PUEBLO, Colo. – Colorado State University Pueblo men's lacrosse will begin the final week of 2023 regular season on Saturday, April 22 with a 12 p.m. Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference game against Adams State in Alamosa, Colo.
 
Saturday's game will be the second of two meetings this season between the two schools as the ThunderWolves earned its only win of the season at home on April 1 as they posted an 11-6 win against Adams State at the Art and Lorraine Gonzales Soccer and Lacrosse Stadium in Pueblo.
 
The game will also be the first of two games in the next week to close the regular season as the Pack will conclude the regular season next Friday, April 28 at 12th-ranked Colorado Mesa.
 
CSU Pueblo, who is coached by Sean Blair, enters Saturday's game fresh off a 12-6 loss on Wednesday at home against Colorado College in its 2023 home finale. Since that win over Adams State, the Pack have dropped three straight games, including losing RMAC contests to Westminster (25-11) and Colorado Mesa (22-5).
 
Offensively, the Pack have scored 73 goals in 11 games and are averaging 6.6 goals per game as freshman midfielder Lane Lessley (Lakewood, Colo./Lakewood) leads the way with 15 goals and has added seven assists for 22 points. Senior attacker Logan Naves (Highlands Ranch, Colo./Highlands Ranch) is second in goals with 13 and has also added 10 assists for a team-best 23 points, while freshman midfielder Nathan Liderman (Bend, Ore./Summitt) is third in goals with 10 and has two assists for 12 points.

Overall, seven Pack players have tallied five or more goals on the season and three players have recorded seven or more assists as senior midfielder Ian Noonan (Wilmington, Del./University of Tampa) is tied for the team lead with 10 assists. Along with Noonan and Naves, Lessley has had seven assists.

Lessley has taken a team-high 59 shots and put 31 of those shots on goal, while Naves has taken 44 shots and put 30 shots on goal, which is 68.2 shots on goal percentage. Two other Pack players – freshman midfielder Chris Easley (Southington, Conn./Weber)Noonan – have taken 25 or more shots as Easley has taken 31 and Noonan has taken 26 shots.

Freshman midfielder Bryce Campbell (Meridian, Id./Meridian) has been the primary face-off person for the Pack this season as he is 83-for-204 on face-offs. In addition, sophomore midfielder Harley Williams (Edmonton, Alberta/Dominican University) is 9-for-35 on face-offs and senior midfielder Turner Dirk (Strathmore, Alberta/Holy Trinity Academy) is 6-for-19 on face-offs.

Defensively, the Pack are allowing 15.7 goals per game and have caused 72 turnovers and collected 227 ground balls.

Junior defender Cornelius Healy (Keller, Texas/Keller) leads the way in ground balls with 32, while Dirk and Naves have each has 23. Dirk and Healy have combined to cause 24 turnovers as Healy leads the way with 15 and Dirk has had nine. Healy leads the league in caused turnovers per game as he is averaging 1.4 per game.

Graduate student Ethan Ferrie (Littleton, Colo./Arapahoe) leads the way in goal for the Pack as he has recorded 168 saves and allowed 159 goals and has had 24 ground balls. His 15.2 saves per game are tops in the league, while his 51 percent save percentage is second in the league. Ferrie has been a two-time RMAC Defensive Player of the Week this season and recorded a school record 24 saves earlier this season at Maryville (Mo.) University.
 
SCOUTING ADAMS STATE
Adams State comes into Saturday's game with the Pack sporting a 1-5 overall record and an 0-3 mark in the RMAC. The Grizzlies opened the 2023 season with a 19-2 win at Missouri Baptist and since that win they have dropped five straight games, including suffering a 22-3 home loss in its last action on April 14 against 12th-ranked Colorado Mesa. ASU has lost all three of its RMAC games this and have lost 34 straight league games since earning an 11-5 win over Maryville (Mo.) on April 7, 2017. ASU has gone 0-6 in league play the past two seasons.

As a team, Adams State has scored 47 goals in six games and is averaging 8.1 goals per game with Tyler Hubbard and Travis Brave Heart both having scored 11 goals on the year. In addition to Hubbard and Brave Heart, Dawson Balabanoff has scored seven goals. Hubbard and Brave Heart have also combined for six assists as they have tallied 14 points  respectively.

Matthew Lash is one of eight Grizzlies that have recorded two or more assists on the year as ASU has recorded 27 assists in six games. Lash leads the way with six assists, while Balabanoff has had four assists.
 
Brave Heart has taken a team-leading 39 shots, while Balabanoff has added 32 shots and Hubbard has taken 27 shots.
 
Justin Peterson and Jamal Wilson have each won 22 face-offs this season as Peterson is 22-for-64 on face-offs, while Wilson is 22-for-51 on face-offs.

Defensively, the Grizzlies have caused 44 turnovers, collected 132 ground balls and have allowed 80 goals as they are allowing 13.7 goals per game this season.

Brannan Grass leads the way in caused turnovers with eight, while Hunter Bennett has had five caused turnovers and leads in ground balls with 14. Grass and Ryan Berger are tied for second in ground balls with 11. Grant Jardine and Matt Fus has each had 10 ground balls.
 
In goal, the Grizzlies have played two players with Ryan Berger having played nearly 252 minutes in goal on the season. Berger leads the team with 58 saves and has allowed 67 goals, while Jamison Blackwell has played 98 minutes in goal and has made 10 saves and allowed 13 goals.

Adams State is coached by Jerome Austin as he is in his fifth season directing the Grizzlies program. Austin has posted a 5-35 record and is 0-23 in RMAC play as ASU's coach.

Saturday's game will mark the 16th all-time meeting  and second meeting this season between the two schools in men's lacrosse with CSU Pueblo holding a 10-5 advantage in the series. The Pack have won 10 straight games in the series, including sweeping both meetings during the 2022 season as the Pack won 18-5 in Pueblo and picked up a 15-7 win in Alamosa.