TRAVELLING RAMILY

CSU Mens Lacrosse looks to make the most of their Spring Break trip

(clockwise from front) Senior defenseman Patrick Sullivan, junior defenseman Hayden Porter, sophomore goalie Jack Regan, and junior defenseman Tyler Zabor celebrate a Rams goal on March 3rd against Colorado College. The Rams jumped out to a 7-0 lead, eventually winning by a score of 12-4. As the nations universities reach their spring breaks, its not uncommon to see college students from around the country flock to Arizona for some well-deserved fun in the sun. The Colorado State Mens Lacrosse team will be part of this annual migration to the Grand Canyon State, but their trip wont be about pool parties and bar crawls-its a business trip. The Rams (5-0, 0-0), currently ranked #1 in the Mens Collegiate Lacrosse Association (MCLA), will travel to Tempe and Tuscon, Arizona, to play a grueling four-day, three-game schedule against some of the top teams in the league. The team will face the #9 Arizona State Sun Devils on March 10th, the #18 Stanford Cardinal on March 11th, and the unranked Arizona Wildcats on March 13th. Even with the Rams holding the #1 spot, head coach Alex Smith wont be overlooking any of the teams theyll play in Arizona. When it comes to the MCLA, rankings dont mean a whole lot. Anything can happen. [Arizona State] was the

national runner-up in each of the past two seasons, and Stanford and U of A (Arizona) are always dangerous. We cant let statistics and paper dictate how were going to prepare for these teams. He continued. We have to prepare for every game in the same way. Smiths players preached a similar attitude. Said senior long-stick midfielder and captain Andy Siegmund, Arizona State is a good team. They may have lost some of their top guys on offense, but they can still run and gun and score. Stanford and Arizona probably wouldnt have scheduled us if they didnt think they could beat us, too. Added senior attackman and captain Austin Fisher, Were playing really great right now and our depth is some of the best in the nation. We cant let it go to our heads though. Both Arizona State and Arizona are looking to avenge last seasons losses to CSU. The Rams, then ranked #3, defeated the then-#2 Sun Devils 6-5, behind a hat trick from attackman Cooper Kehoe and eight saves from goalie Andy Flax. Two days later, ten different CSU players scored in a 17-5 drubbing of the Arizona Wildcats. CSU and Stanford havent faced off since 2006, where the Rams won 17-3 in Stanford, CA. All three of the Rams opponents are members of the Southwestern Lacrosse Conference (SLC), a division of the MCLA that sent three teams to the national tournament last year. Beating CSU would boost the tournament resume of any team, especially those that play in the extremely competitive SLC. To senior midfielder and captain Matt Jui, the upcoming slate of games represented a great opportunity for the Rams, too. This is going to be a fun weekend, but its also going to be a big test for us. We play a couple games in a very short time span, so its going to be important that we use our depth and go hard on every play. Coach Smith also noted that the tight schedule would be beneficial to the team. We are the number one team in the country right now, but we cant just sit back and relax. We have to keep getting better and we have to prove to ourselves that we are deserving of that honor. This upcoming weekend will be a great measure of where we stand. Here is the schedule of this weekends games: Date Saturday, March 10th 1:00 PM PST Opponent Arizona State Location Arizona State Soccer Fields 655 S. Athletes Place

Sunday, March 1:00 PM PST

11th

Stanford

Tuesday, March 13th 7:00 PM PST

University of Arizona

Tempe, AZ 85287 Arizona State Soccer Fields 655 S. Athletes Place Tempe, AZ 85287 University Of Arizona 501 S. Plumer Ave. Tucson, AZ 85719

You can get scores and game updates of this weekends contests by following @CSUMensLAX on Twitter. For more information on the Rams, visit http://www.csulacrosse.com. For more information on the Mens Collegiate Lacrosse Association, visit http://www.mcla.us.