fans of both teams well worth the price of admission.

In front of a packed house at EPIC in Fort Collins, Friday night started out slowly as the Rams got behind 1-0 in the first in an up-and-down battle from the first drop of the puck. Jake McFarland got things going for the Rams with a devastating open-ice body check on a Buff player trying to skate through the neutral zone. Early in the second, Tim Stiller earned a front porch rebound-grinder goal, but a few mistakes near the net saw the Rams get down again 1-3 mid-way through the game. Stiller once again turned things around for the Rams finishing another rebound and Luke Smith polished off a bouncing puck shot by the CU tender to tie the score with two minutes left in the second. Just 18 seconds later, Tom Chmliewski's hard work on the forecheck allowed him an off-balance shot that found its way into the net to give the Rams the lead going into the break. The Buffs capitalized on a power play to even the score in the third and took the lead again just a couple minutes later on a well-placed wrist shot by CSU tender Jeff Ronkoske. However, on another CSU penalty kill, Luke Smith took advantage of a miscommunication by the Buffs to get a sharp shot past the tender to even the score. The game looked to be neck and neck until with eight minutes to run, CSU was called for a delay of game in the crease while on the penalty kill giving CU a penalty shot. CU not only got the goal there, but got a goal on the remainder of their power play to take a two goal lead that would stand for the rest of the night. Final was 5-7.

Saturday afternoon witnessed the first ever Rocky Mountain Face-Off which was established by the CU hockey staff and Club Sports offices to help advertise the great play and rivalry between CU and CSU on the ice. The game was played at the brand-new Broomfield Events Center - home of the CHL's Rocky Mountain Rage and prior to a Rage game which directly followed the CSU-CU event. This game was a strict continuation of the previous evening with momentum and scoring chances switching on a whim. The Rams came out slow in the first giving the CU Buffs a two goal lead off of three Ram penalties. In the second, the Rams battled back with Luke Smith sliding one past the CU tender from an off-angle followed minutes later by a Doug Robinson charge to the net for the game tying goal. The third period saw both teams nail a goal to keep it tied for regulation; Jake McFarland slipped into the CU slot to level a blast behind the keeper. With five minutes left and CSU with the momentum, Pat Obester scored a front porch rebound goal for what we thought was a 4-3 lead. After a signaled goal, goal announcment, and as the teams were lining up for the next face-off, the ref spoke with a crowd of CU players and changed his call on the play ruling it no goal. The very frustrated Rams battled for the remainder of regulation and through OT to secure the win in the books, but fell short and had to take the tie into the winter break. The disappointed Rams and Ram fans left the rink with the feel of a win, especially with such a class-act production and facility, and would like to thank the CU hockey and Club Sports staff for the experience. The team will rest their legs and get key players like Dan Malone, Mike Sheehand and Dale Dinnebeck off the injured bench and onto the ice for next January's games. The Rams next play national power-house Wagner College Wednesday January 10th at EPIC.

11/20/06 - Western Classic disappointing for Rams:

The team had a difficult first game of the tourney losing to the Eastern Washington Eagles in an OT Shootout that turned out to put the host team into the 3rd place game which was definately not to plan. The Rams were up 2-1 entering the third and were unable to kill the remainder of a penalty from the 2nd period. Nick Buffington put the Rams on top again three minutes later on a Ram powerplay, but again the Rams put themselves on the penalty-kill with less than 3 minutes to go in the game. The Eagles took advantage and tagged another powerplay goal to send the game to overtime. The game went to a shootout after the 5 minute scoreless overtime and the Rams were stiffled by the Eagle's tender and lost the shootout 2-1.

The rest of the weekend saw the Rams in less than dedicated fashion waking up in the third period of action against Nebraska to win 11-4. The Rams tallied a 7-0 period after allowing the Huskers to stick with the team for most of the game. Shots were 56-12 in favor of the Rams. The last game of the tourney pitted the Rams against the New Mexico Ice Wolves. Again, the much more skilled Rams let the Wolves stay in the game, but two goals from Scott Patz and great effort from Garrett Hanson, Bronson Barrett, and other team grinders sealed the win.

The Rams look forward to the Thanksgiving break and to a couple great games against interstate rivals CU Dec 1 and 2nd.

11/12/06 - Rams look to next weekend for big games:

Your Ram hockey team had a relaxing weekend this week hosting a charity hockey game event Friday night that proved to be an outstanding success for all involved. Team Police and Firemen were tied with just over a minute to play when the Firemen jumped up by one goal. The game looked to be finished, until Nik Burge popped one in to even the game again with only 11 seconds remaining. CSU tender Jeff Ronkoske shut the Firemen out during the shootout and one goal against CSU tender Brian Minor proved to be the game winner for the Police. The event proved to be a lot of fun for the Rams, the Police, and the Firemen, and for the Spady family representing the Sam Spady Foundation. The team would like to thank all involved, but especially Mrs. Patty Spady, Jim Hoyne from the Fort Collins Police and Jason Mantas from the Poudre Fire Authority for organizing the entire event.

