Five Buffs Earn IWLCA All-Region Honors

BOULDER — Five members of the Colorado lacrosse team earned a spot on the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association's All-West/Midwest Region teams, which were announced on Friday afternoon.

Junior defender Sarah Brown, junior attacker Darby Kiernan and senior goalkeeper Paige Soenksen were selected to the first team, while senior attacker Johnna Fusco and sophomore midfielder Miranda Stinson were named to the second team.

Brown has started in all 19 games for the Buffs. The All-MPSF First Team honoree ranks second in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, averaging 1.68 caused turnovers per game, and has 32 caused turnovers on the season, which is a CU single-season record. Brown recorded a career-best six caused turnovers, another CU record, in the Buffs MPSF semifinal win over Stanford on April 28. Brown is tied for the team lead in ground balls (38) and is second in draw controls (40). This season she has recorded three goals and one assist for four points on five shots (all on goal). Brown was a second team all-region in 2016.

Kiernan, an All-MPSF First Team selection, leads the team in points, assists, draw controls and game-winning goals and is second in goals, shots and free-position goals. Her 72 points this season is a CU single-season record and her 49 goals is third on CU's all-time list (just three short of her record of 52 from 2015). Kiernan also owns single-season records in assists (23) and draw controls (118) and is second on the single-season chart in shots (133) and shots on goal (84), and is third on the single-season list in free-position goals (18). Nationally, Kiernan ranks 16th in free-position goals per game, is 27th in points and 35th in goals. A starter in all 19 games, this is Kiernan's first all-region honor.

Soenksen was named to the All-MPSF First Team after leading the conference in save percentage. She is also second in the league in goals against average. She has led the Buffs to the fourth best scoring defense in the nation. She started and played in 18 of CU's 19 games so far this season, earning a 15-3 overall record and is tied for third on the team in ground balls (31). After tying her career-high with 19 saves in the season-opening overtime win (11-10) against No. 9 Northwestern, she was named the Epoch/U.S. Lacrosse Magazine and Alpha Lacrosse Players of the Week. Soenksen also picked up the MPSF Defensive Player of the Week for the same game. She earned the MPSF Defensive Player of the Week for the second time in the season after making 16 saves in CU's 16-11 upset at No. 6 Penn State. This is Soenken's third time on an all-region team as she was a second-team selection in 2014 and '15.

Another All-MPSF first team selection, Fusco leads the Buffs with 50 goals this season, which is second all-time for CU. She has also tallied 10 assists this season for 60 points, which is second on the team. Fusco has recorded a team-high 21 free-position goals this season, which is third in the NCAA (1.24 per game). She is 30th overall in the NCAA in goals and is 37th in goals per game. Fusco averages 7.82 shots per game, fourth in the NCAA, and her 5.12 shots on goal per game is 22nd in the NCAA. Fusco has started in all 17 games she has played this season. During the year, she has recorded several awards, including the Alpha Lacrosse National Player of the Week, as well as the MPSF Offensive Player of the Week on March 6.

Stinson has started in 18 of 19 games this season and was named to the All-MPSF Second Team earlier this year. She has recorded a career-high five goals twice, which tied a CU single-game record. Stinson ranks fourth on the team in goals (35), assists (15) and points (50), is third in shots (90) and shots on goal (64) and is tied for second with three-game winning goals this season. She has also recorded 14 free-position goals. Stinson has been voted the Alpha Lacrosse National Player of the Week twice and earned the MPSF Offensive Player of the Week two times this season. She was also named CU's first IWLCA Offensive Player of the Week.

The group of five is the most CU has placed on the all-region team in CU's four-year history, and this is also the first time CU has had anyone on the first team. The Buffs had two named to the second team in 2016.

Colorado (16-3), which is ranked ninth in one poll and 10th in the other two, will play its first-ever NCAA Tournament game on Friday night against UMass. The game is scheduled for 5 p.m. MDT/7 p.m. EST in Philadelphia, Pa.

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Colorado University Athletics

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Players Mentioned

Sarah Brown

Johnna Fusco

Darby Kiernan

Paige Soenksen

Miranda Stinson

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