The Colorado St. Rams wrapped up their final regular season games and are now are setting their sites on the conference tournament in two weeks. This past weekend Colorado State went 1-4 with a 1-3 record against conference foes.
The first game was Friday night against Cal State Monterey Bay and Colorado State came out sluggish and fell flat. Their defense had a tough time in the first half and fell behind 11-5 after two quarters. In the second half the offense and defense played better and won the second half 4-3, but overall this was not a good showing by Colorado State.
This was a game that Colorado State could have won and head coach Mike Moody mentioned that his team had a lot of missed opportunities that might have given Colorado State a chance in this game.
The first game on Saturday was against Santa Clara where Colorado State fell 12-8. The game was close for the first two quarter as the two teams were tied at five at the half, but then the third quarter started which is where Colorado State collapsed and was outscored 4-1 in the third and 3-2 in the fourth quarter to lose their second game of the weekend.
The lead faded away for Colorado State when they allowed two quick goals by Santa Clara to make it 7-5, but Shelby Schaefer but Colorado State back within one goal on a breakaway. Santa Clara countered once again to go up 8-6, and their goalie Stephanie Clements blocked two point blank attempts from Colorado State to keep their lead at two goals.
Those close range shots and only having the goalie in one's way must be converted, and missed opportunities has been a common theme for Colorado State this season. They have been getting better as a team, but have not yet been able to get over the hump to move into the top half of the WWPA.
The second game for Colorado State on Saturday was not much better against Sonoma State where Colorado State lost 8-6. This was a game that Colorado State needed to win to move up from the bottom of the league standings. Colorado State fell behind 6-1 in the third quarter before they made a run of five consecutive goals to tie the game at six, but that was the last of the scoring for Colorado State. Sonoma State went on to score two more goals to win 8-6.
The first game on Sunday was against No. 8 ranked San Jose St. Spartans in a game Colorado State was not likely to win. San Jose State scored four goals in each of the first three quarters to ultimately win 13-5.
The good news on the weekend for Colorado State came on the final game of the weekend as they upset Cal State East Bay 8-7. Cal State East Bay ended the regular season 10-6 in WWPA, and is the best win Colorado State had all year.
This game was close throughout and Colorado State got off to a 2-1 lead after the first quarter. East Bay kept it close in the second quarter as they matched the Rams goal-for-goal to go to the half trailing 4-3. Colorado State increased their lead 6-4 heading into the final quarter. East Bay did outscore the Colorado State 3-2 in the fourth, but Colorado State came out with the 8-7 victory to split the season series at one game apiece.
For more on Colorado State sports go check out Mountain West Connection, and go visit The Skip Shot for more water polo news.