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Colorado Drops to 9-5 overall with Loss to Sea WolvesBy Scott Cunningham; CU Lacrosse Public Relations
Boulder, CO (April 14, 2009) - Coming off of a huge upset victory at Colorado State on Saturday, the Sonoma State Sea Wolves will fly back to Northern California after pulling off another gutsy road victory with an 8-7 win over the 12th ranked University of Colorado Buffaloes Tuesday night in Boulder.
 Although Colorado showed their ability to fight back from adversity, they could not dig themselves out of the hole they created in the first quarter after they inexplicably came out flat. Conversely, Sonoma State played with the intensity necessary to beat a tough opponent on the road and scored the first three goals of the contest. CU goalie Kevin Moriarty (Seton Hall Prep/ Chatham, NJ) stopped enough shots to keep the Buffs within reach at 3-0 at the end of the first period. Colorado seemed to wake up a bit coming out of the first intermission, promptly getting scores from Darren Hulick (Heritage/ Littleton, CO) and Joel Packer (Stevenson School/ Monterey, CA) to put CU within one less than one and a half minutes into the second quarter. Shortly after Packer’s goal, CU long pole Ryan Burt (Denver East/ Denver, CO) put a leveling hit on an opposing player in front of the CU goal and it felt like the game’s momentum had changed for good. But, as would be the story for the rest of the night, Sonoma would keep the game out of reach from the Buffaloes. The Sea Wolves would trade two goals each with the Buffs and take back a three-goal, 7-4 lead into halftime.
The third quarter saw the Buffs once again cut into the deficit when Packer scored his second goal of the game late in the period, making the game 7-5 Sonoma State after three. The Sea Wolves scored  early in the fourth quarter to add to their lead, and the Buffs would once again close the gap. Two goals less than four minutes apart made it an 8-7 game with 6:45 to play, but two solid CU possessions in the last three minutes of the game did not produce scoring opportunities. The Buffs were able to get the ball back one last time with 45 seconds to play, but unfortunately could not take advantage.
 It was clear that the difference in the game was the lackadaisical play of CU in the first 15 minutes, but the Buffaloes also suffered from the absence of AJ Blackburn (Hun School/ Princeton, NJ). Blackburn, who averages over 3 points a game, did not play, for undisclosed reasons.
Colorado must put the disappointing loss behind them before they begin preparations for Colorado State. The Buffs and the Rams are set to play at Folsom Field on the University of Colorado campus this Saturday at 4 PM.
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