Colorado
7-6, 5-2
Arizona State
4-10, 3-6
Buffs Sweep Sun Devils
April 16, 2023 | Lacrosse
BOULDER – For the first time since 2019, Colorado Lacrosse has swept Arizona State during the regular season with its 15-12 victory over the Sun Devils here Sunday afternoon.
The Buffaloes (7-6, 5-2 Pac-12) were able to produce enough goals on the offensive end to prevent ASU (4-10, 3-6 Pac-12) from completing a comeback; however Colorado seemed to struggle executing as a team at times.
"Overall, we're very capable, but for some reason after playing a tough game on Friday, we can't show up mentally or physically on Sunday to compete," head coach Ann Elliott Whidden stated after the game. "Whether we expect things to be easy, or we're a little tired, we're not doing the things we practice all the time. We're undisciplined, and we have to find a way to do better. This team seriously wants to compete for a championship."
Despite the overall performance, Colorado's offense was clicking today. Ashley Stokes had a terrific game, scoring two goals and racking up five assists. Sam McGee led CU in goals with four followed by Charlie Rudy who put three in the back of net. Zoe McElhaney also had a solid performance this afternoon as she accounted for 11 of the team's 19 draw controls while also scoring a goal in the third quarter.
Colorado lacrosse added one to the win column; however this team knows they have to play better than they did today in this final stretch of games. The Buffaloes have three regular season games remaining, including Stanford and Cal on the road and then Oregon at home.
"We have two practices here before we head to Stanford, and we don't have time to start over. We can't coach all the things we've been coaching for six months again, and when we get into a game, they're better than that," said Whidden. "They have to demand more from themselves and they have to think about how they're preparing and what their priorities are. If they really want to win, we're capable of doing that, but things have to change a little bit for us, especially on the mental side of how we approach things."
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Within the first five minutes of the game, Arizona State jumped out to a 2-1 lead over the Buffs. After a stop on the defensive end, Colorado tied things up at 2-2 with a free-position goal from Morgan Pence. The Sun Devils quickly regained the lead, scoring a goal just under a minute later. Liz Phillips scored her second goal of the day moments before Stokes scored to give CU the lead at 4-3. With seven seconds to go in the quarter, Rudy scored on a free-position attempt. The Buffs held a 6-3 advantage heading into the second.
After giving up a goal early in the quarter, Colorado bounced back while player-up with a quick-stick goal on the crease from Sydney Zimmerman to go up 7-4. Later in the quarter, after trailing by four, ASU came within two at 8-6 on a player-up goal. The Buffs extended their lead to three once again with a goal from McGee assisted by Stokes. CU held a 11-7 lead at halftime.
Just over five minutes into the third quarter, Arizona State came within two once again at 11-9. Shortly after, McElhaney scored a bounce-shot goal to put the Buffs up 12-9. With 4:38 remaining, Colorado called a timeout following a Sun Devils goal. On a player-up opportunity, McGee picked up her fourth goal of the day as CU took a 13-10 lead.
Entering the fourth quarter, the Buffs led 13-10. Within the first minute of the quarter, Rudy scored a free-position goal while Colorado was player-up. ASU answered with a goal of its own just over a minute later, making it 14-11. Both teams traded goals to make it 15-12 with 7:01 left in regulation. The Buffs were able to possess the ball for most of the remainder of the quarter as CU won 15-12.
UP NEXT:
Colorado Lacrosse will travel away to play Stanford on Friday, April 21st and Cal on Sunday, April 23rd.
