Lisella Making An Impact In Goal For The Buffs
March 22, 2018 | Lacrosse
BOULDER — For the first four years of the Colorado women's lacrosse program, there was one constant on defense: Paige Soenksen was in goal.
But after four successful years as a starter, Soenksen graduated last year, opening the door for someone new.
Thus far, redshirt sophomore Julia Lisella is proving a very capable replacement, helping the Buffs to a 6-3 record (3-1 Pac-12) thus far.
"Paige was such a great player and leader on and off the field. When you lose someone like that you never really can replace them, but you get people to step up and fill in their place," head coach Ann Elliott said. "Paige starting for four years was a huge piece of who we were for that whole time. It's just trying to find different ways to replace her with different people."
Soenksen no doubt left her mark at CU. In 2016, she helped the Buffs produce the second-best scoring defense in the MPSF and seventh best in the nation with a .464 save percentage. In 2017, which saw the Buffs climb as high as No. 4 ranking in the nation and gain the program's first-ever NCAA tourney appearance, she earned was named IWLCA All- American third team, All- MPSF first team, and IWCLA All-West/ Midwest Region first team.
"It's hard to fill the shoes of Paige, but for Julia, I think it's even harder when you haven't played a game in a while," Elliott said. "I think this year is a great opportunity for her to step into this role. Over the last couple of games, she has built her confidence and her ability to get back into the mentality of playing a game for 60 minutes at this level."
Lisella played in two games as a true freshman two years ago and redshirted her sophomore season in 2017.
This season, Lisella has held opponents to five or fewer goals three times, including an 18-2 victory last weekend against Arizona State. She attributes her fast start to Soenksen.
"Throughout the past three years, Paige was always a great example and a great mentor," Lisella said. "I really enjoyed learning under her. She had a huge impact on me and on how I play. She might not know it, but I learned a lot just watching her."
Before becoming a Buff, Lisella was a highly recruited high school goalie at Columbine High School in Littleton. During her senior season, she was the top-ranked goalie in the state. She was also the MVP of the Jeffco League and named to the High School All-American honorable mention team. When deciding on where to play her college career, her brother, John Lisella II, was playing offensive lineman for the Colorado football team.
"John playing at Colorado had a big impact on me choosing to attend Boulder and was the reason I chose to wear number 78," Lisella said.
During her freshman season, Lisella had a hard time acclimating to the competition. However, her determination to improve every day helped her bridge the transition.
"Coming in as a freshman it was a big adjustment, but you learn quickly as you go and become more comfortable with your teammates and Division I lacrosse," Lisella said. "You have to get better each practice, and that's what I've tried to do the past three years to prepare me for moments like these now."
Along with her studies — she is majoring in speech, language and hearing sciences — Lisella has also done some fashion modeling.  She currently is signed with Donna Baldwin in Denver and hopes to continue that career.
But for now, lacrosse is her number one priority.
Lisella and her teammates play Friday at Oregon, then play at Denver in a 7 p.m. game March 29.
The Buffs return home April 6 for a 3 p.m. match against current Pac-12 leader USC, followed by an April 8 game against Arizona State (noon).
CU also this year hosts the first-ever Pac-12 women's lacrosse championships, April 26-29 at Prentup Field.
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