Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
Stanford
CU Suffers First Conference Loss To No. 12 Stanford
April 03, 2016 | Lacrosse
STANFORD, Calif. - Colorado came up just short in its bid to remain perfect in conference play, falling 12-10 at No. 12/10 Stanford on Sunday.
CU dropped to 8-3 overall and 3-1 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, while Stanford improved to 8-2 and 3-0. It's the second straight year the Buffaloes have lost by two goals to a nationally-ranked Stanford team after a 16-14 loss a year ago.
"I think Stanford's a strong team," head coach Ann Elliott said. "They're well-balanced. They stepped up today and we weren't able to match that. We won some little battles with draw controls, but we weren't able to attack. They did a good job defensively on Johnna [Fusco], but other people weren't able to step up and that was the difference."
Carly Cox, Darby Kiernan, Marie Moore and Miranda Stinson all scored two goals for CU in the game. Katie Macleay had a goal and two assists.
But Stanford did a great job defensively on two of CU's top scorers. For the first time this season, neither Cali Castagnola nor Johnna Fusco scored a goal. Castagnola was the only player with a goal in every game this season entering Sunday's contest. Cox remains the only Buff to record either a goal or an assist in each game.
Stanford jumped out to a 5-1 lead with over 11 minutes left in the first half before CU turned it on. The Buffs scored five straight goals to take a 6-5 lead. Cox, Sarah Lautman, Macleay and Stinson all scored in the final eight minutes of the first half to send the teams into the locker room tied 5-5 at half.
Marie Moore scored just over two minutes into the second half as the Buffs took their first lead at 6-5. After both teams traded goals, the Cardinal scored three in a row to build a 9-7 lead.
Stanford built a 12-8 lead with 3:58 remaining and it proved too much for CU to overcome. Moore and Cox both scored with over two minutes left, but Stanford controlled the ensuing draw and held possession for much of the final two minutes.
Colorado dominated the game statistically. CU outshot Stanford 19-17 in the game and had a 10-8 edge on ground balls. CU also had a dramatic edge in draws, winning 15 of the game's 24 draws, and also committed fewer turnovers (8) than Stanford (11). The difference came in free position shots, where the Buffaloes have been strong all season. The Cardinal converted 6-of-7, while CU scored on just 3-of-6 attempts.
"We definitely improved in some areas from our previous three games," Elliott said. "I thought we did a good job on the draw controls, everybody running through ground balls, and in transition. But it doesn't make a difference if you are afraid to attack. We put ourselves in a good position, but didn't execute. They outplayed us individually across the field."
Moore, Kiernan and Sarah Brown tied for a game-high four draw controls each. Kelsie Garrison led the Buffs with three ground balls and two caused turnovers, matching Lautman's total in the latter category.
CU returns home on Friday to face its fourth ranked opponent this season. The Buffaloes will host No. 7/7 Southern California at 2 p.m. at Kittredge Field.