Unfortunately, the Rams thought Saturday night was a Charity game as well and played an unorganized and uninspired game against the visiting Montana State Hellcats. The teams remained tied after two periods to the disbelief of both coach Sharrock and Newton and to the the Hellcats who were slapping high-fives after the first and second periods for shutting out the Ram goal-scorers. Dan Malone popped in a pair in the third and Luke Smith tallied an uno to finish the 3-1 game. Your Rams look to Friday night's game versus the undefeated Eastern Washington Eagles as their next challenge of the season. The game will open up the Western Classic Tournament which takes place at EPIC Friday night through Sunday afternoon.

11/6/06 - Road trip to Utah gets Rams on track:

The team left Fort Collins last Wednesday for three scheduled games against cross-mountain rivals in Utah this past weekend and came away with three wins. The team played the reinstated Utah Utes in Park City Thursday night in front of a great audience. The Utes are restarting their program after a hiatus of a few years and are sure to be a great rival in years to come, but this year the Rams handled them easily with an 18-2 victory. Friday night was a different story when the Green and Gold visiting Utah State - a team that stole a victory from the Rams in early October in Fort Collins. The rink was packed with roudy Aggie fans and the game proved to be a "heart-attack" for both teams going back and forth with numerous chances, big hits, and great plays. However, the Rams solid play won the evening in the second half of the game with four unanswered goals to secure a tough fought 5-3 victory. Saturday night the team faced Weber State and needed a four goal third period to pack Weber away with a final tally of 7-2. With a record of 9-3-1, the team heads into this week with a 2nd place rating in the Western Region of the ACHA and a single game this coming Saturday against northern power Montana State visiting EPIC at 730pm.

10/30/06 - Rams get W's with two in-state victories:

The CSU hockey team hosted an exciting game against the Denver Pioneers Friday night in front the biggest audience of the season - some dressed in Halloween costumes and all screaming their lungs out for the Rams. The game saw two penalty shots - one for each team which resulted in a goal for each. The teams were tied during the first at 3-3, but penalties against DU allowed the Rams to pull ahead in the second by two tallies. The last period was another fast-paced twenty minutes during which the Rams bettered the Pioneers for all but the final four seconds; at this time DU got their penalty shot to lessen the lead to the final score of 7-5. Tender Brian Minor played well in net for the team.

The second night, the team travelled to Denver to play Metro State. Many of the standard Ram starters cheered from the stands as the "grinders" popped in 6 of the 9 tallies on the night. Shot-blocker and general blue-collar player Jared Hillier netted two tallies on the night. Brickhouse Dane Cella netted two as well. Big man Jimmy Welte almost took the tender's head off with a wicked slider blast from the point that drifted over the net, off the boards and right on the stick of Scott Patz who took advantage of the ducking goalie to net his goal on the night. Welte also got a nice rebound later in the game to earn his second point of the evening. Defensemen Bronson Barrett earned a playmaker on the night. Adam Havens, Tim Stiller, and Mike Holthouser earned the remaining tallies. Were it not for a penalty shot, Metro would not have had one goal and would have had very few quality shots on net. Final shot tally was 72-20 with a score of 9-1.

The Rams head to Utah to face the reinstated Utah Utes as well as Utah State and Weber State this coming weekend.

10/23/06 - OCU hands two losses to Rams:

Your Rams faced a solid and quick Central Oklahoma Bronco team on the weekend in Oklahoma and came home with two losses added to the record. Both nights witnessed the Rams getting ahead with an early 1-0 lead, only to be fooled by the 2nd and 3rd periods both nights. The first night saw the Rams handed a 5-2 loss after a good back and forth game with an empty netter to finalize the evening. The second night was a bit different with sloppy play and lots of penalties slowing the game down and getting the Rams off their game in the 3-1 loss.

The Rams look to improve their record this weekend with a home game against Denver and an away match against Metro State in Denver.

