Colorado
Jacksonville
CU Lacrosse Falls 20-13 At Jacksonville
February 15, 2014 | Lacrosse
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The University of Colorado lacrosse team faced an early test in just its second game of the inaugural season, falling to Jacksonville 20-13.
The Buffaloes started strong, taking a lead at 3-2 and forcing a tied game on four separate occasions, though 4-4 would be the last time the teams would sit in a draw. In the final 10 minutes of the first half, the Dolphins built on a 6-3 scoring run to take a 10-6 lead into the break. The Buffs would pull within four once more, with three straight goals cutting the JU lead to 15-11, though they could never slow the Jacksonville attack.
Splitting the games in their Florida road trip, the Buffs are now 1-1 in their young season. Jacksonville, who has received votes in both the IWLCA preseason and week 1 polls, improves to 1-2 after dropping its first matches to No. 3 Syracuse and No. 4 Florida.
“I think it was a great opportunity for our program to play a good team in Jacksonville, and at the end of the day, we're excited about how we competed and played throughout the whole game,” CU head coach Ann Elliott said. “I thought our kids fought back. They played hard. We made a few little mistakes that we need to clean up in order to win tight games like that, but we'll fix those. The hard work that they put in and how they battled for 60 minutes, that stuff we can't change overnight, so we're excited that they came out and had that from the beginning.”
Jacksonville outshot Colorado 41 to 24 and grabbed twice as many ground balls (30 to CU's 15). The Buffs were five of 10 in free position shots, while the Dolphins were five of nine. CU goalie Paige Soenksen grabbed 15 saves in the game.
Katie Macleay has become the first Buff to record two hat tricks, leading the squad with six goals in her first two games. Marie Moore also joins the club with three goals of her own against JU. Katie Carroll, Johnna Fusco and Cali Castagnola each netted two goals and contributed at least one assist (with Carroll leading the group with two of each). Moore and Fusco also tied a game-high seven draw controls. Amanda Salvadore picked up two points off one goal and an assist.
JU's Taylor McCord, Morgan Derner and Ali Hoffman combined for 14 of the Dolphin's 20 goals. McCord led all players with six points, netting five goals off her seven shots.
The teams traded off on goals to open the game, with Castagnola giving the Buffs' their only lead of the game (3-2) off a free position shot. The Dolphins responded with a 5-1 run in the following 10 minutes, with Macleay's goal off a Fusco assist when the Buffs were a man up serving as CU's only points during that span.
Moore got the Buffs back within two with 5:36 remaining before halftime. JU again responded with back-to-back goals. In the final minute of the first half, Fusco narrowed the Dolphins' lead to three, but JU pushed it back to four 10 seconds before the break.
JU came out as the dominate force in the second half, scoring three goals in the first four minutes. Colorado got back-to-back goals from Macleay (off a free position shot) and Carroll to narrow the Jacksonville lead to 13-8, though JU had a response to every CU run, getting two goals of their own in less than a minute's time.
Colorado got within four by the half's midway mark, with Moore and Macleay scoring while the Buffs were a man up and Amanda Salvadore scoring off an FPS. JU scored three goals of its own to push its lead to seven for the second of three times.
CU continued to fight, with Carroll assisting Moore and Castagnola to goals with 7:36 and 4:44 remaining, respectively. JU responded one final time, putting the final nail in the coffin with just one second remaining.
“I think what we'll take (from this game) is we've got to focus in on the little details,” Elliott said. “The little things make a big difference – whether it's a groundball here or a draw control at a key moment or not going offsides – little things make a difference and can change the momentum. We just need to clean that up a little bit, and that's on our coaching staff to work with our kids in the next couple days we have to prepare for Denver.”
The Buffs return to Colorado for their first in-state games, travelling to Denver to face their Mountain Pacific Sports Federation foe on Wednesday, Feb. 19 at 3 p.m. CU then hosts its first ever home game on Saturday, Feb. 22, taking on Regis at noon at Folsom Field.
