Sunday, March 17
Boulder, CO
1:00 PM
Colorado
15
vs
3
Arizona State
Senior Miranda Stinson recorded six goals in the first half against Arizona State
Photo by: Beth Stinson
Buffs’ Offense Dominates in 15-3 Win Against Arizona State
March 17, 2019 | Lacrosse
BOULDER – Senior Miranda Stinson recorded six goals on Sunday afternoon as the Buffs powered past Arizona State, 15-3, to record their first home win of the season here at Kittredge Field.
"It feels good; we are excited," head coach Ann Elliott Whidden said. "Obviously, we have had a tough road here, as we haven't played very well. We did not have a great game yesterday, so obviously to get the win is exciting for us, it is a win we need, and it's a conference win so it helps us out in the long run."
The Buffs are back to .500 with a 4-4 record and own a 3-1 make in Pac-12 Conference play. The Sun Devils conversely are 3-4 overall (1-2 Pac-12).
WHAT HAPPENED: The Colorado did not waste any time, scoring the first marker of the contest with Sadie Grozier goal just 48 seconds into the game. Stinson added another goal a minute later. The Buffs made it 3-0 with a goal from Sophie Castillo off the feed from Stinson at 20:17.
The Sun Devils recorded their first goal of the game at 16:45, but the Buffs responded with Samantha Nemirov's first maker a minute later for a 4-1 advantage.
ASU was able to cut CU's lead to just two by recording two of the next three goals (5-3), but then the Buffs offense exploded as they scored seven goals. Nemirov started the run and then Stinson scored the next four. Nemirov tallied the Buffs 10th goal of the game and then Castillo notched her first maker of the game to give the Buffs a 12-3 lead heading into half time.
"We came out firing today, we were a little slow to start against USC and we could not climb back," Stinson said. "We wanted to come out hard today and fix the things that we didn't do yesterday."
The Buffs went up by 10 in the second half after Blair Sisk scored her first goal of the season with 23:47 left in the game. Midway through the half, Castillo scored her second marker to give the Buffs a 14-3 lead. The final goal of the half was another first, this time for Kate Burnside, which gave the Buffs their largest win of the season (15-3).
Stinson ended the game with eight points as she had six goals and two assists. She also had six draw controls and was 2-3 on free-position attempts.
"A player like Miranda wants to know what she can do better, how to be better and I think she responded today," Whidden said. "I think her heart and her head are in the right place. I think for her, it is understanding in all situations what you can do and that you can always do more."
Colorado's defense held ASU scoreless in the second half, marking the second time in three meetings the Sun Devils have not scored in a half against the Buffs. In the very first meeting between the two on March 18, 2018, the Buffs led ASU 10-0 at halftime and went on to win the game 18-2.
The Sun Devils committed 19 turnovers during the game, while the Buffs had just eight. CU played a part in 13 of ASU's turnovers. Olivia Aschman and Jen Mistretta each had two caused turnovers, while six other Buffs each tallied one caused turnover.
"I thought defensively we did a little bit better of a job," Whidden said. "At the end-of-the-day, we have to keep getting better though. We are making some of the same mistakes in transition and low-defense; we have to do a better job finishing plays. So, I think a good effort today but in the long run, we need to get better, and we have got to get better this week."
KEY STATISTIC: The Buffs dominated in just about every statistical category, but the biggest area of improvement came in the draw controls, which CU led 15-4. CU was also perfect on clear attempts (16-16), while ASU converted at .750 (15-20).
NOTABLE:
TEAM LEADERS:
"It feels good; we are excited," head coach Ann Elliott Whidden said. "Obviously, we have had a tough road here, as we haven't played very well. We did not have a great game yesterday, so obviously to get the win is exciting for us, it is a win we need, and it's a conference win so it helps us out in the long run."
The Buffs are back to .500 with a 4-4 record and own a 3-1 make in Pac-12 Conference play. The Sun Devils conversely are 3-4 overall (1-2 Pac-12).
WHAT HAPPENED: The Colorado did not waste any time, scoring the first marker of the contest with Sadie Grozier goal just 48 seconds into the game. Stinson added another goal a minute later. The Buffs made it 3-0 with a goal from Sophie Castillo off the feed from Stinson at 20:17.
The Sun Devils recorded their first goal of the game at 16:45, but the Buffs responded with Samantha Nemirov's first maker a minute later for a 4-1 advantage.
ASU was able to cut CU's lead to just two by recording two of the next three goals (5-3), but then the Buffs offense exploded as they scored seven goals. Nemirov started the run and then Stinson scored the next four. Nemirov tallied the Buffs 10th goal of the game and then Castillo notched her first maker of the game to give the Buffs a 12-3 lead heading into half time.
"We came out firing today, we were a little slow to start against USC and we could not climb back," Stinson said. "We wanted to come out hard today and fix the things that we didn't do yesterday."
The Buffs went up by 10 in the second half after Blair Sisk scored her first goal of the season with 23:47 left in the game. Midway through the half, Castillo scored her second marker to give the Buffs a 14-3 lead. The final goal of the half was another first, this time for Kate Burnside, which gave the Buffs their largest win of the season (15-3).
