Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
8-5, 3-3MPSF
St. Mary's (Calif.)
0-13, 0-7MPSF
Buffs Cruise Past St. Mary's, 21-5
April 17, 2015 | Lacrosse
MORAGA, Calif. – The University of Colorado lacrosse team recorded a school record 21 goals here Friday afternoon, defeating St. Mary's in dominant fashion, 21-5 at Recreation Field.
The win lifts the Buffaloes to 8-5 overall and 3-3 in MPSF play. The Gaels remain winless on the season, falling to 0-13 and 0-7 against conference opponents.
“I thought we did a good job today as a team,” said Colorado head coach Ann Elliott. “I think we did a much better job executing, especially offensively and in-transition, which is something we talked about, taking care of the ball and just really running our offense effectively. Overall it was a good team effort and a good win for us.”
In addition to setting the team's single-game scoring record, CU broke a few more records as a squad on Friday. To go along with their 21 goals, the Buffs tallied a season and program record 15 assists, which equaled 36 total points, surpassing the previous record by four points, set last year, also against St. Mary's.
Colorado was in control from the start. The Buffs took a program-best 34 shots to the Gaels' 16 and scored a record 12 straight goals at one point to give the Buffs an 18-goal advantage late in the second half. CU opened the game on an 8-1 run en route to a 13-2 lead at halftime. The Buffs' offense continued to execute in the second half, scoring seven straight times before St. Mary's was able to find the back of the net again.
A season-high five Buffs recorded hat tricks in the contest. Sophomores Marie Moore and Katie Macleay led CU in scoring, each tallying four goals. Darby Kiernan, Cali Castagnola and Amanda Salvadore had three goals apiece. It didn't take long for Moore to register her second consecutive hat trick and Kiernan to earn her sixth of the season as they both had three goals before halftime. Sophomore Johnna Fusco recorded one goal, extending her scoring streak to 18 straight games, dating back to last season. Freshman Carly Cox had a team-high four assists and she has recorded at least one point in every game this season.
With the Buffs in the drivers' seat throughout the entire game, it allowed Elliott to use a few more players off the bench, including freshman Taylor Oliver, who scored her fourth goal of the season in just her third game this year.
Sophomore Paige Soenksen played the first half in goal for the Buffs, recording four saves and holding St. Mary's to two goals, while earning her eighth win of the season. Sophia Gambitsky replaced Soenksen at the start of the second half. She held the Gaels scoreless for 20 minutes and then Annee O'Connor came in to finish the game, recording four saves and only allowing three goals.
“We were able to play a lot of people today, so we were focused on running by people and using our speed, using our fresh legs as we had a deeper bench today,” said Elliott.
The Buffs also turned in one of their best defensive performances of the season, collecting 15 groundballs and forcing 12 turnovers, which ties a season high, and they were an impressive 9-10 on clear attempts.
“Overall, our game plan remains the same [regardless of the score],” Elliott said. “We're trying to do what we always to do well- ground balls, draw controls, limit our unforced turnovers and execute offensively and defensively in our system.”
The Buffs did just that, winning the draw control battle 15-12 and only committing eight turnovers, six of which were caused by the Gaels.
Colorado improves to 2-0 all-time against St. Mary's and has outscored its conference opponent by a combined 40-10 over the two contests. With Friday's victory, CU has won two straight and improves to 3-1 on its' four-game road trip, slated to end Sunday, April 19 when the Buffs travel to Berkley, Calif. to face the Cal Bears.
“I think Sunday is a big game for us,” Elliott said. “It's another conference game and Cal is a good team. They compete hard, they have good players. They can execute offensively and they're scrappy. We need to come out and play the best game that we can as a team, competing hard.”
In their first-ever meeting last season, CU dropped a close, 7-6 contest against the Bears. The Buffs will look to finish with a different result this time around and conclude the weekend on a winning note.
“We need to do a better job this year of putting ourselves in a better position down the stretch,” added Elliott.
Sunday's game is scheduled for 2 p.m. MT and will be televised on the Pac-12 Network. Christian Miles has the call alongside Leah Secondo.
