Colorado
9-4, 4-2MPSF
San Diego State
4-9, 3-4MPSF
Balanced Scoring Leads Buffs To 16-3 Win
April 10, 2016 | Lacrosse
BOULDER - Colorado earned its ninth win of the season on Sunday with a 16-3 win over San Diego State at Kittredge Field.
CU improved to 9-4 overall and 4-2 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, while SDSU dropped to 4-9 and 3-4.
Colorado was coming off a heartbreaking loss to No. 7/6 Southern California on Friday when the Buffaloes had a potential game-winning goal taken off the board in the final minute due to an offensive foul.
"After a game like Friday, you have to come back and bounce back," head coach Ann Elliott said. "If you let it bother you then it's going to cost you in the long run. We knew that this is the most important game we have right now and we had to come back out and give it everything we have for 60 minutes."
Johnna Fusco scored four goals, while Sarah Lautman chipped in with three and Miranda Stinson, Katie Macleay, Sophia Castillo and Cali Castagnola each scored two in a balanced effort by the Buffaloes.
CU never trailed in the game, jumping out to a 2-0 lead after early goals by Darby Kiernan and Lautman. The Buffs went into halftime ahead 6-2 thanks to three first-half goals by Fusco at 17:21, 16:23 and 5:42.
Macleay scored the first two goals of the second half in the first six minutes. The Buffs tacked on four more goals before SDSU scored, leading 12-2 with 13:07 remaining in the game.
After an Aztecs score with 8:30 left, CU scored four more in the closing minutes, playing much of the final third of the second half under a running clock due to the mercy rule.
Freshman Samantha Nemirov scored the first two points of her career, tallying two assists in the second half to match Carly Cox for a game-high in assists.
For Castillo, her two goals tied a season high in her freshman season. She also had two goals against Denver to open the season.
Paige Soenksen turned in a strong performance in goal, making eight saves and controlling five ground balls. She was aided by a great effort from CU's defense, which forced 22 turnovers in the game. Lautman had a career-high four caused turnovers and also had four ground balls. Kelsie Garrison caused three turnovers and had four ground balls and Sarah Brown and Amanda Salvadore each caused two turnovers.
"I think honestly our whole defense through played well down there," Elliott said. "That was a bright part of today's game. If there was one, it was our defense seven-on-seven and their ability to cause turnovers and push it in transition effectively."
Despite the great effort defensively, the Buffs were not pleased with the 18 turnovers they committed.
"We bounce back from losses well, but our coach made it very clear that we still have things to work and that we didn't do as well as we should have today," Fusco said. "So I think that gives us a boost of energy to move forward with the season."
Colorado will play at home again next weekend, hosting Saint Mary's on Friday at 3 p.m. and California on Sunday at noon.
Postgame Quotes
Ann Elliott, head coach
On Team Overcoming Tough Loss To USC
"It's huge. Obviously, after a game like Friday, you have to come back and bounce back. If you let it bother you then it's going to cost you in the long run. We knew that this is the most important game we have right now and we had to come back out and give it everything we have for 60 minutes. We still have a lot of things we need to work on that we didn't improve on from Friday, but we were able to pull it out. We're on to the next one now."
On Defensive Play Of Kelsie Garrison And Sarah Lautman
"I think honestly our whole defense through played well down there. That was a bright part of today's game. If there was one, it was our defense seven-on-seven and their ability to cause turnovers and push it in transition effectively."
On Balanced Scoring
"Our offense is built around seven people always being a threat. We need everyone to step up and do their role on offense. I think we saw that a little bit today. We've got to continue to work on that and work on our transition offensively, which cost us probably 18 turnovers."
Johnna Fusco, midfielder, junior
On Bouncing Back From Friday's Loss
"It's very important for us to bounce back like we did. We just needed to forget about what happened in the past and come out strong for our next game. We have to build from last game too, and it's important to move on with the season and not stay in the past."
On Being A Team Player
"I like to work hard for my teammates, that's just in me since I'm a very competitive person. I think it spreads across my team. If I work hard the teammate next to me is going to work hard, and so for me I wanted to come back strong from my injury."
On The Team's Balanced Scoring
"I feel like we always have multiple people scoring, so for so many more girls to score today was awesome."
General
"We bounce back from losses well, but our coach made it very clear that we still have things to work and that we didn't do as well as we should have today. So I think that gives us a boost of energy to move forward with the season."
