No. 10/9 Buffs Shock No. 6/5 Penn State On The Road

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Colorado used an 11-1 scoring run to stun No. 6 Penn State 16-11, here today, in the Buffs first ever top-10 match-up.

The Buffs, who are ranked 10th in the coaches' poll and ninth in the media poll, and Nittany Lions both entered the game unbeaten. CU improved to 7-0, extending its best ever start to the season, while PSU dropped to 7-1.

Sophomore Miranda Stinson led the way for CU with five goals and four assists, both career-highs, while junior Darby Kiernan added four goals. Senior Paige Soenksen, who leads the NCAA in save percentage, did an outstanding job for the Buffs in goal, allowing 11 goals on 27 shots faced.

WHAT HAPPENED: Colorado had a slow start to the game despite getting on the board first at 26:07 with senior Katie Macleay's first of two goals. Penn State responded with four straight goals to take a 4-1 lead. The Buffs answered with their second goal at 17:21, but the Nittany Lions answered with another two markers to increase the score to 6-2.

Colorado did not get discouraged and closed the first half strong with three of the next four goals, which cut PSU's lead to just two (7-5) at halftime.

The Buffs kept the momentum going into the second half, tallying the first two goals to even the game at 7-7. PSU recorded its first marker of the half at 25:25 to again take a lead (8-7), but Colorado answered with seven straight goals for a 14-8 advantage.

The Nittany Lions finally responded, scoring two quick goals to bring the score within four (14-10), but the Buffs answered with another two goals of their own to go back up 16-10. PSU scored the final goal of the game with under two minutes to play (1:32) and CU took the win.

TURNING POINT: CU's fourth goal of the game sparked an 11-1 run, which would prove to be too much for the Nittany Lions to overcome. In that span, CU had six different goal scorers in Cali Castagnola, Macleay, Kiernan, Johnna Fusco, Stinson and Carly Cox. Kiernan had three goals in that stretch, while Stinson tallied four.

STANDOUT PERFORMERS: Stinson recorded nine points in the win, five goals and four assists, to break CU's single-game points record, which had been eight… Soenksen recorded 16 saves to improve to 7-0. She had eight saves in each half.

KEY STATISTICS: CU recorded 16 saves in the win, compared to just eight by PSU. Penn State was held to just 11 goals, its second lowest score this season. The other stats were close, although the Buffs had the slight edge in shots (35-31), ground balls (24-20), draw controls (16-13) and free position shots (3-6 compared to 2-14 for PSU).

TEAM LEADERS:

Colorado
Points: 23
Goals: 16
Assists: 7
Draw Controls: 16
Ground Balls: 24
Saves: 16

Penn State
Points: 14
Goals: 11
Assists: 3
Draw Controls: 13
Ground Balls: 20
Saves: 8

NOTABLE:

CU is 4-0 against ranked opponents this season.
The Buffs are 2-0 when trailing at halftime this season – both times have been against ranked teams.
Colorado is 2-0 on the road this season.
Johnna Fusco, Darby Kiernan and Katie Macleay all extended their point streak to seven games.
The 7-0 start to the season is the best in CU history, as well as the longest win streak in school history. Prior to this start, the previous best had been 2-0 in 2016.

UP NEXT: Colorado returns home to Kittredge Field for its next three games. The Buffs host Winthrop on Wednesday, March 15, at 3 p.m. before hosting Oregon (March 19) and Fresno State (March 25).

QUOTEABLE:
Head Coach Ann Elliott
"Penn State is a great and proven team. We knew it was going to be a battle and we would have to play together. Penn State has started fast in all their games this season. I knew if we could not give up and keep it close in the first half we could have a shot in the second half."

"I thought overall our girls played hard. It wasn't always pretty but they kept fighting together. Offensively they continue to share the ball and responsibility and that helped us against a very good and prepared Penn State defense. Defensively we did a good job sticking to the game plan and just staying in it even when we were down in that first half. We were able to get our sticks up on some shots and Paige did another great job making the saves."

"We have a quick turn around and a big week ahead. We have a long trip back to Boulder and then it will be time to refocus and prepare for Winthrop. Our focus will be on improving on some of our struggles today and getting better."

Players Mentioned

Cali Castagnola

Carly Cox

Johnna Fusco

Darby Kiernan

Katie Macleay

Paige Soenksen

Miranda Stinson