ALAMOSA, Colo. – Colorado State University Pueblo men's lacrosse appeared headed to overtime here Saturday afternoon in its Rocky Mountain Conference match-up with Adams State, but the Grizzlies scored a goal with seven seconds left to seal a 9-8 upset win over the ThunderWolves at the ASU Lacrosse Field.
 
With the win, the Pack fall to 1-11 overall and 1-4 in the RMAC, while Adams State improved to 2-5 overall and 1-3 in the league. The win snapped ASU's 34-game losing streak in RMAC play as the Grizzlies last win before Saturday's upset victory came on April 7, 2017 at Maryville (Mo.).
 
The Pack, who trailed 8-7, tied the game at 8-all with 59 seconds left in the fourth period following a goal by freshman midfielder Lane Lessley (Lakewood, Colo./Lakewood) that was assisted by freshman midfielder Nathan Liderman (Bend, Ore./Summit).
 
Adams State would win the ensuing face-off following Lessley's goal and called timeout with 36 seconds left. The Grizzlies would hold the ball for nearly the remainder of the game as Tyler Hubbard took a pass from Daniell Joy and found the goal with seven seconds left to give ASU a 9-8 lead to seal its victory.
 
The Pack were outshot, 21-20 in Saturday's game and each team collected 10 ground balls. The Grizzlies, though, committed two more turnovers than the Pack, 6-4 in the game.
 
Liderman and Lessley led the way offensively for the Pack with three goals each and senior attacker Logan Naves (Highlands Ranch, Colo./Highlands Ranch) added a goal and an assist for two points in the setback.
 
The Grizzlies opened the scoring in Saturday's game with an unassisted goal by Dawson Balabanoff just 63 seconds into the contest.
 
Liderman, though, tied the game on his first goal of the game with 12:27 left in the opening half, before ASU used goals by Kris Owens and Travis Brave Heart to take a 3-1 lead in the game. Liderman capped the scoring in the first period with an unassisted goal with 2:24 left to pull within 3-2.
 
The Pack tied the game just 56 seconds into the second period as sophomore midfielder Brett Woolcock (Humble, Texas/Atascocita) scored his second goal of the season off an assist by junior midfielder CJ Rowe (Indianapolis, Ind./Concordia-Chicago). Naves would score with 8:49 left in the second period to give the Pack a 4-3 lead.
 
Balabanoff would help the Grizzlies tie the game at 4-all on his second goal of the game with eight minutes left in the second period.
 
ASU used another goal by Balabanoff to open the third period to take a 5-4 lead, before Lessley scored an unassisted goal with 11:47 left in the period to retie the game at 5-all.
 
The Grizzlies would close the third period by scoring two of the final three goals with the Pack goal coming from Lessley off an assist by Naves to hold a 7-6 lead heading into the final period.
 
Liderman would score a man-up goal with 6:13 left in the fourth period to help the Pack retie the game at 7-all. Chase Roush would give the Grizzlies an 8-7 lead following his unassisted goal with 2:35 left in the game.
 
Lessley led the way for the Pack with five shots, including four shots on goal, while Liderman and Naves each took three shots and combined for four shots on goal.
 
Balabanoff paced the Grizzlies with three goals as seven ASU players scored in the contest.
 
Senior midfielder Turner Dirk (Strathmore, Alberta/Holy Trinity Academy) paced the Pack with four ground balls, while freshman midfielder Bryce Campbell (Meridian, Idaho/Meridian) was 8-for-19 on face-offs and had three ground balls.
 
Justin Peterson was 11-for-19 on face-offs and had seven ground balls to pace the Grizzlies.
 
The teams accounted for seven penalties in the game as the Pack were called for four and ASU committed three in the game.  
 
Graduate student goalie Ethan Ferrie (Littleton, Colo./Arapahoe) played all 60 minutes in goal for the Pack as he made seven saves, caused a turnover, and allowed nine goals.
 
Ryan Berger played all 60 minutes in the cage for ASU as he allowed eight goals and made five saves.
 
The Pack will return to action on Friday, April 28 as they close the 2023 regular season with a 6 p.m. game in Grand Junction, Colo., against 12th-ranked Colorado Mesa.