PUEBLO, Colo. – The Colorado State University Pueblo men's lacrosse team will conclude its two-game homestand to open the 2024 season here Saturday afternoon as the ThunderWolves host Rockhurst University in a 12 p.m. non-conference match-up at ALG Stadium.
CSU Pueblo comes into the game with an 0-1 record after opening the 2024 campaign with a 15-11 hard-fought setback to Dominican University of California on Feb. 4, while Rockhurst is sporting an 0-2 record after opening the season with back-to-back defeats at No. 4 ranked Tampa (23-7) and Saint Leo (16-10) on Feb. 9 and Feb. 11.
In the season opener against Dominican, the Pack, who is coached by 10th year head coach
Sean Blair, got 11 goals from six different players, including senior midfielder
Ezra Terry (Shreveport, La./Hendrix College) and sophomore midfielder
Lane Lessley (Lakewood, Colo./Lakewood) each scoring three goals, while sophomore attacker
Kyle Parker (Hamilton, New Zealand/Northland College) added two goals. Sophomore attacker
Andrew Dzubek (Putnam Valley, N.Y./Mount Saint Vincent) had three assists and added a goal in the loss.
Against the Penquins, the Pack were outshot, 46-41 as Lessley led the way with 10 shots, while Parker had seven shots and Terry took six shots.
The Pack also collected 22 ground balls in the opener with sophomore midfielder
Chris Easley (Southington, Conn./Weber) leading with way with five ground balls, while Dzubek added four and Parker and Terry each had three in the game. Dominican finished with 29 ground balls.
In the faceoff circle, the Pack were 12-for-27 in the game with sophomore midfielder
Bryce Campbell (Meridian, Idaho/Meridian) going 8-for-13 on face-offs, whole sophomore midfielder
Aaron Bell (Noblesville, Ind./Noblesville) was 4-for-12 on face-offs.
The Pack did record four man-up goals in the game, while Dominican had just two. The Pack were 4-for-13 on their extra-man opportunities, while DUC was 2-for-8 on their opportunities.
CSU Pueblo also played two goalies in the season opener as sophomore
Zane Lassberg (Houston, Texas/Westside) started in the cage for the Pack and played 30 minutes and allowed seven goals and made seven saves, while freshman
Xander Katz (Thornton, Colo./Horizon) played the second half and allowed eight goals and made three saves.
ABOUT ROCKHURST
Rockhurst, who is a member of the Great Lakes Valley Conference and is located in Kansas City, Mo., comes into this weekend's action still looking for its first win of the 2024 campaign as the Hawks opened their season last weekend in Florida as they faced off against No. 4 ranked Tampa and Saint Leo. The Hawks play a 10 a.m. game on Friday at Adams State, before traveling to Pueblo for Saturday's game.
Through two games this season, the Hawks have scored 17 goals and have allowed 39 goals, including allowing 23 goals in their season opening loss to nationally-ranked Tampa. The Hawks have also taken 69 shots in two games and have had 38 shots on goal.
Leading the way offensively for Rockhurst is freshman attacker Linus Toward, who has scored five goals in two games and also leads the Hawks in shots (9), shots on goal (7) and is tied for team lead in points with five.
In addition to Toward, senior midfielder Nate Adamson and senior attacker Ricky Bloom have each scored three goals and have combined for 16 shots and 11 shots on goal.
Freshman face-off specialist Oran Lautenbach leads the team in ground balls with 12 and is 17-for-34 on face-offs on the season. In addition to Lautenbach, sophomore goalie Brock Olllila is second in ground balls with seven, while sophomore midfielder Avery Moody has had six ground balls.
As a team, the Hawks have committed 30 turnovers through two games and they have caused 12 turnovers with four players each recording two caused turnovers.
In goal, Ollila has played all but two-plus minutes in the cage this season for the Hawks. He has allowed 38 goals and has made 25 saves and has a 19.36 goals allowed average.
Rockhurst is coached by Kevin Kelley, who is in his 11th season with the Hawks. He has led the program to nine consecutive winning seasons and was named the GLVC Co-Coach of the Year in 2023 after leading the Hawks to the program's first-ever GLVC Tournament Championship. In 2022, he led the Hawks to their first-ever GLVC regular season title.
SERIES HISTORY
Saturday's game will mark the 12th all-time meeting between the two schools in men's lacrosse. Rockhurst has won the previous 11 meetings, including collecting a 22-6 win last season in Kansas City. The Hawks are 5-0 in Pueblo and lead the series, 6-0 on their home field. Eight of those games came when Rockhurst was a member of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference for men's lacrosse. Rockhurst is the first of three GLVC teams the Pack will play this season in men's lacrosse as they are scheduled to play home games on March 14 against William Jewell and on March 16 against Quincy University.
UP NEXT
Following Saturday's second home game of the season, the Pack will hit the road for the first time in 2024 as they play a 12 p.m. game next Saturday, Feb. 24 at Colorado College, before opening RMAC play with a 3 p.m. game on Wednesday, March 6 in Alamosa, Colo., against Adams State.
