PUEBLO, Colo. – It was another slow start for the Westminster men's lacrosse team before they got the offense clicking and pulled away for a 17-10 win at Colorado State University-Pueblo on Sunday afternoon in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action.
 
Playing a fourth straight game away from home over the past month, Westminster (6-1, 5-0 RMAC) fell behind 2-0 and were down 4-1 with 3:29 to play in the opening quarter. CSU-Pueblo (3-7, 0-4 RMAC) had the lead back to 6-4 in the second quarter before the Griffins got going.
 
"The guys were a little casual in the first half and the ThunderWolves came out fighting," Westminster head coach Mason Goodhand said. "Hats off to Coach Blair and his staff for a great effort today. They proved today that there is a narrowing gap in this conference."
 
Cole Flinders and Josh Holland each scored a goal in the final 1:11 of the first half to even the game at 6-6 at intermission. Griffins would score the first five goals of the third quarter and when Thomas Sarjeant completed his hat trick with 12:30 in the fourth quarter, Westminster had put together a 12-1 run to lead 16-7.
 
With the win, Westminster secured a spot in the inaugural RMAC Tournament which will be played on May 6-7 at the home of the regular season champion. The Griffins can claim at least a share of that title, and earn the right to host the tournament, with a win over Colorado Mesa on Saturday.
 
Holland finished the afternoon with a season-high six goals. He added an assist for a seven-point outing while taking a school record 15 shots. Blake Bruner tallied his first career hat trick and added a pair of assists for a five-point performance.
 
The Griffins took 59 shots in the game and they put 37 on cage. They assisted on nine of the 17 goals and committed just 11 turnovers. Westminster won 20 of 31 faceoffs and picked up 48 ground balls. CSU-Pueblo took 31 shots and had 17 turnovers and 34 ground balls.
 
Jake Berard continued to lead the way at the faceoff X, winning 18 of 28 and getting a season-high nine ground balls. Nathan Wade, Elias Fairman, and Ezra Schofield each had two caused turnovers.
 
"Jake Berard and Ryan Coffelt had another solid Day at the Faceoff X," added Goodhand. "That was huge when we amped up the pressure at the start of the third quarter."
 
Philip Cannell made nine saves to earn the win in goal. Ian Sime played nearly seven minutes with three saves and Conner McFarlane made two stops in 6:34 of time.
 
Jamil Modaffari led the ThunderWolves with three goals and four points. Nick Richards took the loss in cage with 20 saves.
 
Westminster will play its final three games of the regular season at home. That game on Saturday against Colorado Mesa will begin at 1 p.m. with tickets available by visiting WestminsterGriffins.com/tickets.