CSU Hockey Rolls at Home

The top-ranked Colorado State Rams hockey team took to the ice

Saturday night to take on the 12-6 San Jose State Spartans. The

Rams had some serious confidence going in after having stomped the

Weber State Wildcats 14-0 the night before.

The Rams kept constant pressure on freshman goalie Ryan Lowe,

who made some good saves and prevented the high-powered Ram offense

from taking advantage of scoring opportunities until 5:08 to go in

the first period. CSU forward Josh Bowers found a hole in Lowe’s

armor and exploited it to give the Rams a 1-0 lead after one

period.

The Rams dominated the second period, keeping the puck in San

Jose State’s zone. When a Spartan could carry the puck down the ice

he was quickly turned away by the hard-hitting and good

fore-checking of the CSU defense as well as the Rams’ stonewall

goalie Logan Huffman.

The Rams spread the puck around and got goals from Ryan Lewis,

Mike Holthuser, Jeff Mann and Josh Pulliam, which allowed CSU to

pull away from the Spartans and put the game out of reach with a

5-0 lead by the end of the second period.

“This hockey team is as good as any I have been associated

with,” said CSU head coach Dave Delozier, who last season coached

at the University of Colorado-Boulder. “It’s a team with skill and

character, with great leaders that work hard and every player does

the little things that win games.”

As the third period got underway, frustration set in on the

Spartan bench and penalties began to be an issue for both teams. At

times three players were packed into the penalty box for CSU, but

that didn’t stop the Rams from adding to the score with a

power-play goal from captain Jason Bowers. Lewis, Pulliam and Josh

Bowers all netted their second goals of the night in the third as

the game concluded with a 9-0 CSU.

Delozier said the back-to-back victories “felt good. The team

has been on a roll since the Michigan game.”

The Rams lost to Michigan 3-4 and after the loss made a

commitment to “run the table for the next seven games and control

our destiny,” Delozier said.

CSU will now gear up for this weekend’s two-game series with the

No.2 Colorado Buffaloes. Friday’s game will be at EPIC ice rink and

Saturday’s game will be in Boulder. The last time these two teams

played, Nov. 8 and Nov. 9, the Rams won 5-4 in Boulder and the

Buffs won 5-1 at EPIC.

With four of seven games remaining, Delozier said his team has

yet to reach its goal.

“We’ve won three of them; four to go,” he said.