Sunday, April 30
Los Angeles, Calif.
TBD
Colorado
16-3
11
vs
16
MPSF Finals
16-3
1
2
F
Colorado
5
6
11
USC
8
8
16
Johnna Fusco
Buffs Drop 16-11 Decision In Conference Championship To USC
April 30, 2017 | Lacrosse
LOS ANGELES – No. 9/8 Colorado (16-3) mounted a furious second-half comeback, but fell 16-11 at No. 7/6 Southern California (16-3) in the championship game of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament on Sunday afternoon at McAlister Field.
Senior attacker Johnna Fusco led CU with four goals, while sophomore midfielder Miranda Stinson added three goals.
WHAT HAPPENED: The Trojans scored the first goal of the game at 27:54, but Carly Cox answered for the Buffs at 26:46, evening the score.
After Cox's goal, USC responded with a 4-0 run. After the Trojans scored their fifth goal of the game at 16:23, the Buffs took a quick timeout to talk things over. They won the following draw and Fusco found the back of the net a short time later, bringing CU within three.
The Trojans kept attacking and recorded three straight goals for an 8-2 lead at 11:33. Senior Marie Moore found the back of the net at 7:18 and Fusco tallied her second goal of the contest less than a minute later on a free-position attempt, cutting the Trojans' lead in half.
Stinson continued CU's scoring run with a goal at 5:08, forcing the Trojans to call of timeout of their own. Neither team scored again before halftime, leaving the score in favor of USC (8-5).
The Trojans started the scoring in the second half, recording five straight markers to go up 13-5. Cox, who scored the initial goal for the Buffs in the first half, also tallied the first marker for CU in the second half at 18:15. The Buffs got another quick score from Stinson at 15:26, taking advantage of a USC penalty.
Fusco got a hat-trick at 10:32, bringing CU within five points. USC's Kerrigan Miller was issued a yellow card at that point, giving CU another man-up opportunity. Just as she was released, Stinson found the back of the net for the third time of the game, helping the Buffs close the gap (13-9).
USC ended CU's 3-0 run with a goal at 6:51 and converted on a CU penalty a minute later (15-9). Fusco tallied her fourth marker of the day 30 seconds later. Senior Katie Macleay scored her first marker with 4:35 remaining, cutting the USC lead to four (15-11).
Unfortunately the Buffs were not able to keep the momentum going as the Trojans scored the final goal of the game at 1:49 to secure their 16-11 win.
KEY STATISTICS: Colorado had the edge in shots (28-23), committed fewer turnovers (8-15) and had more ground balls (15-14), but USC led in draw controls (17-12), saves (13-5) and cleared at 100% (18-18). The Trojans also converted on 5-6 free-position attempts while the Buffs made 6-12 free-position attempts.
NOTABLE:
TEAM LEADERS:
Senior attacker Johnna Fusco led CU with four goals, while sophomore midfielder Miranda Stinson added three goals.
WHAT HAPPENED: The Trojans scored the first goal of the game at 27:54, but Carly Cox answered for the Buffs at 26:46, evening the score.
After Cox's goal, USC responded with a 4-0 run. After the Trojans scored their fifth goal of the game at 16:23, the Buffs took a quick timeout to talk things over. They won the following draw and Fusco found the back of the net a short time later, bringing CU within three.
The Trojans kept attacking and recorded three straight goals for an 8-2 lead at 11:33. Senior Marie Moore found the back of the net at 7:18 and Fusco tallied her second goal of the contest less than a minute later on a free-position attempt, cutting the Trojans' lead in half.
Stinson continued CU's scoring run with a goal at 5:08, forcing the Trojans to call of timeout of their own. Neither team scored again before halftime, leaving the score in favor of USC (8-5).
The Trojans started the scoring in the second half, recording five straight markers to go up 13-5. Cox, who scored the initial goal for the Buffs in the first half, also tallied the first marker for CU in the second half at 18:15. The Buffs got another quick score from Stinson at 15:26, taking advantage of a USC penalty.