10/16/06 - Ram's pepper Texas Tech / KU:

The team had an overall good weekend trapping the puck in the opponents' end for most of Friday and Saturday nights and resulting in a 10-2 victory over Texas Tech and a 5-2 win over Kansas. The offense was clicking pretty well and resulted in 112 shots (50 v. TT, 62 v. KU) on net while only allowing 29 on goalie Doug Lesch on the weekend. We would have like to have more than 15 goals out of that many shots, but a mixture of skills between the pipes for KU and an uncanny ability of your Rams to hit crossbars, pipes, stick knobs, and other items in front of the goal line keeping the puck from finding it's home in the back of the net limited the scoring. Travis Barrett had an excellent game against the Red Raiders getting the Ram's started with their first 2 goals. Jake McFarland kept the surge going with 2 G-notes of his own and 4 assists towards the winning effort. After two embarrassing short-handed goals by the Red Raiders in the first, the Rams allowed only 5 shots on Lesch for the rest of the night. The remaining 6 Ram tallies were dished out by expected scorers Holthouser, Stover, Stiller, Buffington, Robinson, and Smith.

Saturday night saw a bit of the same story with allowing limited access to the home team end, but not seeing the goal frenzy from the previous evening. Tender Doug Lesch was the unfortunate reciepient of one awkward tipped / screened shot and another which looked more like a basketball tipoff which bounced off the jumping players to trickle into the net. The KU tender was having much better luck in his end as mentioned above blocking numerous Ram onslaughts. The Ram bench cheered prematurely numerous times as they skaters appeared to have gotten past the tender only to be fooled by an errant stick or goal post. The game was precarious in the third as the Ram's handed the Jayhawks a powerplay with minutes remaining and only holding a 3-2 lead (after the mostly dominating performance.) However, Mike Holthouser got a hail mary pass by quarterback Jake McFarland over the Kansas players to bury an empty net goal. Thirty seconds later, Mike did it by himself, tossing the puck from deep in the Ram end to get his second empty netter to seal the 5-2 win.

Though there was great plays and serious effort on the weekend, the Rams could have and should have taken advantage of their numerous opportunities. It'll matter most when playing in close games where shots are even and harder to come by. We look forward to a serious test of our players this coming weekend when we head to Oklahoma City to play the Central Oklahoma Broncos (DI.)

10/9/06 - Rams have rough homecoming weekend:

Your Ram hockey team failed to complete a Colorado sweep of the Utah teams visiting the State this weekend by falling to Utah State Saturday night 6-5. CU beat Utah State 5-4 and Weber State 11-1 while DU beat Utah State 9-3 and Weber State 11-7.

The team dealt with a sloppy yet entertaining Friday night game against Weber State that saw a final score of 7-2. Doug Robinson continued to impress with a hat trick on the night. Linemate Mike Holthouser spoiled his attempt at a "natural" trick by posting the third goal of the evening as well as the fifth. Scott Patz and Dane Cella posted scores as well in the victory. Tender Brian Minor had a solid evening as well keeping 28 of 30 shots out of the net - both goals were awkward tip shots. The team dealt with numerous penalty situations that disrupted the game flow, but ended ahead on the night.

Saturday night was a different story - the outmatched Utah State team did all they could to put shots on net and crash for the rebounds. Their tactics worked for the first half of the game getting up 3-1 mid-way through the second period. The Rams awoke from hybernation at that point and played as they should - they stayed out of the sinbin, popped in three ringers in quick succession, and kept Utah State in their zone for the rest of the second --- until the last minute when two untimely penalties gave the Utah skaters a 5-3 powerplay and a 0:16 goal to even the game and take the momentum away from the Rams. The Rams never recovered, heading back to the penalty box too frequently in the third and not winning the small battles to get shots on net to pull back into the lead. The team had sparks of greatness, but overall handed too many opportunities to the visitors to get the win. The team will have a good week of practice and focus on playing Texas Tech and Kansas this coming Friday and Saturday.

10/2/06 - Rams bring home the Beaver Cup:

The Rams had an exciting weekend in Minot, N.D. and finished with their first two wins and trophy of the season. Though missing a few key players from the line-up for the weekend, your Rams held off the Division I Minot State Beavers in an overtime and double shoot-out game the first night of the tournament and after the 14 hour bus-ride. The game ended in a 3-3 tie after regulation time and remained at that score for the ovetime sudden death period. The first shoot-out ended in a 1-1 tie with a score by Dan Malone. Tim Stiller popped the next goal in the sudden death shoot-out match-up and Brian Minor notched his 50th save of the night stopping the next Beaver shooter for the win. Saint Cloud State proved less of a match up as the Rams quickly notch 4 goals in the first few minutes of the game. The second and third periods were much the same as the Rams finished off the Huskies with a final score of 9-1. Your Rams play the much-improved teams of Weber State and Utah State this weekend at EPIC at 730pm both nights.

