Colorado University Athletics
Buffs' Kiernan Wants To Extend Her Final Season As Long As Possible
April 17, 2018 | Lacrosse, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — Somehow, four years have gone by in a flash for Colorado senior Darby Kiernan.
But the Buffs lacrosse standout doesn't want it to end — not yet.
"I want to stretch it out as far as it will go," Kiernan said Tuesday before she and her teammates took the field to prepare for Friday's regular season finale against Oregon (3 p.m. at Kittredge Field). "I don't want to stop playing. I want to play with my teammates as long as I possibly can. I don't think any of us want to think about this season being over."
To accomplish that — to stretch the season out as long as possible — the Buffs simply need to keep winning, something they have done with regularity this year. Currently sporting an 11-4 overall record and an 8-1 mark in the Pac-12, Colorado is ranked 11th in the latest Nike/U.S. Lacrosse Magazine poll, 13th in the media rankings and 15th in the national coaches' poll.
Already guaranteed of at least a share of the regular season conference title, CU can clinch the outright title Friday with a Senior Day win over Oregon. Then come next week's first-ever Pac-12 women's lacrosse championships, to be hosted by Colorado at Prentup Field. The Buffs are guaranteed the top seed in the tournament, with the winner earning a berth in the NCAA Tournament.
"Obviously we want to win the Pac-12 and go to the NCAA Tournament," Kiernan said. "But right now, I think we're all trying to take it one game at a time. We're getting ready for Oregon this week, then it's the Pac-12 tournament."
No matter what happens down the final stretch of the season, Kiernan will have left her mark on the CU program. A four-year starter after arriving from Ridgewood, N.J., she is CU's career leader in points (258), goals (191) and assists (67), as well as the program's single-season leader in all three categories.
But while Kiernan will almost certainly add to all those numbers, the one statistic she cares about is Colorado's NCAA Tournament record, currently 0-1 after their first foray ever into the postseason last year.
"To be honest, I don't even know what my numbers are," she said. "I'm just happy we're doing extremely well as a team. Our goal is to make it all the way through the NCAA Tournament — not just win one or two games. I believe in this team so much and I just want it to keep going as long as it possibly can."
It is that kind of attitude that has made her a team leader almost since the day she became a Buff.
"For her, it's always about the team first," head coach Ann Elliott said. "I don't think you always find that in one of your top players, but in her you do. She's so easy to coach and the type of teammate you want — unselfish and plays for the team. That means a lot to our team and I think it speaks to the culture of this team and what we're about."
Kiernan was a highly recruited player out of high school and had offers from a number of top programs closer to home.
But she chose to come to Colorado — to a program that had just finished its first year of existence — with the goal of building something virtually from scratch rather than joining an already established program.
"I just thought it would be really cool to come somewhere that it was new," Kiernan said. "Be part of a program and be part of something where we could build our own legacy. As a team we could built it, which is a cool thought. Buying into the whole process, buying into what the coaches want us to do, the potential here. It's a great school, a great place, and I was just really excited about coming here and the possibilities that were here."
If anything, the project is ahead of schedule. Last season, just the fourth year of the program, the Buffs finished second in their conference and earned their first-ever NCAA berth.
This year, they are one win away from their first-ever conference title while also becoming a regular in the nation's top 25 rankings.
"I think we all believed we had this chance from the beginning," she said. "Everyone just believes. We believe in the process, we believe in working hard and we believe we're going in the right direction. We just have to keep playing as hard as we can because the potential of this team is amazing."
While Friday's game against the Ducks — CU beat Oregon in Eugene 14-9 earlier this season — won't be the Buffs' last home game, it will be their last game on their Kittredge home field. The Pac-12 tournament will be played at Prentup Field, normally the home for the CU soccer team.
"It's awesome knowing that we're still going to play at home after this week," Kiernan said. "But it's still going to be a little emotional playing that last game at Kittredge. It's Senior Day and it has been our home for as long as we've been here. I think we all want to play really well on that day."
PAC-12 CHAMPIONSHIP TICKETS: The Pac-12 championships quarterfinals will be played April 26, with the semifinals set for April 27 and the title game on April 29. Tickets are currently on sale online at CUBuffs.com, at the CU Champions Center ticket office or via telephone at 800-872-8337. All session tickets are $20 for adults and $12 for children 12 and under. Single session tickets are $8 for adults and $5 for children 12 and under. Students attending any of the participating Universities with a valid school ID will be eligible for discounted tickets day of game.
Tickets will also be sold each day at the venue.
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
