Pac-12 Women's Lacrosse Tourney Opens Thursday In Boulder

BOULDER — With four teams either ranked in the nation's top 25 or receiving votes, the inaugural Pac-12 women's lacrosse tournament promises to be a competitive one.

The tournament, hosted by Colorado, begins Thursday at Prentup Field in Boulder with a pair of games. Fourth seed Oregon meets No. 5 Cal in the tourney opener at 1 p.m., followed by No. 3 USC against No. 6 Arizona State at 4 p.m.

Friday's semifinals will pit the Oregon-Cal winner against top seed Colorado at 1 p.m., with the USC-ASU winner taking on No. 2 Stanford at 4 p.m.

The championship game is set for Sunday at noon. All of the games will be televised by Pac-12 Mountain, with Sunday's championship game also available on the main Pac-12 network. All games will also be available via live stream on the Pac-12 Now app.

After winning the conference regular season title with a 9-1 record (12-4 overall), Ann Elliott's Buffs have to be considered the favorites to earn the NCAA Tournament automatic bid that goes with the tournament championship. Colorado's only conference loss came early in the conference season, when the Buffs dropped an 8-7 overtime decision at USC. But the Buffs, currently ranked 14th in the national coaches poll (13th by Inside Lacrosse and 11th in the Nike/U.S. Lacrosse magazine), later avenged that loss with a 10-7 win in Boulder, the beginning of CU's current five-game win streak.

CU is led by a balanced offense that boasts four players with at least 25 goals, including the program's all-time leading scorer, Darby Kiernan. Defensively, the Buffs have the league's top goaltender among players who have played at least five games in Julia Lisella, who has given up just 8.25 goals per game, along with Sarah Brown, a two-time Pac-12 Defensive player of the week.

But the general consensus is that any of the top four seeds — Colorado, Stanford, USC and Oregon — is capable of winning the tournament.

A quick rundown of the other entrants:

— Stanford (13-4, 8-2) is actually still ranked one slot ahead of the Buffs in the coaches poll at No. 13, despite losing twice to Colorado. Both games, however, were close. Colorado overcame a 12-6 halftime deficit to take an 18-16 win in Boulder in the conference opener, then collected an 11-10 overtime win over Amy Bokker's Cardinal two weeks ago at Stanford. The Cardinal has been a perennial top-20 program in Bokker's 10 years, with five conference titles and six NCAA Tournament appearances in her first nine seasons. Stanford is led by the program's all-time leading scorer, Kelsie Murray, and Stanford led the Pac-12 this season in shots on goal per game (26.71), scoring margin (+6.71) and scoring offense (15.88).

— USC (9-7, 6-4) has had an up-and-down season but is no doubt a title contender. The Trojans are ranked 20th in the coaches poll and received votes in each of the other two major polls. Winners of the last two MPSF titles, the Women of Troy led the Pac-12 in goals-against average this year (8.49) while Kaeli Huff (27 goals) leads the offensive attack. The Trojans hit a midseason slump in Pac-12 play, dropping games to Stanford, Colorado and Oregon, but rebounded to defeat San Diego State and ASU to take some momentum into the Pac-12 tournament. The Trojans swept ASU in their two regular season meetings.

— Oregon (4-6, 8-8) is another team that has endured a roller-coaster season but still has the potential to win a tournament title. The Ducks received votes in two of the latest national polls and earned a season split with USC. Oregon's Jill Zubillaga finished second in the conference in goals per game, averaging 3.19, while teammate Shannon Williams was third in the conference in points per game, averaging 4.06. Oregon split with Cal in the regular season.

— Cal (2-8, 6-11) came on strong at the end of the season, winning two of its last five, including a 15-13 win over Oregon, the Bears' first-round opponent. Kirsten Swanson leads Cal with 41 goals and 12 assists, including a career-best five-goal effort in the win over Oregon.

— Arizona State (1-9, 6-11) endured the growing pains that accompany the first year of a program, but the Sun Devils did get a 12-11 overtime win over Cal in late March. ASU's goaltenders did combine for a conference-best 171 saves this season, while junior Kerri Clayton finished with 42 goals and 15 assists.

All-session and single-session tickets are available online or by calling 303-49-BUFFS.

Parking at Prentup Field is free.

Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu