Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
3-1
Marquette
1-4
Buffs Pull Away Late For 10-8 Win At Marquette
February 28, 2016 | Lacrosse
MILWAUKEE, Wis. - Colorado pulled ahead midway through the second half to earn a 10-8 win at Marquette on Sunday in Milwaukee, Wis. CU moved to 3-1 with the win.
"Marquette kept fighting and fighting and they're good offensively and they go so hard," said head coach Ann Elliott. "I thought our defense did a good job in the second half of playing with our feet, getting our sticks on some things and creating some turnovers."
Johnna Fusco scored four first-half goals to lead the Buffaloes offensively. Carly Cox, Cali Castagnola and Sarah Lautman each scored two. Paige Soenksen made nine saves in goal.
"I thought Paige did a great job all game of just being steady back there, which honestly, kept us in the game early in that first half," said Elliott. "I think our defense in the end was able to hold on for us."
The Buffaloes fell behind 1-0 in the first minute, but quickly tied it up on a goal from Cox at 28:42.
Marquette took its final lead of the half at 2-1 with 19:10, but it was all Colorado on the attack for the remainder of the half. Castagnola tied it up with 16:54 remaining in the half. Fusco then scored back-to-back goals at 15:40 and 14:38 to give CU a 4-2 lead.
After a Golden Eagles goal, Fusco scored two more in the final 12 minutes of the half as CU led 6-3 at the break.
Soenksen made seven saves as the shots were even 13-13 between the two teams in the first half.
"When we were able to get the ball to our attackers in transition, we had good opportunities," Elliott said. "We were able to have man-up opportunities and convert. I thought they did well in the open field, but we had a lot of trouble clearing the ball and we have to work on that and clean that up so we can be more consistent throughout the game with our opportunities.
Marquette tied it up midway through the second half. A Cox goal gave CU a 7-4 lead at the 21:21 mark, but three consecutive MU scores tied the game at 7-7 with 15:30 left.
Lautman netted a free-position goal with 14:28 remaining and Castagnola scored again two minutes later for a 9-7 lead.
Marquette got within one goal again, but Lautman scored an insurance goal at the 5:03 mark for a 10-8 led.
CU was able to play keep-away for the final two minutes, keeping Marquette out of CU's defensive zone.
The Buffaloes finished the game with a 25-21 shots advantage and forced 20 MU turnovers. CU also gave up just one free-position shot, as Soenksen saved that attempt. CU converted 4-of-8 free-position shots.
Julianna Shearer scored four times for Marquette.
Colorado will play its home opener at Kittredge Field on Thursday at 3 p.m. against James Madison, which has been nationally-ranked early this season.
"Marquette's a great team," said Elliott. "They play extremely hard. They compete and they're in every game that they play and they've played some top teams early in the season, which has given them some great experiences. We knew this was going to be a battle on the road for us to come up here and compete. For us, we're happy to walk away with a win, but we have to do better. We have a quick turnaround before we face JMU, who is another ranked team on Thursday."
