Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
7-2
Michigan
5-6
CU Pounds Michigan On The Road To Finish Non-Conference Play
March 27, 2016 | Lacrosse
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - Colorado closed out its non-conference season on Sunday with an 11-4 win at Michigan.
With the win in Michigan Stadium, CU improved to 7-2 on the season, while Michigan dropped to 5-6. Coming off a tough 11-6 loss--just their second of the season--at No. 7/15 Northwestern on Friday, the Buffaloes were able to bounce back with a win.
"After Northwestern, we were looking to respond from Friday and learn and come out strong and play a full 60 minutes," head coach Ann Elliott said. "Our kids came out and played hard. Defensively, we wanted to stick to the game plan on that end and offensively, take care of opportunities. We still need to learn how to finish games and finish the last five minutes so we are not defending that whole time.
Three different Buffaloes scored hat tricks on Sunday as Darby Kiernan, Cali Castagnola and Sarah Lautman each scored three times. Kiernan also had an assist, giving her a four-point day while notching her fifth hat trick of the season. Johnna Fusco scored one goal and had two assists.
"I think our offense is built on seven people working hard and dodging hard," Elliott said. "When we dodged hard, we were able to create some things with double teams."
It was a battle between two third-year programs with a rivalry that started last season after a wild game in Ann Arbor. In that game, CU trailed by five goals with under eight minutes remaining and rallied for a 14-13 double-overtime victory.
Sunday's contest saw a very defensive first 15 minutes as Michigan scored the only goal of that span.
A timeout by CU with 14 minutes remaining in the half proved to be the turning point. Coming out of the timeout, Katie Macleay broke the scoring drought for CU at the 13:03 mark to tie the game 1-1 with a man-up goal after a Wolverines yellow card. Michigan was issued another yellow card moments later to give the Buffaloes another man advantage and this time Castagnola scored the man-up goal, putting the Buffs in front 2-1 with 12:08 remaining in the half. Colorado led the remainder of the game.
"Offensively, it was just us committing to dodging hard and moving the back side," Elliott said of the plan after the timeout. "We had to move the ball a little bit quicker. I thought we had opportunities on the back side that we were able to take advantage of."
Castagnola scored again two minutes later and Lautman scored her first of the game with 5:54 left to give CU a 4-2 lead at halftime.
It was all Buffs in the second half as they broke the game wide open. Castagnola scored her hat trick at the 21:36 mark and Lautman scored the next two goals to give her a hat trick at the 18:26 mark.
Kiernan scored twice and Fusco added another in a five-minute span that gave CU a 10-2 lead with 12:34 remaining. Michigan finally scored its first goal of the second half with just under 10 minutes to go.
Kiernan completed her own hat trick at the 2:35 mark for an 11-3 CU lead. Michigan added a late goal in the final two minutes.
"We are clicking as an offense and are really working well together," Castagnola said. "We know what each other is going to do and that's helping us create more opportunities."
Paige Soenksen finished with six saves for CU. Fusco was impressive all over the field in addition to her offense, leading the team with three caused turnovers and three ground balls.
"I think our defense played well," Elliott said. "We talked a lot about playing in our man-to-man defense and playing 1-on-1. From our [midfielders], to our defenders, to Paige, everyone did their part. They were able to finish plays and that was big today.
"I really thought from Friday to today, we rode hard and were able to create turnovers in transition. I think that followed into today. Our kids rode hard and were able to come up with second chances and Johnna did a really good job of that today."
CU's strong defense forced Michigan into 18 turnovers in the game and the Buffs outshot the Wolverines 21-to-19.
Colorado will return to conference play next weekend, playing at UC Davis on Friday and Stanford on Sunday. The Buffaloes take a 2-0 record in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play into the weekend after two early-season conference victories against Denver and Fresno State.
