Buffaloes Prepped For Third Straight NCAA Tournament

BOULDER –For the third straight year, the University of Colorado Buffaloes are heading to the NCAA Tournament. No. 21 Colorado will face off against No. 18 Dartmouth in the first round on May 10 at Newton Campus Lacrosse and Soccer Field on the campus of Boston College at 2 p.m. MT/4 p.m. ET.

The winner will move on to the second round and will take on the host, No. 1 Boston College, on May 12 at 11 a.m. MT/1 p.m. ET. This is the first meeting between CU and the Big Green.

HOW TO WATCH: Both games at Boston College this weekend will be broadcast live on the ACC Network. A link to the stream, as well as links to the live stats, will be available at CUBuffs.com.

ABOUT THE BUFFS: The Buffs are 10-7 overall and finished second in the Pac-12 Conference with an 8-2 mark. They are currently ranked 21st in the IWLCA poll.

Senior Miranda Stinson leads the Pac-12 in goals (59) and is second in points (74). Nationally, the Pac-12 Attacker of the Year ranks 22nd in goals and 38th in points. Stinson has averaged 1.06 free-position goals per game, the 19^th best mark nationally. She is averaging the fifth best NCAA mark in shots per game (8.65), and is eighth in shots on goal per game (6.24).

Another senior, Samantha Nemirov, is second on the team with 44 goals, which ranks third in the conference. She is tied for Stinson for the team lead in assists with 15. In total, her 59 points is fourth in the conference.

There are three other Buffs with at least 15 goals this season: Sadie Grozier (32), Charlie Rudy (20) and Sophie Castillo (17). Kate Burnside and Stinson lead CU in draw controls (51), while Eliza Cahill is third with 33.

Julia Lisella has started in 16 games for the Buffs and has a 9-7 record on the year. She has allowed 9.35 goals against, which is 11th in the NCAA, and has a .485 save percentage, which is 20th nationally. The Buffs have forced 173 opponent turnovers, which is 24th in the NCAA. Stinson again leads the team with 23 caused turnovers, while Olivia Aschman is second with 19. Macaul Mellor is third with 17.

ABOUT THE BIG GREEN: Dartmouth enters the tournament with an 11-5 record and was 6-1 in the Ivy League. DC earned an at-large bid after falling to Penn in the IVY semifinals. Currently the Big Green is ranked 18th in the IWLCA Poll.

Leading DC offensively is Kierra Sweeney, who has recorded 70 points this season with 57 goals and 13 assists. Her 70 points is 51^st in the NCAA and her 57 goals is 24^th nationally. Kellen D'Alleve is not far off Sweeney's pace with 63 points, but 43 of those points are assists, which ranks 13^th in the NCAA.

The second leading goal scorer for the Big Green is Elizabeth Mastrio, who is 88^th in the NCAA with 2.50 goals per game. Just behind her is Katie Bourque, who has 38 goals.

Dartmouth has been very strong on the draw control this year. As a team, the Big Green ranks second in the nation with 17.94 per game. Kathryn Giroux leads the team with 8.94 per game, which is fourth in the NCAA, while Claire Marshall is averaging 3.40 per game.

In goal, Kiera Vrindten has recorded an 8-5 record. She has an 11.86 goals against average this season and owns a .398 save percentage.

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Players Mentioned

Olivia Aschman

Kate Burnside

Eliza Cahill

Sophie Castillo

Sadie Grozier

Julia Lisella

Macaul Mellor

Samantha Nemirov

Charlie Rudy

Miranda Stinson

Colorado University Athletics