PUEBLO, Colo. (GoThunderWolves.com - Sept. 21, 2012) - CSU-Pueblo got in the win column Friday night after using five second-half goals to claim a 6-0 shutout over Colorado Christian.
CSU-Pueblo was an offensive juggernaut, out-shooting the Cougars 33-8 and finding the net regularly. Both Chad Smith (Jr., Las Vegas, Nev.) and Ryan Hunter (Sr., Goodyear, Ariz.) turned in two-goal nights for the Pack and helped the ThunderWolves shrug off two straight losses to nationally-ranked Regis.
The ThunderWolves didn't notch their first goal, however, until 25 minutes into the game when Jon-Michael Krasovic (Jr., Pueblo, Colo.) played a perfectly-placed ball to Hunter, to sent a header past Christian keeper David Ilgenfritz to put the Pack up 1-0.
"Ryan's goal was big for us to break the ice," Pack coach Roy Stanley said. "He deserves a lot of credit for this win. He showed a lot of maturity tonight in getting us that lead."
But the ThunderWolves, despite out-shooting the Cougars a healthy but not imposing 12-6 in the first half, didn't score again in the first half, ending the period with a not-so-satisfying 1-0 lead.
The second half, however, erased any ill will as the Pack opened up its game and simply dominated. The ball practically lived in the Cougar end of the field as the Pack out-shot Colorado Christian a staggering 21-2 and converting one out of every four shots it sent toward the goal.
Stanley said that it was important at that time that the team stick with the game plan in the second half, and the result was a huge boost in confidence, especially in light of its 7-1 loss the last time it played on its home field.
"Nobody felt like the plan was broken," Stanley said. "Nobody felt like they had to take it upon themselves to change thungs up and everybody stuck to what had been successful for them in the past. There's a lot of confidence that comes out of that."
Alex Marin (So., Campeche, Mexico) was the Pack's next hero, putting the ThunderWolves up 2-0 on another nicely-served header as Matt Marchena (Fr., Littleton, Colo.) tallied the assist.
Just 59 seconds later, Hunter scored his second goal on a feed from Sam Glawe (Fr., Allen, Texas), and suddenly, up 3-0, the rout was officially on.
After taking a 15-minute break from sending balls to the back of the net, the ThunderWolves scored again in a flurry, getting Smith's first goal in the 72nd minute as he took a feed from Dustin Geist (Jr., Durango, Colo.) from the top of the box, played it on a volley and found the net.
Geist added his own goal in the 83rd minute, finding a gift-wrapped ball in front of the net and beating Ilgenfritz to put the Pack up 5-0.
Smith answered again just 2:28 later for the Pack's final goal of the night, collecting a nice through ball from Connor Saxe (Jr., Tacoma, Wash.) to snag his second goal and end the scoring at 6-0.
So far this season, CSU-Pueblo is 3-4-1, but looks are deceiving, as the each of the ThunderWolves' three wins have come against unranked opponents and each loss have come against nationally-ranked opponents.
The Pack will depart for Denver Sunday to take on Metro State and look for its second straight win.
