Colorado University Athletics
Junior Sophia Castillo
Photo by: CUBuffs.com
Buffs Prepared For Start of 2018 Season
February 02, 2018 | Lacrosse
BOULDER — In one week, the Colorado Buffaloes will open their fifth season of play in women's lacrosse with two games in Florida.
The Buffs, ranked No. 17 in the nation in the IWLCA preseason poll, face Michigan on Feb. 9 in Jacksonville, then take on No. 5 Florida on Feb. 11 in Gainesville.
Over the last two weeks, the team has been putting in some quality time on the field and in the weight room to prepare for the start of the season, and CU Head Coach Ann Elliott is liking what she is seeing. "Overall things have been good," she said. "It's crazy the season is just a week away, but at the same time, we have been working hard and we will be ready."
CU graduated a large senior class last spring, which included five starters from a team that finished second in the MPSF and earned the program's first-ever NCAA Tournament berth. With the departure of 14 letterwinners, this season has been about the team finding a new identity and players stepping up and finding their new roles.
Colorado this season will participate in the Pac-12 for the first time, as the conference is now sponsoring the sport. CU will also host the first-ever Pac-12 women's lacrosse tournament in April.
"I think we grew a lot in the fall," Elliott said. "We faced some challenges and are finding our way. We are focused on playing together and being one team. Players are finding their roles on the field and others are stepping up that maybe haven't played that much in the past."
While the Buffs lost some great players, they return quite a bit of talent. Defensively Olivia Aschmann, Sarah Brown and Kelsie Garrison are back and all three were starters in 2017.
Offensively Colorado returns Darby Kiernan, who was the team's leading scorer the last three seasons. With the graduation of the second- and third-leading scorers from last season (Johnna Fusco and Katie Macleay, respectively), most could think there would be added pressure on Kiernan. But that is not the case. "Darby is such a team player," Elliott said. "Everything for her is about the team, it's never about her. She doesn't think about her stats or anything. It's amazing to listen to her speak and watch her play and see how selfless she is."
Elliott went on to explain the way the offense is built this season, it will help Kiernan. "We are a little bit more versatile in what we can do offensively and the players that we have. We will definitely have a lot of players who can step up and help her – it will be a team offense."
Another offensive threat returning this year is midfielder Miranda Stinson, who was fourth overall in scoring for the Buffs last season.
The most notable position to be filled for Colorado is that of goalkeeper, which was occupied by Paige Soenksen for the last four seasons. Elliott did not have to look far to find Soenksen's replacement with redshirt senior Sophia Gambitsky and redshirt sophomore Julia Lisella. Gambitsky has seen action in 12 games and earned the start against Winthrop on March 15, 2017; while Lisella saw time in two games in 2016 (she redshirted the 2017 season). Both have been working hard in practice and Elliott feels they have both benefited with assistant coach Mitch Fenton joining the staff full-time last fall.
"They've both grown a lot," Elliott said about the pair. "Every day I think they are getting better and they are pushing each other. We've had a great week of practice this week and are starting to see both of them emerge in their own ways. We'll see come Michigan who is in there and we'll go from there."
One thing that will be on the Buffaloes' minds a lot this season will be the loss of their teammate Julia Sarcona, who died tragically in January in an automobile accident.
"Lacrosse is a place where we are comfortable and can be together," Elliott said. "We can enjoy being back on the field and are working towards our goals and work towards them for Julia."
The Buffs, ranked No. 17 in the nation in the IWLCA preseason poll, face Michigan on Feb. 9 in Jacksonville, then take on No. 5 Florida on Feb. 11 in Gainesville.
Over the last two weeks, the team has been putting in some quality time on the field and in the weight room to prepare for the start of the season, and CU Head Coach Ann Elliott is liking what she is seeing. "Overall things have been good," she said. "It's crazy the season is just a week away, but at the same time, we have been working hard and we will be ready."
CU graduated a large senior class last spring, which included five starters from a team that finished second in the MPSF and earned the program's first-ever NCAA Tournament berth. With the departure of 14 letterwinners, this season has been about the team finding a new identity and players stepping up and finding their new roles.
Colorado this season will participate in the Pac-12 for the first time, as the conference is now sponsoring the sport. CU will also host the first-ever Pac-12 women's lacrosse tournament in April.
"I think we grew a lot in the fall," Elliott said. "We faced some challenges and are finding our way. We are focused on playing together and being one team. Players are finding their roles on the field and others are stepping up that maybe haven't played that much in the past."
While the Buffs lost some great players, they return quite a bit of talent. Defensively Olivia Aschmann, Sarah Brown and Kelsie Garrison are back and all three were starters in 2017.
Offensively Colorado returns Darby Kiernan, who was the team's leading scorer the last three seasons. With the graduation of the second- and third-leading scorers from last season (Johnna Fusco and Katie Macleay, respectively), most could think there would be added pressure on Kiernan. But that is not the case. "Darby is such a team player," Elliott said. "Everything for her is about the team, it's never about her. She doesn't think about her stats or anything. It's amazing to listen to her speak and watch her play and see how selfless she is."
Elliott went on to explain the way the offense is built this season, it will help Kiernan. "We are a little bit more versatile in what we can do offensively and the players that we have. We will definitely have a lot of players who can step up and help her – it will be a team offense."
Another offensive threat returning this year is midfielder Miranda Stinson, who was fourth overall in scoring for the Buffs last season.
The most notable position to be filled for Colorado is that of goalkeeper, which was occupied by Paige Soenksen for the last four seasons. Elliott did not have to look far to find Soenksen's replacement with redshirt senior Sophia Gambitsky and redshirt sophomore Julia Lisella. Gambitsky has seen action in 12 games and earned the start against Winthrop on March 15, 2017; while Lisella saw time in two games in 2016 (she redshirted the 2017 season). Both have been working hard in practice and Elliott feels they have both benefited with assistant coach Mitch Fenton joining the staff full-time last fall.
"They've both grown a lot," Elliott said about the pair. "Every day I think they are getting better and they are pushing each other. We've had a great week of practice this week and are starting to see both of them emerge in their own ways. We'll see come Michigan who is in there and we'll go from there."
One thing that will be on the Buffaloes' minds a lot this season will be the loss of their teammate Julia Sarcona, who died tragically in January in an automobile accident.
"Lacrosse is a place where we are comfortable and can be together," Elliott said. "We can enjoy being back on the field and are working towards our goals and work towards them for Julia."
Players Mentioned
D
/ Lacrosse
D
/ Lacrosse
A
/ Lacrosse
G
/ Lacrosse
D
/ Lacrosse
A
/ Lacrosse
G
/ Lacrosse
A
/ Lacrosse
A
/ Lacrosse
G
/ Lacrosse
M
/ LacrosseMonday, May 04
Monday, May 04
Sunday, April 26
Saturday, April 18