PUEBLO, Colo. – Colorado State University Pueblo men's lacrosse will look for some revenge here Friday afternoon as the ThunderWolves play host to Westminster (Utah) College for a 3 p.m. Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference match-up at the Art and Lorraine Gonzales Soccer and Lacrosse Stadium.
Friday's game will be the second meeting this season between the two schools as the Pack opened RMAC play with a 22-1 setback to the Griffins in Salt Lake City on March 6.
Along with Friday's game being the second meeting this season between the two schools, it will also the second of four consecutive home games for the Pack as they opened the homestand last Saturday against Adams State and will host Colorado Mesa next Sunday, April 16 at 12 p.m. and conclude the homestand on Wednesday, April 19 with a 6:30 p.m. game against Colorado College.
CSU Pueblo, who is coached by
Sean Blair, enters Friday's game fresh off its first win of the season as the Pack earned an 11-6 home win last Saturday over Adams State. That win snapped an eight-game losing skid for the Pack that dated to last season.
In the win against Adam State, the Pack recorded season highs in goals (11), assists (7), shots on goal (29) and caused turnovers (10). Freshmen midfielders
Lane Lessley (Lakewood, Colo./Lakewood) and
Nathan Liderman (Bend, Ore./Summit) each recorded hat tricks in the victory, while senior attacker
Logan Naves (Highlands Ranch, Colo./Highlands Ranch) added two goals and three assists.
Offensively, the Pack have scored 51 goals in eight games and are averaging 6.4 goals per game as Lessley leads the way with 11 goals and has added four assists for 15 points. Liderman is second in goals with nine, while Naves is the team's point leader with 16 as he has scored eight goals and has added 10 assists.
Overall, five Pack players have tallied four or more goals on the season and four players have recorded four or more assists on the year as senior midfielder
Ian Noonan (Wilmington, Del./University of Tampa) leads the way with 10 assists and is third in the league assists per game at 1.4. In addition to Noonan, Naves has eight assists, while Lessley and freshman midfielder
Chris Easley (Southington, Conn./Weber) each have four assists.
Lessley has taken a team-high 42 shots, while Naves is next with 29 shots and Easley is third with 25 shots.
Freshman midfielder
Bryce Campbell (Meridian, Id./Meridian) has been the primary face-off person for the Pack this season as he is 65-for-145 on face-offs. In addition, sophomore midfielder
Harley Williams (Edmonton, Alberta/Dominican University) is 8-for-32 on face-offs.
Defensively, the Pack are allowing 14.3 goals per game and have caused 44 turnovers and collected 171 ground balls.
Junior defender
Cornelius Healy (Keller, Texas/Keller) leads the way in ground balls with 22, while senior midfielder
Turner Dirk (Strathmore, Alberta/Holy Trinity Academy) has had 20 and Naves has recorded 15. Dirk and Healy have each caused seven turnovers on the year.
Graduate student
Ethan Ferrie (Littleton, Colo./Arapahoe) leads the way in goal for the Pack as he has recorded 121 saves and allowed 107 goals. His 15.0 saves per game are tops in the league, while his 53 percent save percentage is second-best 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.
ABOUT WESTMINSTER
Westminster comes into Friday's game with the Pack sporting a 3-6 overall record and a 1-1 mark in RMAC play. The Griffins, though, haven't played since suffering a 23-8 loss this past Saturday at Colorado Mesa. In fact, the loss to Mesa was the fourth straight for the Griffins since that 22-1 win over the Pack in early March. The Griffins other wins this season have come at home against Lynn (14-10) and a neutral site 10-9 win in St. Louis, Mo., over Rockhurst.
As a team, Westminster has scored 105 goals in nine games and are averaging 11.6 goals per game. The Griffins have scored in double figures in seven of nine games, but has been under 10 goals in its last two games. Merritt McMahon lead the Griffins and is second in the league in goals scored with 24 and is averaging 3.25 goals per game. In addition to McMahon, Luke Sillstrop is second in goals with 17, while Joseph Celetano and Camden Rossi have each scored 11 goals on the year.
McMahon leads the team in points with 26 as he has also had two assists, while Skyler Weathers is second in points with 21 as he is second on the team in assists with 12 and has scored nine goals, while Mike Spaeth has recorded a team-best 13 assists and Andrew Thomas has had nine assists.
McMahon is one three Westminster players to have taken at least 40 shots on the season as he has recorded 62 shots, while Rossi is second with 49 shots and Celentano is third with 46 shots.
Hagan Buchanan is second in the league in face-off wins with 101 as he is 101-for-193 on the season. His 52.3 face-off percentage is third-best in the league.
Defensively, the Griffins have caused 50 turnovers, collected 297 ground balls and have allowed 116 goals as they are allowing 12.9 goals per game on the year. The 297 ground balls are second-most in the league behind Mesa's 404.
Buchanan also leads the team in ground ball with 53 and is averaging 5.89 per game, which is second-best in the RMAC. In addition to Buchanan, Carson Capps is second with 21 and Liam Profit and McMahon are tied for third with 18 ground balls. Timothy McGuire has caused 12 turnovers to pace the Griffins.
The Griffins have had three different players play in goal this season with Jacob Miller being the team's primary goalie. Miller has played in all nine games and has made 103 saves and has allowed 106 goals. His 11.44 saves per game are third-best in the RMAC, while his 13.19 GAA is also third-best in the RMAC.
Westminster is coached by Joe Kerwin, who is in his fourth season as the Griffins' head coach in 2023 after spending the previous five seasons as an assistant coach. In his time as an assistant, he was a part of two RMAC Championships.
Friday's game will mark the second meeting this season between the two schools and the 16th all-time meeting in the series. Westminster leads the all-time series 14-1 and has won 11 consecutive games in the series since the Pack picked up a 14-12 win in Pueblo on March 31, 2017. Westminster leads 6-1 in Pueblo and holds a 7-0 record at home. In RMAC play, Westminster is 12-1 against the Pack.
