Another week of Pack sports is in the books— and what a week it was for the ThunderWolves.

For the first time this year, the Pack had a winning record across the programs, amassing six combined wins and just one loss in the sports of men and women’s soccer, football and volleyball, and also took home a sixth place finish for the men’s golf team at the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference North Tournament.

So let’s take a look at the highlights of the Pack’s strongest week of athletics of the year so far.

Pack Football wallops New Mexico Highlands

            -W 61-6, Sept. 24

The ThunderWolves’ football team finally got back to its dominant nature on Saturday, trouncing the New Mexico Highlands Cowboys 61-6 at the Neta and Eddie DeRose ThunderBowl.

The Pack got back to its roots in the game, relying on strong defensive play and commanding performances from its running backs.

The ThunderWolves rushed for 246 rushing yards on the day, with an incredible eight rushing touchdowns from four players.

The Pack was once again without their star running back Bernard McDondle, who remained sidelined after a hamstring injury, but did not skip a beat in the running game, as Austin Micci rushed for 130 yards and two touchdowns on just 12 attempts.

Fradlet Dort and David Cardinal Jr. also combined for 111 yards with Dort leading all players in the game with 3 TD’s on the ground.

The win brings the Pack’s record 2-2 on the year after starting 0-2 in the first two weeks. The team will seek to continue its success next Saturday, Oct. 1, against undefeated Colorado Mesa on the road in Grand Junction.

Women’s Volleyball goes 2-0 on the week

            -W, 3-0, Sept. 23 vs. Black Hills State

            -W, 3-0, Sept. 24 vs. South Dakota Mines

The women’s volleyball team had perhaps their best week of the season, winning both of their matches in consecutive home games at CSU-Pueblo.

The Pack swept their opponents in both games 3-0, for their third and fourth sweeps of the season.

On Sept. 23, the Pack outclassed Black Hills State University by beating the Yellow Jackets at their own game. BHSU came into the game the No.1 blocking team in the conference but was out-blocked 10-6 in the game.

The Pack also outmatched BHSU in the categories of aces and digs, besting the Yellow Jackets 7-0 on aces, and 56-47 on digs.

The ThunderWolves followed up on their strong performance with another dominant outing the following day, besting South Dakota Mines in blocks and aces to complete their opening home weekend undefeated and bring their overall record to 5-8 with a 3-1 record within the conference.

The ladies will now face a four-game road swing, beginning Sept. 30, at Metro State University of Denver.

Men’s Golf ties for sixth in the RMAC North Tournament

            -(T) Sixth place, Sept. 19-20.

In their first RMAC tournament of the season, the Pack took home a tie for sixth place out of nine RMAC teams at the Ravenna Country Club in Denver, Co.

The Pack was led by junior Neil Tillman, who took fourth in the tournament with a seven-over-par performance after 54 holes.

Tillman’s fourth place finish was his second top-five showing of the three tournaments thus far for the Pack, having won the Farmers Insurance Samuel Proal Invitational in the Pack’s first tournament of the season.

The team will return to action Sept. 26-27 at the New Mexico University Fall Intercollegiate at the Estrella Golf Course in Goodyear, Ariz.

Women’s Soccer defeats Black Hills State

            -W, 3-2, Sept. 25 at Black Hills State

The women’s soccer team only played in one game this past week but made the best of their opportunity in a 3-2 victory on the road against Black Hills State.

Three Pack players scored goals in the win with Sandra Grimaldo, Hannah Andreson and Laikyn Koss putting balls into the net.

The Pack absolutely dominated the contest in shots on goal, with 14-of-31 shots testing the BHSU goalkeeper in the contest.

BHSU goalkeeper Therese Wilhelmi kept the game close with nine saves in the first half, but ultimately her performance was not enough as the 57th-minute goal by Koss stood at the deciding factor in the game.

The win brings the Pack’s record to 4-3 with a 1-2, in-conference record heading into their next game, Friday, Sept. 30 on the road against Colorado Christian.

Men’s Soccer goes 1-1 on the week

            -W 3-1, Sept. 23 vs. Adams State

            -L, 2-1, Sept. 25 vs. Fort Lewis

Men’s soccer started off its week with a 3-1 in-conference victory over Adams State University on their home field at the Art & Lorraine Gonzales Soccer Stadium.

The Pack was led by a two-goal performance from freshman Miles Sanchez, who netted both goals in the first half despite blustery conditions on pitch throughout the game.

The ThunderWolves only put three of their 13 shots on target in the game but connected on all three to give them the one goal advantage in the contest.

They team was unable to follow up on the momentum from their win on Sunday, however, losing 2-1 to Fort Lewis after a goal by Fort Lewis in the 76th minute could not be overcome by the Pack.

Sanchez scored his third goal of the weekend against FLU. However, both shots-on-goal by the Skyhawks found pay-dirt against Pack goalkeeper Erich Frey to give FLU the advantage.

The Pack will look to redeem themselves when it closes out its current homestand on Friday, Sept. 30 against the University of Colorado- Colorado Springs.

Edited by: Theresa Wolf

[slickr-flickr tag=”packroundup1″ type=”slideshow” delay=”3″ descriptions=”on” captions=”on” align=”center” attribution=”Soccer photos by Josh Smith, Volleyball photos by Nelson Kahler, Football photos by Jason Prescott”]