9/24/06 - Split for warm-up weekend:

Your Rams had a solid opening weekend against the allstar team from the Fort Collins Adult Hockey Association (FCAHA) "Firechickens." Both games on the weekend were neck and neck until the final minutes of play and the fans witnessed a tug of war all weekend with multiple lead changes in both matches. The first game saw the Rams pull away to a 7-5 victory with defensemen McFarland, Vaughn and rookie Bronson Barrett (2) putting 4 strikes on the scoreboard. Bronson's brother and forward Travis Barrett, as well as veterans Garrett Hanson and Nick Buffington lit the lamp for the remaining three goals. The second night, the wiley former CSU stars on the Firechickens proved they had some skills still with former Ram standout Chris Hau netting a hat-trick and former coach Jason Billings netting another in handing their 7-4 loss to the team. Ram newcomer Doug Robinson and Mike Holthouser put points on the board for the home team, each netting two Gs on the evening. The Firechickens were a very welcomed match up for the Rams and provided one of the best "warm-ups" a team in the ACHA could get. The visitors were comprised of former CSU superstars like Ryan Glas, Josh Bowers, Jeremy Jennings, and Adam Visocky as well as players from the CHL Colorado Eagles and former NCAA standouts living in Northern Colorado. These tune-up games are usually pretty sloppy, but the fans were treated to some good hockey and some skillful play and hard hitting. Your Rams look forward to their next games as they make the 14 hour bus ride to Minot, N.D. to play Minot State, St. Cloud State and Bemidji State next weekend.

Summer notes:

The team officers, coaches, and intern staff have been very busy this summer laying the foundation for a great season come this fall. Coach Kelly Newton has signed up to help coach the team – he has had great success wherever he has helped coach and brings a wealth of experience to CSU.

We have put together one of the most varied and difficult schedules in years adding 14 games to last year's regular season schedule for a total of 38 games against 27 different opponents. We have six road trips this coming year to North Dakota, Oklahoma, Utah, Michigan, Arizona, and Wyoming and will play five games against Division I teams. The hockey program will host the first ever Thanksgiving Western Classic Tournament November 17-19 at EPIC and is extremely excited about hosting the ACHA Division II National Championship March 7-10 at EPIC. The hockey team and CSU Sports Club office is co-hosting the event with the Northern Colorado Sports Commission and is working with EPIC and the City of Fort Collins, and the Fort Collins Convention and Visitor’s Bureau and numerous in-city facilities and sponsors to make it a great event for Fort Collins, the ACHA hockey players, and their family and fans.

Off the ice, the team has focused on improving many administrative aspects of the program like getting new Ram Gear, new team jerseys, establishing a great new website, developing the recruiting program, and improving community interaction through sponsorships, advertisements, and other activities like working with the Colorado Eagles to play a CSU-CU game at the Budweiser Events Center in February (still in progress!) Already, the rival CU Buffs have completed work with the new CHL team the Rocky Mountain Rage to host a CU-CSU game at the brand new Broomfield Events Center December 2nd. Both facilities are top-notch and seat roughly 6,000 fans so strap on your Ram gear and get ready to rock. Furthermore, the team is working to re-establish a Ram Booster Club and working more closely with the Fort Collins Youth and Adult Hockey Leagues for mutual support. If you are interested in participating, please email the team at csuramhockey@yahoo.com.

The Rams are very excited about this coming year and hope our great fans are ready for one of the most exciting seasons in a long time! Look for more information down the road and have a great summer!

Three players honored with national honors:

The early post-season has seen exciting news for the Ram Hockey team. Following an excellent season finishing third in the nation of over 150 hockey teams in ACHA Division II, three members of the team were honored by the coaches and ACHA administrators. Specifically, Captain Jordan Stover won Western Regional Most Valuable Player and National First-team All-American Awards. CSU point leader Tim Stiller won National Second-team All-American and defenseman Chris Hau won Third-team All-Regional awards. Congratulations to these players and all the others who played major roles in the team’s successes.

National Tournament Results 2006:

The team did very well going 2-1-1 in the tourney overall and thoroughly impressing all teams and officials in the tournament. We ended up third place in the nation losing to the eventual champion 3-2 in overtime. All spectators and the commissioner commented that we outplayed Oakland (this year's champion), just didn't get the bounces. We outshot them 20-4 in the third period. Coaches from around the tournament commented to me and CSU players and parents that before Nationals they thought we were just a physical team, but by week's end were very impressed with our skill. Jordan Stover got Tourney First Team honors. I got approached my numerous coaches from quality programs who now want to travel out to play us, Denver and CU. All in all, an excellent showing.

Mar. 8th: CSU 3 Bryant 0
Mar. 9th: CSU 6 Central Michigan 6 OT
Mar. 10th: CSU 2 Wagner 1
Mar. 11th: CSU 2 Oakland 3 OT