Mar. 24th, 2004 - Colorado throttles Notre Dame de Namur
By Brian Hanson
WCLL Correspondent
BELMONT, Calif.- One out of two isn't bad.
Colorado's Jason Anderson had a career high 7 points (4 goals, 3 assists) and the CU defense surrendered only 4 second-half shots as the Buffaloes beat the Notre Dame de Namur Argonauts 15-5 before 100 spectators on Tuesday afternoon.
"We did not want to get out of here with two losses on this trip," Anderson said of Colorado's two-game California business trip.
After losing an 8-5 decision to Sonoma State on Saturday, Colorado had two days of practice on the NDNU field. Coach John Galvin Jr. must have covered every possible aspect of the game because the Buffaloes were dominant.
"The guys responded well," Galvin Jr. said. "Losing to Sonoma, a real close game, and then the way we played today…it was great."
Colorado was on top 2-1 when Anderson scored a man-up goal--his second tally of the day--to put CU in front 3-1.
NDNU responded with 3 goals in three minutes to jump out to a 4-3 lead. Keegan Davidson, James Mutscheller, and Neil Butterfield tallied for the Argonauts.
Jeff Logan answered for CU and then Anderson picked up a loose ball in front of the crease for a dunk and the Buffaloes were in front 5-4. Two additional Colorado goals sandwiched an NDNU score and the teams went to halftime with the Buffaloes leading 7-5.
"It was a pretty good first half," Anderson said. "It was a dog fight. Both teams played pretty well."
That could not be said of the second half.
Anderson put Colorado up 8-5 at 14:21 of the third when he danced through traffic and beat NDNU goalie Nick Ries (9 saves). Brian Morgan scored off a lefty shot down low. Brandon Bailey uncorked a blast for a man-up goal. Anderson finished a perfect fastbreak, assisted by Ted Harries. Bailey notched his second man-up score of the run when he launched a rocket that snugged the top-left corner to give CU a 7-goal lead.
Colorado had taken a 7-5 halftime lead and blown it up to 12-5 at the end of three periods and they weren't done. Harries added his third of the day, attackman Chris Bok scored a man-down goal, and Logan Unland took a pass from Rick Fleenor and the Buffaloes had their win.
CU out-shot NDNU 42-16. The Argonauts produced only 3 third-quarter shots and one in the fourth.
"They couldn't really get anything started on offense," Anderson added. "I have to give a lot of credit to our defense."
Along with Anderson's career day, Bok and Harries each added 4 points (3 g 1a) for the Buffaloes.
"We played well in that second half, came together as a team," Anderson said. "We just moved the ball well and found the seams and found the back of the net."
Davidson (2g) and Marc Mackrides (1g 1a) were the offensive leaders for NDNU.
Galvin Jr., a former assistant coach at Division III Cortland State, was proud of his defense.
"For our defense to only give up one shot in the fourth, that is just tough 'D'," he said. "That is something we take pride in and we really work hard at it. We want to be fired up about our defensive effort."
Senior face-off man Michael Gerhard, with a little help from freshman John Stringi, won 15 of 22 face-offs. He won 7 of 10 through the game-deciding second and third quarters.
Notre Dame de Namur, an NAIA team coming off a 3-1 road trip playing against Division II opponents in North Carolina, was not quite ready for the Buffaloes.
"They are an athletic team. What shocked me was that their sticks were that much better that ours," said NDNU head coach Joe Romano. "As a team, they were better than anyone we played back east. We got our butts handed to us today. I think they are a real good team and they can do a lot of damage the rest of the way."
Scoring report:
CU: 5 - 2 - 5 - 3 = 15
NDNU: 4 - 1 - 0 - 0 = 5
CU: Harries 3g 1a, Anderson 4g 3a, Bok 3g 1a, Logan 1g, Morgan 1g 2a, Bailey 2g, Kellogg 1a, Unland 1g, Fleenor 1a.
NDNU: Davidson 2g, Mackrides 1g 1a, Mutscheller 1g, Vera 1a, Butterfield 1g, Scherman 1a.
Shots: CU 42, NDNU 16
Saves: CU 4 (Bluse), NDNU 12 (Ries 9) (Doss 3)
Man-up: CU 2-5, NDNU 2-3
Face-offs: CU 15-22