Buffs Defeat Oregon In Overtime

EUGENE, Ore. - Colorado lacrosse persevered through rainy conditions Saturday afternoon, defeating Oregon at Papé Field in a 15-14 overtime thriller.

The Buffs (5-5, 4-1) largely controlled the first half, leading 9-5 at halftime, but a late surge with five straight goals from the Ducks (3-7, 0-5) took the two teams to overtime. CU trailed by two in the final minutes of the fourth quarter before two goals from Morgan Pence evened things up at 14-14.

"In the end, this is a win and one we needed," head coach Ann Elliott Whidden said. "I am proud of how our team stepped up [when we were] down two [goals] with 3.5 minutes left. We needed to make plays and we did. That is huge for us, especially with one of our leaders on the bench. I am really proud of them and we can look to build off of that fight."

Colorado struggled to earn draw controls today, trailing 13 to Oregon's 20. However, the team managed to earn back possession through 11 caused turnovers, while the Ducks only had two. Both Charlie Rudy and Sophie Halus earned two caused turnovers a piece for the Buffs.

"Tonight was a game we needed to win and we found a way. We were too casual in a lot of little plays where we normally execute better," Coach Whidden stated after the game "We have to fix this moving forward and our leaders on the team, including myself, need to do a better job in how we step onto the field and the intensity and purpose at which we approach everything we do. Hopefully we learn from this game, the same lesson we should have learned last weekend and last year - nothing is given, we have to earn everything."

Rudy had another strong day offensively, putting away five goals. She was followed by Sam McGee who earned four and Pence who had three. Ashley Stokes scored twice, including the game winning goal in overtime.

"I believe we can compete with anyone in our conference, but [we] also can lose to anyone depending on our mindset and how we commit to the little things," said Whidden.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Oregon struck first with Gabby Cleveland earning her 20th goal of the season. After that, everything went Colorado's way for the rest of the quarter. McGee put CU on the board, followed by a goal from Rudy. Katie Haley then gave the Buffs a two point lead with her first goal of the season. Rudy closed out the first quarter with a pair of back-to-back goals. It marked the second game in a row where Rudy scored three goals in the first quarter.

Cleveland started the second quarter by scoring on a free position shot for the Ducks, but Rudy quickly responded with a goal of her own. Cleveland notched another goal before McGee put away a pair of goals. The Ducks scored two more times before Rudy closed out the first half with her fifth goal of the game and a 9-5 lead for the Buffs.

McGee scored first for CU in the third quarter, but Oregon found their footing and put three unanswered goals away to trail by two at 10-8. Pence broke the spell by scoring her first goal of the day with 2:49 left in the half. However, the Ducks notched one more goal with only 30 seconds left on the clock. It looked like the third quarter was going to finish on the Ducks' goal, but Stokes had other things in mind, scoring with only 1.8 left on the clock to extend the Buffs' lead to 12-9 at the end of the third quarter.

The Ducks surged forward in the fourth quarter, evading the Buffs' defense and earning five unanswered goals to take the lead 14-12. Pence finally ended Oregon's rally, scoring back-to-back goals in the last two and a half minutes to tie the game 14-14 and sending the two teams to overtime.

McGee won Colorado's first and only draw control in overtime, and Coach Whidden called a timeout with 2:36 left on the clock. After the timeout, the Buffs passed around Oregon's defense until Stokes finally saw her opening and scored to end the game.

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Team Stats

Charlie Rudy

Sam McGee

Morgan Pence

Ashley Stokes

Players Mentioned

Katie Haley

Sophie Halus

Sam McGee

Morgan Pence

Charlie Rudy

Ashley Stokes

Players Mentioned

Katie Haley

Sophie Halus

Sam McGee

Morgan Pence

Charlie Rudy

Ashley Stokes