Fusco got a hat-trick at 10:32, bringing CU within five points. USC's Kerrigan Miller was issued a yellow card at that point, giving CU another man-up opportunity. Just as she was released, Stinson found the back of the net for the third time of the game, helping the Buffs close the gap (13-9).
USC ended CU's 3-0 run with a goal at 6:51 and converted on a CU penalty a minute later (15-9). Fusco tallied her fourth marker of the day 30 seconds later. Senior Katie Macleay scored her first marker with 4:35 remaining, cutting the USC lead to four (15-11).
Unfortunately the Buffs were not able to keep the momentum going as the Trojans scored the final goal of the game at 1:49 to secure their 16-11 win.
KEY STATISTICS: Colorado had the edge in shots (28-23), committed fewer turnovers (8-15) and had more ground balls (15-14), but USC led in draw controls (17-12), saves (13-5) and cleared at 100% (18-18). The Trojans also converted on 5-6 free-position attempts while the Buffs made 6-12 free-position attempts.
NOTABLE:
- This the first time CU has played in the MPSF Tournament finals in four seasons. The previous three seasons the Buffs were ousted in the semifinals by Stanford.
- The 16 goals against is the most CU has given up this season.
- Two of CU's three losses this season have come against the Trojans.
- This is the seventh time this season CU has played a ranked team. In those games, CU is 4-3.
- USC leads the all-time series 4-1
- Colorado is now 4-4 in MPSF Tournament play
- Johanna Fusco, Miranda Stinson and Sarah Brown were named to the All-MPSF Tournament Team.
TEAM LEADERS:
Colorado
Points: 15
Goals: 11
Assists: 4
Draw Controls: 12
Ground Balls: 15
Saves: 5
Southern California
Points: 21
Goals: 16
Assists: 5
Draw Controls: 17
Ground Balls: 14
Saves: 13
Points: 15
Goals: 11
Assists: 4
Draw Controls: 12
Ground Balls: 15
Saves: 5
Southern California
Points: 21
Goals: 16
Assists: 5
Draw Controls: 17
Ground Balls: 14
Saves: 13
UP NEXT: The Buffs will wait for the NCAA Tournament announcement, which is set for Sunday, May 7, at 7 p.m. MST. It will be streamed at NCAA.com.
QUOTEABLE:
Head Coach Ann Elliott
Overall Thoughts
"I thought we got outplayed in some instances. You're in a championship game and you have to make plays to win. Defensively I think we struggled in the first half in just playing our game and being confident. That set us back. Offensively I think we did a better job. We did a much better job from the first time against USC but it wasn't enough today and we need to get back."
On Play of Madison and Johnna
"I think we talk about being aggressive and being a threat. As a player you either step up and make plays or you don't. I think those two stepped up when we needed them to over the course of the past couple days and they fought hard. We have to build off of that. We need everyone who's going to fight and want to make plays and want to have the ball. They need to want to be the person guarding the top player on defense. That's what we need at the end of the day."
On Defensive Performance
"Defensively I don't think it was our best game. We didn't commit to the simple things. I don't think we stuck to the game plan at all of what we were doing. We struggled down there a lot. I think we got outplayed by USC's offense which is very talented and very good. You have to be disciplined offensively and I think that hurt us across the board."
EMAILS: If you are interested in receiving emails about lacrosse, sign up here: http://www.cubuffs.com/sports/2008/9/16/buffs-blast.aspx.
Team Stats
COLO
USC
Shots
28
23
Turnovers
8
15
Caused Turnovers
10
6
Draw Controls
12
17
Free-Position Shots
12
6
Ground Balls
15
14
Game Leaders
Players
G
4
A
0
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
2
CT
0
G
3
A
0
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
0
CT
0
G
1
A
1
FO
-
Pen
-
GB
1
CT
1
Players Mentioned
D
/ LacrosseA
/ Lacrosse
A
/ LacrosseM
/ Lacrosse
G
/ LacrosseM
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