Buffs Second Half Comeback Falls Short Against No. 11 Northwestern

Thursday, February 15

Evanston, IL

1:00 PM

Colorado

1-2

Northwestern

3-0

Colorado

Northwestern

Darby Kiernan recorded five points against Northwestern on Thursday.

Photo by: Mark Burch

Buffs Second Half Comeback Falls Short Against No. 11 Northwestern

February 15, 2018 | Lacrosse

Box Score PDF Boxscore

By: Linda Sprouse, Associate SID

EVANSTON, Ill. – After being held to just one goal in the first half against Northwestern, the Colorado Buffaloes' offense caught fire in the second half, scoring seven goals. Unfortunately it was not enough as the 11^th-ranked Wildcats defeated CU, 15-8, on Thursday afternoon.

The loss moves the Buffs to 1-2 overall, while NU is now 3-0 to start the season.

WHAT HAPPENED: Northwestern scored the first six goals of the game before Darby Kiernan was able to get the Buffs on the board with 4:11 left in the first half, scoring on a free-position attempt.

Unfortunately the Buffs were not able to capitalize on the momentum as the Wildcats answered back with two straight goals to finish the half (8-1).

NU started the second half with three straight goals (11-1), but the Buffs answered with six consecutive goals of their own. Carly Cox found the back of the net at 23:31 after a quick pass from Kiernan. Then just 40 second later, Kiernan scored her second marker of the contest after connecting on a pass from Jen Mistretta for the Buffs' third goal of the game.

The Buffs were down a player after Cox recorded a yellow card, but it did not slow CU down as Sophia Castillo recorded her first man-down goal of her career at 22:01. Just over two minutes later, after CU was full strength, Miranda Stinson finally got on the stat sheet with her first goal of the game at 19:56, with the helper coming from Samantha Nemirov. Stinson earned her second straight marker at 17:28 as she converted on a free-position attempt.

Colorado got back within four (11-7) at 15:19 when freshman Sadie Grozier tallied her third career goal after a pass from Kiernan. But that was as close as the Buffs would get.

The Wildcats ended CU's 6-0 run at 14:09 and tallied another goal at 12:07 to regain a six-goal lead. The Wildcats went back up by seven with 7:45 left (14-7).

The Buffs did not let up despite the deficit. With 2:45 left to play, Castillo recorded her second goal with another helper from Nemirov (14-8).

NU finished the game with its 15^th goal with 42 second remaining as Leighton Yenor converted off a CU turnover.

KEY STATISTICS: Colorado was 2-4 for free-position shots, while NU was 1-5. The Buffs had the edge in draw controls (14-11, but the Wildcats led in most other areas. NU outshot CU 30-20 and had the advantage in ground balls (29-21). The Buffs also committed 23 turnovers to NU's 16.

NOTABLE:

This was the second straight top-15 opponent the Buffs have faced.
Kiernan's goal in the first half helped the Buffs avoid getting shutout in the half. CU has only been shutout in a half twice, both by top-10 teams.
On February 26 2016, No. 7 Notre Dame did not allow the Buffs to score in the first half and won the game 14-4. In 2017, No. 9 Southern California held the Buffs scoreless in the second half on April 14. USC won 11-5.
Kiernan had a hand in CU's first four goals. She scored the first and third goals for the Buffs and was credited with assists for the second and fourth goals. Kiernan led the Buffs with five points in the effort.
Sophia Gambitsky started the game for the Buffs and recorded six saves while allowing eight goals.
Julia Lisella started the second half and had three saves and allowed seven goals.

TEAM LEADERS:

Colorado

Points: 14

Goals: 8

Assists:6

Draw Controls: 14

Ground Balls: 21

Saves: 9

Northwestern

Points: 23

Goals: 15

Assists: 8

Draw Controls: 11

Ground Balls: 29

Saves: 5

UP NEXT: Colorado will open the home portion of its season on Sunday, Feb. 25 against former MPSF rival San Diego State. That contest is set for 12 p.m. at Kittredge Field.

QUOTEABLE:
Head Coach Ann Elliott
"It was another tough game for us on the road. Northwestern played well and hard, so credit to them. We need to do a better job of competing for 60 minutes. We have competed for 30 minutes in each of our first three games, and against top teams, it isn't good enough. We have to be more mentally focused and disciplined. We have a break now and will use it to regroup. We also need to get better and learn. I think there is a lot we can learn from these first three games and improve on. If we keep pushing, keep working, keep learning, we have a lot of potential, but we need to commit every day and keep pushing each other."