Buffs Open Third Season At Denver On Friday

BOULDER - With two successful seasons in the books, Colorado's lacrosse team is looking to take another step in Year 3. Head coach Ann Elliott's Buffaloes open the 2016 season on Friday at the University of Denver at 3 p.m. The season-opener is undoubtedly one of the biggest games on the schedule.

“Our goal this year is to continue to get better every day,” Elliott said. “It's to be better than we were last year, to compete every game for 60 minutes and see what we can do. We want to win games, obviously, but we don't have an expectation where we look at the schedule and say, 'oh we can win this one, we can't win that one.' [This team takes] it one game at a time and we take it one game at a time as a coaching staff. Every time we step on the field, our expectation is to compete for 60 minutes, play as hard as we can and we'll see where that leads us at the end of the season.”

The Buffs certainly competed well in their first two seasons as they have a 22-15 two-year record as a start-up program, the fifth-best win total among the 76 lacrosse programs that have started in NCAA Division I since 1976. While the coaching staff is careful to put a specific goal on the season, there's no doubt everyone wants to make the NCAA Tournament.

“As a team we have some high goals for this season,” junior goalkeeper Paige Soenksen said. “We are looking to make the NCAA championships. To do that we have to finish in the top couple slots in the conference. We're looking to compete with some really talented teams this season.”

With those lofty goals, Friday's season-opener becomes a key to the season's success. DU was picked third in the 10-team Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, one spot ahead of Colorado. Each of the past two seasons, two MPSF teams have been selected to the NCAA Tournament. Last year, it was Stanford and Southern California, the two teams picked first and second, respectively, in this year's preseason coaches' poll.

“[Coach Elliott] has really engrained in our mindset that, as of right now, Denver is our biggest game,” junior Johnna Fusco said. “We are all looking at it as a huge game and a time that we can set the standards for the rest of the season. We want to come out as hard as we can and just give ourselves a good start for the rest of our season.”

Last year's game against DU was a tough loss. Colorado led 5-2 at halftime before Denver rallied for a 10-6 win.

“Last year coming close to beating them was a hard loss,” Soenksen said. “It's 60 minutes on the field and you can't just have one good half.”

Soenksen and the defensive unit of the Buffs will be paramount to CU this season. Soenksen is a two-time first team all-MPSF performer, leading the conference in save percentage each of her first two collegiate seasons. She also helped the team finish third in the conference in goals-against average last year after finishing fifth in Year 1.

Every player that started a game and last year returns this season and Soenksen is looking for continued success from her defensive partners this season.

“I think as a defensive unit in general, we've only gotten better and better as the offseason progresses, and as the preseason continues,” Soenksen said. “A lot of good things we do [on] defense is forcing bad-angle shots, which results in easier plays.”

Sarah Lautman is the leading returner on the defensive unit after earning second team all-MPSF honors last year. She is the lone senior on the team after competing on CU's club lacrosse team for two years prior to the start of the varsity program. Lautman started 16 games last season and appeared in all 18 after making the transition from midfielder to defender. She was fourth on the team in goals as a sophomore in 2014, but gave up the offensive glory to lead the defense.

Juniors Molly Rovzar and Perri Baker, and sophomore Kelsie Garrison combined to start 45 games in 2015 on defense. Maddie DeWinter also appeared in all 18 games and started six times, giving the defense plenty of experience.

Offensively, every player that scored last season returns. The Buffaloes made major strides in Year 2, finishing third in the MPSF in scoring after finishing eighth in the inaugural season.

Fusco, a two-time first team all-MPSF attacker, serves as one of the team's leaders on offense. She scored 44 goals and had eight assists for 52 points last season, the second-highest total on the team after leading the Buffs with 45 goals, 17 assists and 62 points as a freshman in 2014.

Fusco and sophomore Darby Kiernan look to be one of the best one-two punches in the MPSF. Kiernan led CU in scoring with 52 goals and 10 assists for 62 points as a freshman a year ago. Fusco looks forward to making the duo even better.

“This offseason has been great with Darby,” Fusco said. “I'm really looking forward to how far we can go together and just building that chemistry.”

Junior Katie Macleay and sophomore Carly Cox also return up top for the offense. Macleay had 40 points after totaling 23 goals and 17 assists, and Cox led the team with 21 assists as a freshman.

In the midfield, juniors Marie Moore and Amanda Salvadore and sophomore Blair Sisk give the team three solid returning starters. Moore has been one of the team's best all-around players through two years, leading the Buffs in draw controls and caused turnovers both seasons. She also scored 26 goals last year and earned second team all-MPSF. Salvadore scored seven goals in 2015 and had eight the year before. Sisk stepped right into a starting role in her first year in the program and finished fourth on the team with 31 points.

Junior Cali Castagnola remains a big threat offensively off the bench. She started all 19 games and scored 39 goals as a freshman, but came off the bench in 12 contests last year and still managed 14 goals and three assists. Junior Tori Link and sophomore Taylor Oliver scored a combined 11 goals in limited action and will look to expand their roles this season.

With 28 returning letterwinners on a 34-player squad, CU has a lot of experience and leadership. At the same time, Elliott also recognizes that her six incoming freshmen can all contribute with her more experience players right away.

“I think our class that is juniors right now, plus Sarah, who's a fifth-year senior, I think they've done a tremendous job over the last two years, building the foundation of this program all the way through,” Elliott said. “[Some] players you'll see their names a lot more, and then [there are some] players that you might not read their names. They're all committed to what we're doing and that makes a difference for this program. They all lead in their own ways and that's what's going to make us successful. Our sophomores are stepping up, I think they have more confidence than they had last year, which is crucial to be successful. And our freshmen, all six of them compete on a daily basis and they want to make an impact. We have a lot of different leaders in a different [ways] and I'm really proud of what our first class has done in terms of building that foundation and getting us to where we are now.”