Four Buffs Earn IWLCA All-Region Awards

BOULDER — Four members of the Colorado women's lacrosse team earned spots on the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association's All-West/Midwest Region team, which were announced on Friday afternoon.

Senior defender Sarah Brown, senior attacker Darby Kiernan, redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Julia Lisella and junior attacker Miranda Stinson were all selected to the first team. This is Brown's third all-region award, while it is the second for Kiernan and Stinson. Lisella's appearance is the first in her career.

Brown, the 2018 Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year, was a two-time Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week this season, earned the IWLCA Defensive Player of the Week honor on April 11 and was named to the initial Tewaaraton Watch List at the start of the season. Brown leads the Buffs with 32 caused turnovers and her 1.78 caused turnovers per game ranks second in the Pac-12. She is also fourth in the Pac-12 in ground balls per game (2.83) and seventh in draw controls per game (3.83). Brown has also provided an offensive spark for the team, scoring five goals and adding two assists. She was 3-3 on free-position attempts and scored on five of her six shots on goal.

In her first season as a starter, Lisella has recorded a 12-3 record. She leads the Pac-12 in goals against average (8.54) and save percentage (0.527), and is second in saves per game (9.19). Nationally she is fourth in goals against and is fifth in save percentage. Lisella was named the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week on March 19 and on April 26, was named to the Tewaartaon Top 25 list. She has recorded 10 or more saves in seven games this year, which includes a career-high 17 against Southern California on March 16.

Kiernan was named the Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week five times, including the final three weeks of the regular season, which was the most for an individual player in the league's inaugural season. She was named the IWLCA Offensive Player of the Week (April 18), Brine/USL National Player of the Week (March 12) and Alpha Lacrosse National Player of the Week (March 14), and is on the Tewaaraton Top 25 list. She leads the team in goals, assists, points and draw controls. Her 86 points this season is a CU single season record, surpassing her previous record of 77 points from the 2017 season. She has also set the CU single season goals record with 61 and is tied for first in assists with 25 this year (she also had 25 in 2017). Kiernan has earned 141 draw controls this season, besting her former single season record of 120 from 2017.

Nationally, Kiernan is sixth in draw controls per game (7.89), 15th in goals, 17th in points, 14th in points per game (4.78), 19th in free-position goals per game (1.06), 23rd in goals per game (3.39) and is 30th in shots on goal per game (5.11). She leads the Pac-12 in draw controls per game, free-position goals per game, goals, goals per game and points per game.

Stinson was selected as the first-ever Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week after scoring a school-record seven goals in CU's season opener against Michigan. She has recorded 53 goals and 16 assists for the Buffs this season. Stinson also leads the Buffs with 147 shots this campaign, which ranks first on CU's single season chart, and 100 of those have been on goal, another top mark on CU's single-season chart. Stinson leads the Pac-12 in shots per game and is second in shots on goal per game. She also ranks third in the Pac-12 in goals and goals per game, is fourth in points and points per game. In the NCAA, she is fifth in shots per game and is 17th in shots on goal per game.

The No. 15 Buffs (13-5) are in Florida for the NCAA Tournament. They face Jacksonville (16-3) in the first round at 2 p.m. MT/4 p.m. ET, in Gainesville, Fla. The winner will move on to play No. 6 seed Florida (16-3) on Sunday, May 13, at 10 a.m. MT/12 p.m. ET.

Players Mentioned

Sarah Brown

Darby Kiernan

Julia Lisella

Miranda Stinson

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