SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Colorado State University Pueblo men's lacrosse concluded its two-game road trip here Saturday afternoon with a 25-2 setback to 19th-ranked Westminster University in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play at Dumke Field.
 
With the setback, the ThunderWolves fall to 0-9 overall and 0-4 in the RMAC, while Westminster improves to 7-2 overall and 3-1 in the league.
 
Westminster opened the game by scoring nine goals in the first period and added five more goals in the second period to lead 14-0 at the half. The Griffins then added seven more goals in the third period to lead 21-0 heading into the final period. After Westminster opened the final period with two more goals to push in front 23-0, the Pack would finally dent the scoreboard on a goal by junior midfielder Harley Williams (Edmonton, Alberta/Dominican) that was assisted by sophomore attacker Kyle Parker (Hamilton, New Zealand/Northland College) with 5:33 left in the game.
 
The Griffins than added two more goals to take a 25-1 lead with 1:19 left, but the Pack capped the scoring in the game on a goal with 50 second left in the game from junior attacker Johnny Cole (University Place, Wash./Curtis Senior). Cole's goal was assisted by sophomore midfielder Lane Lessley (Lakewood, Colo./Lakewood).
 
The Pack tallied 23 shots, but put just seven of those shots on goal in the game. Parker and sophomore attacker Andrew Dzubak (Putnam Valley, N.Y./Mount Saint Vincent) each took four shots in the game.
 
CSU Pueblo also had 20 ground balls with seven different players collecting two ground balls, but the Pack won just 12 face-offs with sophomore midfielder Bryce Campbell (Meridian, Idaho/Meridian) going 7-for-19 and freshman midfielder Devin MacFarlane (Colorado Springs, Colo./Cheyenne Mountain) going 5-for-12.
 
The Griffins had 37 ground balls and won 19 face-offs.
 
Westminster got 25 goals from 15 different players, including three goals from Daxton Jenson. The Griffins also had 15 assists in the win with Boden Laforce recording four assists.
 
Both teams combined for 58 turnovers in the game as the Pack had 34 and Westminster committed 24. Neither team was able to take advantage of their extra-man opportunities as the Pack were 0-for-5 and Westminster was 0-for-3.
 
Westminster was a perfect 31-for-31 on clears, while the Pack was 16-for-23 on clears.
 
Freshman Cole Rutz (Palatine, Ill./Fremd) started in the cage for the Pack as he played 47 minutes and recorded nine saves and allowed 22 goals. Sophomore Connor Russell (Grand Haven, Mich./Grand Haven) played most of the fourth period and recorded four saves and allowed three goals.
 
Three different players saw action in the cage for the Griffins as Christian Jones played the first half and recorded two saves and had one ground ball and one caused turnover as he was credited with the win.
 
The Pack will return to action next Saturday, April 6 as they host Adams State for a 12 p.m. RMAC game at ALG Stadium. The Pack opened RMAC play with a 15-11 loss at Adams State on March 6.