No. 6 Gators Spoil No. 17 Buffs Home Opener

BOULDER – The University of Colorado is usually a dominant force when playing at home on Kittredge Field, but the Florida Gators spoiled the Buffs' home opener, defeating CU 16-9 on Saturday afternoon.

The Buffs were led offensively by senior Miranda Stinson, sophomore Sadie Grozier and freshman Charlie Rudy; who each recorded a pair of goals. Florida had a trio of players, Shannon Kavanagh, Lindsey Ronbeck and Grace Haus, who tallied four goals apiece.

WHAT HAPPENED: Florida got on the board first and scored the first seven goals of the game before CU's offense was able to find the back of the net. Senior Samantha Nemirov got CU's offense going at 16:31 in the first and less than four minutes later, Grozier tacked on another goal for the Buffs.

The Gators would get one more goal in the half, but the Buffs recorded another pair of goals from sophomore Devon Bayer and Rudy to end the first half down by four (8-4).

In the second half, the Buffs scored five more goals, but UF did not slow down. The Buffs were able to cut the deficit to just four goals twice in the second stanza, but both times the Gators pulled ahead as they tallied eight goals in the half.

The Buffs struggled a bit early in the draw circle, winning just four of 12 in the first half. But after some adjustments, which included having freshman Kate Burnside take the draw, led the Buffs to win eight of 14 draws in the second half.

"Obviously, Florida is great at the draw," head coach Ann Elliott Whidden said. :They were winning and giving control to themselves. So, we made a couple of changes to who's taking it. We were able to create some 50/50 balls and come up with it and that made a difference for us."

CU's defense also played well as junior goalkeeper Julia Lisella stopped 12 shots. The Buffs recorded 12 caused turnovers; Stinson led CU with three, while senior Olivia Aschman collected two.

KEY STATISTICS: Florida converted on seven of its nine free-position attempts, while the Buffs were only able to score on two-of-seven.

NOTABLE:

The Buffs entered the game with an impressive 31-5 mark and had not lost a game at Kittredge Field since the 2016 season.
Samantha Nemirov extended her points-streak to 21 games with the first goal of the game for CU.
This was the ninth game in Julia Lisella's career that she has recorded 10 or more saves (she had 12).
Florida leads the all-time series 3-0.

TEAM LEADERS:

Colorado

Points: 9

Goals: 9

Assists: 0

Draw Controls: 12

Ground Balls: 24

Saves: 12

Florida

Points: 22

Goals: 16

Assists: 6

Draw Controls: 14

Ground Balls: 29

Saves: 9

UP NEXT: Colorado heads to Blacksburg, Va. to face No. 14 Virginia Tech on Saturday, Feb. 16.

QUOTEABLE:
Head Coach Ann Elliott
On draw controls
"Obviously, Florida is great at the draw. They were winning and giving control to themselves. So we made a couple of changes to who's taking it. We were able to create some 50/50 balls and come up with it and that made a difference for us."

On who played well offensively for CU
"Looking at the stats it seems pretty even. We had a lot of people being a threat, but we needed more from them from the start. I thought initially we were playing scared and we were watching a lot of lacrosse being played instead of playing it. At the end of the day we need people to step up and do a little bit more for us."

On preparing for Virginia Tech
"We gotta play 60 minutes and we have to compete. I think we were scared today, but some of our team came out and competed for 60 minutes but some people were scared. We can't be scared as we go into games. Youth isn't an excuse for us, our players have a lot of experience. As we head into Virginia Tech we have to bring confidence with us and more of a killer instinct. I thought we played back on our heels. We'll look at the film, get better from this, and prepare for Virginia Tech."

Miranda Stinson, Sr., A

On what needs to be improved
"We need to work harder for 50-50 balls. I think we struggled with the draw and battling against a really physical team we need to be tougher and get those 50-50 balls."

On what changed mentally to get back in the game in the 1^st half
"Well we took a timeout and we said to each other that we need to toughen up, we need to get the draw, we need to push back if they're going to push us. "

On how she needs to lead this team as a senior
"Well we've got a pretty young team and I think it's just encouraging those younger girls to step up because they're all really talented. Kate (Burnside) stepped up on the draw today and she did a really great job and like you said, Charlie (Rudy) and Liz (Phillips) did a really great job too. They just need to keep gaining confidence as we go."

On the tough schedule to begin the season
"Yeah, we wouldn't want it any other way. It's really fun having tough competition right out of the start."

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Team Stats

Charlie Rudy

Sadie Grozier

Miranda Stinson

Samantha Nemirov

Players Mentioned

Olivia Aschman

Devon Bayer

Kate Burnside

Sadie Grozier

Julia Lisella

Samantha Nemirov

Charlie Rudy

Miranda Stinson

Players Mentioned

Olivia Aschman

Devon Bayer

Kate Burnside

Sadie Grozier

Julia Lisella

Samantha Nemirov

Charlie Rudy

Miranda Stinson