Colorado
Central Michigan
Buffs Set for Two-Game Road Stint in Michigan
February 27, 2024 | Lacrosse
BOULDER — The Colorado Buffaloes lacrosse team is set to head back on the road again this week where they will take on Central Michigan, Thursday at 1 p.m. followed up with another game, Saturday morning at 10 a.m. against No. 6 Michigan.
"A big weekend for us on the road," head coach Ann Elliott Whidden said. "Excited to play again. We had a lot of positives last Thursday but we know we need to make improvements and have been focused on getting better at the details. This will be a good challenge for us. We are very focused on improving from last week and coming out strong against Central Michigan. We need to get better at giving ourselves more possessions and and emphasis on executing in transition on both sides. We made strides last week but know it is key for us overall."
The Buffs are coming off their first loss of the season against No. 4 ranked Northwestern last Thursday at home. Three different CU players (Pisani, Hritzuk, Shoup) had at least three goals but it wouldn't be enough to take down the defending national champions.
After falling 19-14 to the Wildcats, the Buffaloes were still ranked inside the top-20 for both weekly national polls. They sit at No. 19 for the IWLCA and No. 20 for USA Lacrosse.
Second-year player Maddie Shoup recorded a career-high three goals against Northwestern, all coming in the first quarter of play.
Senior Madeline Pisani still leads the Pac-12 Conference with 16 goals scored, averaging four a game. Her teammate Jess Peluso also leads the conference in caused turnovers with seven.
Goalkeeper Danielle Heintz leads the Pac-12 Conference with 32 goals saved with a .395 save percentage. She is coming off a career-high 11 saves against Northwestern.
CU will be playing two teams this weekend on very different paths to start the season. Central Michigan is still searching for their first win, as they currently sit at an 0-5 record. The Chippewas are led by junior attacker Skye DePrado, who has 10 goals in the first five games.
The Michigan Wolverines are 4-0 with two huge ranked wins over No. 4 Denver and No. 13 USC. They will take on Arizona State Thursday afternoon before they play the Buffaloes. Michigan also took down Jacksonville and Cincinnati in the first two contests of the year. They're led by Kaylee Dyer and Jill Smith, who each have 11 goals.
"This will be another challenge in terms of travel but we know what we are capable of and will focus on things we can control," Whidden stated. "Our approach is very much one game at a time, after Thursdays game we will reset and focus on Saturday. We know how good Michigan is and the challenge there. They have the best defense in the country and have been well tested like ourselves early in the season. We are excited about the opportunity we have this weekend with our two games."
INSIDE THE SERIES
Thursday will be the first time Colorado and Central Michigan line up against one another on the same field.
Despite just a 10-year history for CU, Saturday will be the seventh matchup between Colorado and Michigan. The Buffs won the first three games in 2015, 2016, and 2018 all away from Boulder, but it's the Wolverines who have taken the last three games in the series, including two of those three wins occurring in Boulder. Michigan won last year's meeting at Kittredge field by the score of 12-5.
Thursday's game against Central Michigan will be streamed here. Saturday's game against Michigan will be streamed here.