Stinson ended the game with eight points as she had six goals and two assists. She also had six draw controls and was 2-3 on free-position attempts.
"A player like Miranda wants to know what she can do better, how to be better and I think she responded today," Whidden said. "I think her heart and her head are in the right place. I think for her, it is understanding in all situations what you can do and that you can always do more."
Colorado's defense held ASU scoreless in the second half, marking the second time in three meetings the Sun Devils have not scored in a half against the Buffs. In the very first meeting between the two on March 18, 2018, the Buffs led ASU 10-0 at halftime and went on to win the game 18-2.
The Sun Devils committed 19 turnovers during the game, while the Buffs had just eight. CU played a part in 13 of ASU's turnovers. Olivia Aschman and Jen Mistretta each had two caused turnovers, while six other Buffs each tallied one caused turnover.
"I thought defensively we did a little bit better of a job," Whidden said. "At the end-of-the-day, we have to keep getting better though. We are making some of the same mistakes in transition and low-defense; we have to do a better job finishing plays. So, I think a good effort today but in the long run, we need to get better, and we have got to get better this week."
KEY STATISTIC: The Buffs dominated in just about every statistical category, but the biggest area of improvement came in the draw controls, which CU led 15-4. CU was also perfect on clear attempts (16-16), while ASU converted at .750 (15-20).
NOTABLE:
- Samantha Nemirov extended her points-streak to 28 games, which is the second longest streak in CU history.
- Kate Burnside and Blair Sisk each recorded their first goals in the game.
- For the second time in three games, Miranda Stinson scored six goals in a half, which is a school record.
- The win is the first home victory for the Buffs this season.
TEAM LEADERS:
| Colorado |
| Points: 19 |
| Goals: 15 |
| Assists: 4 |
| Draw Controls: 15 |
| Ground Balls: 26 |
| Saves: 4 |
| Arizona State |
| Points: 6 |
| Goals: 3 |
| Assists: 3 |
| Draw Controls: 4 |
| Ground Balls: 10 |
| Saves: 20 |
UP NEXT: Colorado continue its homestand against Oregon on Saturday, March 23.
QUOTEABLE:
Head Coach Ann Elliott Whidden
On winning their first home game
It feels good; we are excited. Obviously, we have had a tough road here, as we haven't played very well. We didn't have a great game yesterday so obviously to get the win is exciting for us, it's a win we need, and it's a conference win so it helps us out in the long run.
On defense performance in the second half
I thought defensively we did a little bit better of a job. At the end-of-the-day, we have to keep getting better though. We are making some of the same mistakes in transition and low defense, we have got to do a better job finishing plays. So, I think a good effort today but in the long run, we need to get better, and we have got to get better this week.
On moving the ball – quick passing and little turnovers
Offensively, we did a little bit better of a job going up against Arizona State. I thought we dodged well and hard but, we still have to get better. We are still making some of the same mistakes, we didn't have a great second half and our focus really going into the second half was having a better half than the first and playing like it was 0-0 and I don't think we did a good job at that. At the end of the day, it's a good bounce back and a win for us and I think some of our players that needed to respond responded well and now we just have to get everybody on that page.
On focus in practice looking ahead to Oregon
I think getting better, as I said we are making a lot of the same mistakes and we are a younger team. But we are halfway through the season, so we are not young. So, it's not an excuse to be doing the same things we did at the beginning of February, the same things we did yesterday, we got to get better and grow. If this team wants to be a team that's playing late into the Pac-12 tournament and trying to play in the NCAA tournament, we are not there yet. I think for us, it's getting better and not going backward, and we went backward yesterday. We went a little forward today, but we cannot afford to go backward anymore.
On Miranda Stinson
I think yesterday's game wasn't good and it wasn't a good effort by our team. We didn't play with confidence, we didn't play hard and I think for our leadership we didn't lead on the field, I think that was made clear to them. A player like Miranda wants to know what she can do better, how to be better and I think she responded today. I think her heart and her head is in the right place, I think for her it's understanding in all situations what you can do and that you can always do more and what leadership wise that looks like. When you're playing with a younger team and with people that maybe are stepping out a little bit nervous, and out of their comfort zone at times and how to get a team going. At the end of the day as well as Miranda played today, and she played great against Cal, she can't do it herself and we can't rely on her to do it herself. We have to grow as leaders and that's a challenge I think for her and all of these captains, I thought she responded today but I think we have to do a better job at responding this week as a whole.
Miranda Stinson, Sr. Attack
On the win today after a disappointing loss against USC
We came out firing today, we were a little slow to start against USC and we couldn't climb back, we wanted to come out hard today and fix the things that we didn't do yesterday.
On what coach Whidden said to motivate the team
She said it's down to us, we need to look at ourselves and see what we need to fix individually and come out firing.
On being a senior leader
I think definitely our freshman and our sophomores are gaining confidence as we go, and we need them to keep doing that because this is a young team.
On help scoring today and their performance
Yes definitely. Sam [Nemirov] is always quick and Sophie [Castillo] has got some good shots from low.
On defense holding ASU to three goals
We are doing our job and it's good to have Julia [Lisella] back in the goal.
On approaching Oregon next weekend
We have to come back with confidence and not have another game like USC.
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