Colorado
3-2
New Hampshire
3-5
CU Survives New Hampshire, Holds On For 10-9 LAX Win
March 17, 2015 | Lacrosse
BOULDER – A minute and a half never felt so long as it did on Tuesday afternoon, as the seconds ticked off the scoreboard at Kittredge Field and Colorado's late three-goal lead nearly evaporated. But time, and Kelsie Garrison, was on the Buffs' side.
Garrison's steal in the final 10 seconds sealed Colorado's 10-9 win over the New Hampshire Wildcats after Laura Puccia's two late goals turned a comfortable victory into a heart-pounding one.
“We've been down that road before, especially last year,” CU coach Ann Elliott said. “What we told the girls is that, at the end of the day, things aren't perfect but you've got to make plays, you have to have people step up.”
This was the kind of patient, defensive game that the Buffs have struggled with in the past, but they gutted it out behind a balanced offense and timely saves from goalie Paige Soenksen.
Colorado got a hat trick from midfielder Darby Kiernan, two goals each from middies Cali Castagnola, Katie Macleay and Blair Sisk, and one goal from attacker Johnna Fusco.
Puccia and attacker Kayleigh Hinkle led the Wildcats with a hat trick apiece. Middie Rachael Nock scored two goals and attackers Nicole Grote and Laura McHoul tallied one.
The Buffs struggled to get the ball out of their defensive zone early, and New Hampshire had several sustained possessions throughout the game, but Colorado's defense forced the Wildcats to play deliberately and rarely allowed them a good look.
New Hampshire took the game's first lead when Grote scored off of a turnover. That was where most of the Wildcats' offense came from — turnovers and set pieces. When the Buffs had time to set up their defense and Soenksen could direct Colorado's wall in front of her, it was nigh-impenetrable.
“We keep tight on 'D' and we stick to our CU defense,” Sisk said. “We aren't going to change for other teams. We're going to play high pressure or whatever type of 'D' we need and rise to every occasion that an offense brings us.”
The Buffs' offense wasn't at its best, either; Elliott yelled at her team early to move better off the ball and New Hampshire denied Fusco the ball and refused to let her create for herself or her teammates. It was the first game all season in which she didn't score a hat trick.
“Johnna is a huge threat on our team and if she's getting taken out of the game she's got to stay composed,” Elliott said. “A lot of it for them is communication. We have to communicate a lot better with each other on the field and if we do can do that we'll be more successful.”
Still, Fusco got on the board with nine seconds left in the first half and the Buffs carried a 6-4 lead into the break. In the second half, Colorado twice held a three-goal lead, and twice the Wildcats clawed back in.
Sisk scored a minute and a half into the second to push the Buffs' lead to 7-4, but New Hampshire rattled off three straight goals to tie it after that. Hinkle's tying goal came after the refs called Sisk for a questionable penalty, one that had Elliott screaming, “Seriously?” from across the pitch.
That call ignited the Buffs, though. Castagnola and Kiernan rattled off quick goals, then Sisk gave Colorado the final margin it would need with a filthy free-position shot; she froze New Hampshire goalie Kate Clancy and sent a screamer past her before she could move.
“I just don't look into the goalie's eyes,” Sisk said. “It's nice, I had options, and my team is always there for me on every part of the eight-meter to help. I trust them and they trust me, so I went for it.”
Soenksen did let two goals by after that — the ones that cut the Buffs' lead from 10-7 to the close final tally — but she was clutch in the closing minutes. At one point, she saved two straight free-position shots within 30 seconds.
“Paige is amazing,” Sisk said. “She saves our butt. Paige is also the backbone of our whole defense. She tells us where to go, she's yelling at us to talk, she's huge.”
New Hampshire had its chances after it cut Colorado's lead to one; the Wildcats had possession in the Buffs' zone for the final minute of the game, but Garrison came through with the steal and that was all the Buffs needed.
The win pushed Colorado to 3-2 on the season, while New Hampshire fell to 3-5. The Buffs next play on Sunday at 1 p.m., when they take on the Michigan Wolverines in Ann Arbor.
