Buffs Dominate Aztecs For 17-5 Victory

SAN DIEGO – After falling to No. 9 Southern California on Friday night, the Colorado Buffaloes needed a big win to get back on track, And that is exactly what they got on Sunday, defeating MPSF rival San Diego State, 17-5.

The win is the 13th for the Buffs this season, which ties the single season wins record which was set in 2016 when the Buffs finished 13-5 overall. Colorado, which is ranked fifth in a pair of polls and is sixth in the other, is now 13-2 overall, 5-1 in the MPSF, while SDSU is now 8-6 (2-4 MPSF).

WHAT HAPPENED: Colorado knew it needed to get its offense going early in the game and did just that, scoring the first three goals with markers from Carly Cox, Marie Moore and Darby Kiernan in just over five minutes.

The Aztecs answered with three straight goals of their own and had the game tied up at 3-3 with 14:55 left in the first half.

The game changing moment came less than two minutes later when SDSU's goalkeeper, Katrina Reeves, caused the Buffs to turn the ball over at 13:21, but Reeves was out of the crease and just after she forced the turnover, Reeves coughed the ball up with Moore right there to pick it up. Moore capitalized on the empty net with her second goal of the day and put the Buffs back in the lead.

The Buffs continued to add to their lead, tallying five more to finish the frame. In that span, Johnna Fusco, Cali Castagnola, Katie Macleay and Kiernan each had a goal, giving the Buffs a 9-3 advantage at halftime.

The break did not slow Colorado down as Fusco tallied the first marker of the second half (27:24), her third of the day. Fusco and Macleay scored CU's 11th and 12th goals, respectively, just 17 seconds apart at 16:45 and 16:28, to increase CU's lead to 12-3.

SDSU ended CU's 9-0 run at 14:39 with a goal from Sarah Dorl and just a short time later, Jill Haight tallied a goal (14:11). But those would be the final two goals for the Aztecs as the Buffaloes defense held strong.

Colorado seemed to get stronger offensively in the final 12 minutes, recording five more goals from Macleay, Miranda Stinson, Kiernan, Blair Sisk and Fusco.

The Buffs scored 17 goals in the game, which is the sixth most this season. Fusco led the team with five points (four goals and an assist), while Kiernan had four points with three goals and one assist.

KEY STATISTICS: The Buffs controlled almost every aspect of the game. They out-shot the Aztecs 41-12, which included a 31-12 mark on goal. CU led draw controls 13-11 and converted on 3-of-7 free positions attempts (SDSU was 0-1), The Buffs also cleared on 17-of-23 tries, while the Aztecs completed 12-of-19. Both teams caused 10 turnovers, but SDSU had 26 turnovers in the game, compared to 15 by CU.

TEAM LEADERS:

Colorado
Points: 20
Goals: 17
Assists: 3
Draw Controls: 13
Ground Balls: 22
Saves: 7

San Diego State
Points: 8
Goals: 5
Assists: 3
Draw Controls: 11
Ground Balls: 18
Saves: 14

NOTABLE:

The 17 goals scored is the sixth most for the Buffs this season
It's also the most CU has scored against SDSU. The previous best was 16 (in 2016)
The Buffs lead the series 6-0
CU had three players score three or more goals
Three players, Kelsie Garrison, Amelia Brown and Fusco, each recorded two caused turnovers
Garrison also had a season-high four ground balls to lead CU
Paige Soenksen had seven saves, three in the first and four in the second, to earn her 12th win of the season
The Buffs are qualified for their fourth MPSF Tournament, which is May 27-30 at USC

UP NEXT: Colorado will end the regular season on the road against St. Mary's (April 21) and California (April 23).

QUOTEABLE:
Head Coach Ann Elliott
"I thought we did a good job responding to Friday's game today. We wanted to come out more aggressive offensively and I thought are players did that. We still have to continue to get better and work on finishing, but today was a step in the right direction."

"Nothing is easy this time of the year and we have to be a team that fights and earns everything. That's our focus moving forward, toughness."

"Defensively I thought we did a good job after we settled. We stuck to the game plan and we were able to cause some turnovers. Our attackers did a good job in the ride as well which was a focus for us."

"We know moving forward we have a lot of work in front of us. We will head back to Boulder and get back to work before we get ready to come back to California Thursday."

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Team Stats

Johnna Fusco

Katie Macleay

Darby Kiernan

Marie Moore

Players Mentioned

Amelia Brown

Cali Castagnola

Carly Cox

Johnna Fusco

Kelsie Garrison

Darby Kiernan

Katie Macleay

Marie Moore

Blair Sisk

Paige Soenksen

Miranda Stinson