Buffs Win School-Record 12th Game To Close Regular Season

EUGENE, Ore. - Darby Kiernan scored five times as Colorado set a new school record for wins in a season in a 14-9 win at Oregon on Sunday.

The game concluded the regular season for the Buffaloes as they now sit with a 12-4 overall record and finished third in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation at 7-2, their best conference record in the third year of the program. CU finished both 2014 and 2015 with 11 overall wins.

CU was one goal away from being in a three-way tie for first place in a 9-8 loss to Southern California on April 8. USC won the conference with a 9-0 conference mark, while Stanford finished second at 8-1. Had CU defeated USC, the three teams would all be 8-1 in the MPSF.

Oregon dropped to 9-7 overall and 4-5 in the MPSF.

"Today was obviously the end of the regular season and we wanted to go out and compete hard," head coach Ann Elliott said. "Oregon's such a tough opponent. They play so hard all around the field. Going in there on Senior Day, we knew it was going to be a tough battle. We got outplayed at times, but we responded well."

Kiernan tied the school's single-game record with her five goals, leading the Buffs to the win. Johnna Fusco, Carly Cox, Sarah Lautman and Cali Castagnola each scored two goals. Miranda Stinson also scored once.

The Buffaloes were unselfish on offense as Fusco, Cox, Lautman and Katie Macleay each had two assists.

CU looked to be in control in the first half, scoring five straight goals to lead 5-1 and then leading 9-2 with 7:17 remaining in the half. Kiernan scored three times during that stretch.

But Oregon netted three goals in the final five minutes of the half, cutting Colorado's halftime lead to 9-5. The Ducks got within two goals with 22:52 remaining in the game, bringing the score to 10-8 after Fusco had scored a goal early in the half.

Castagnola scored with 16:09 left and Oregon's Evan Murphy answered four minutes later to keep the margin at two.

"Offensively we were a little streaky and we have to be more consistent," Elliott said. "Oregon did a really good job on defense with some different looks. It took a little while for us to adjust. We had to work the ball around and Darby was able to find some good opportunities."

Kiernan caught fire again in the closing minutes. She scored at the 10:44 mark and again with 6:43 left to give the Buffs some breathing room at 13-9.

"It's just really important when a lead gets cut to just two goals to come together and refocus," Kiernan said. "And we did that and were able to look for some good chances and we took advantage of those."

Lautman scored with 2:36 remaining for another insurance goal.

Paige Soenksen finished with eight saves as the Buffs outshot Oregon 25-22.

Kiernan had seven draw controls, the most for a CU player this season.

CU will earn the No. 3 seed in the MPSF Tournament and will face the No. 6 seed Oregon on Thursday in the quarterfinals at 4 p.m. PT/5 p.m. MT at Stanford.

"We're excited to be in the conference tournament," Elliott said. "We know that Oregon's a tough team from today. We have to be ready to compete for 60 minutes. Our season's on the line and their season's on the line."