Colorado University Athletics
CU Takes On No. 7 Notre Dame, Marquette On The Road
February 25, 2016 | Lacrosse
BOULDER - Colorado's lacrosse team will wrap up its season-opening road trip this weekend when it faces Notre Dame and Marquette on the road. The Buffaloes (2-0, 2-0 MPSF) will be looking for their first win over a nationally-ranked opponent on Friday at seventh-ranked Notre Dame at 7 p.m. ET/5 p.m. MT. Sunday's contest at Marquette starts at 1 p.m. CT/12 p.m. MT.
CU's 2-0 record is the first time in the program's third season that the Buffs have started with two wins. The season-opening 11-10 victory at Denver was the first win over DU in school history and CU followed that up with an 18-4 win at Fresno State.
Darby Kiernan leads the team with seven goals and one assist for eight points. Cali Castagnola also has eight points with six goals and two assists, while Sarah Lautman, CU's lone senior, has four goals.
Defensively, the Buffs have been strong with the 20th-best defense in the country, allowing just 14 goals in two games. Paige Soenksen has been a force in goal, leading the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation in save percentage (.462). Boulder native Sarah Brown was named MPSF Defensive Player of the Week last week and is tied for the team lead in draw controls (5) and caused turnovers (4).
Notre Dame enters Friday's game 3-0 with wins over Jacksonville, No. 15 Stanford and No. 9 Boston College. The Fighting Irish lead the nation in caused turnovers (16.67 per game) and are 14th in scoring defense (6.00) and 15th in scoring offense (15.00). Cortney Fortunato leads the nation with 19 points (13g, 6a).
Marquette is 0-3 with losses to No. 15 Louisville, No. 17 Johns Hopkins and Michigan on the road. The Golden Eagles will host California on Friday before their game with CU on Sunday. Through three games, Allison Lane leads the team with five goals.
