Buffs Focus on Important Conference Games

BOULDER - The Colorado lacrosse team returns to conference play this week, hosting No. 20 USC Friday night and ASU Sunday.

The Buffs (6-5, 4-1) are on a three-game win streak, most recently defeating San Diego State 17-4 at home over the weekend.

During the game, Charlie Rudy scored another hat trick, recording her 10th of the season out of 11 games. Rudy leads the Buffs in scoring and is 2nd in the Pac-12 with 41 total goals. She's tied for seventh in the NCAA in goals per game with 3.73.

Against SDSU, Sam McGee added another five goals to her season total. The sixth-year graduate student has scored three goals or more in her last three games to have 35 goals so far this season. She's currently second on the team in goals and is 21st in the NCAA in goals per game with 3.18 goals.

Attacker Zoe McElhaney had another strong draw control game against SDSU, earning 15 draws. In total, the Buffs earned 20 draws against the Aztecs while SDSU only managed to earn 5 draws.

In their game against the Aztecs, Danielle Heintz filled in the net for all 60 minutes for the first time this season. During the game, she had six saves and faced 12 shots.

The Buffs face No.20 USC this Friday at 4 p.m. MT at the Indoor Practice Facility and ASU at 12 p.m. MT this Sunday on Kittredge Field.

The Trojans:

Although USC (11-3, 6-1) has a perfect record at home, Southern California has struggled more on the road and is 3-3 for away games.

USC leads the Pac-12 after defeating Stanford 10-7 at home over the weekend. The victory helped elevate the Trojans' Il/IWLCA ranking from 21 to 20. USC had dropped in the poll after losing 15-12 to Stanford the week prior.

Earlier this season, the Buffs and the Trojans met in Los Angeles where CU fell in a 17-13 loss. CU will be looking to split their season series with USC this Friday.

UPDATE: The game versus USC has been moved to the Indoor Practice Facility due to weather.

The Sun Devils:

ASU (4-8, 3-4) is on a one-game winning streak after dominating Cal in a 15-6 victory while at home over the weekend. The win helped Arizona State keep their position at fourth in the Pac-12.

When the two teams met earlier this season, the Buffs defeated the Sun Devils 17-13. In that meeting, five different players scored for CU. Sam McGee recorded six goals, the most for any Buff in a single game this season.

If the Buffs defeat both USC and ASU, they'll be the Pac-12's new leader.

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Players Mentioned

Danielle Heintz

Zoe McElhaney

Sam McGee

Charlie Rudy

Colorado University Athletics