Buffs Fall to Sun Devils in Big 12 Semifinal

BOULDER – The Colorado lacrosse team (8-8, 4-1 Big 12) fell to Arizona State (11-7, 3-2), 18-12, at Prentup Field in the Big 12 Championship Semifinal on Thursday, May 1.

The Buffs fought hard against the Sun Devils, both teams looking for a spot in the Inaugural Big 12 Championship Final. CU struck first and saw a valiant effort throughout the whole game, with Big 12 Attack Player of the Year graduate Madeline Pisani and All-Big 12 Team selection junior midfielder Lily Assini both netting hat tricks. Though the Black and Gold scored four-straight towards the end of the fourth quarter, they could not battle back from seven unanswered ASU goals and fell, 18-12.

"In general, we played with some emotion, for all the reasons, and it got away from us a little bit at times," head coach Ann Elliott Whidden said after the game. "Honestly, the story of this team is resilience. Every time we gained some momentum, something we [couldn't] control occurred, and I think they bounced back every single way. […] There are no excuses for any bit of it, but with this team, it's not that we couldn't get it done. It's a story of resilience for them, that every time we gained a little momentum, we faced another challenge, and they rose to the occasion. And here, we're probably one week too short."

The Buffs caused more turnovers than the Sun Devils (12-10), had fewer turnovers themselves and an equal number of shots on goal (23).

KEY PLAYERS:

Gr. A Madeline Pisani led scoring for the Buffs with four goals and three assists, recording her 21st career hat trick and seventh of the season. She also had a ground ball.
Jr. M Lily Assini also picked up a hat trick with three total goals, her second of both season and career. She also had three draw controls and a ground ball.
Jr. D Jess Peluso reached 100 career draw controls with her third draw of the game, and she finished with four on the day. She also had a ground ball.
Jr. M Molly Reed finished the game with three caused turnovers, three ground balls and two draw controls.
Jr. D Mack Hanlon picked up two ground balls and caused two turnovers.
Jr. A Maddie Shoup had two goals, two caused turnovers and one ground ball.
Gr. A Kendall Havill had two goals for the Buffs, and Sr. D Katie McLean had a ground ball and a caused turnover.
So. D Averi Gardner had three draw controls, and So. A Teagan Ryan had one goal.
Fr. GK Elena Oh, Gr. GK Danielle Heintz and Jr. GK Caity Brower all saw time in goal for the Buffs, with Brower making three saves in seven-and-a-half minutes.
Gr. D Jordan Johnson finished with three caused turnovers and a ground ball.
Jr. D Mary Carson had two ground balls and two caused turnovers.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

Pisani struck first, just minutes into the game, to get the Buffs on the scoreboard (1-0, CU). The Sun Devils responded a few minutes later with two goals of their own, but there was no stopping Pisani, who scored her second of the game shortly after to tie it at 2-2. After several minutes of back-and-forth play, Arizona State was able to put away two goals to end the first quarter (4-2, ASU).
The Sun Devils scored minutes into the second quarter but were once again met at the other end of the field by Pisani, who put her third goal of the game in the back of the net to cut Arizona's lead to two (5-3, ASU). Arizona responded with a goal of their own, and after nine minutes of hard-fought effort by both teams, Havill joined the score sheet, earning her first goal of the game (6-4, ASU). The half ended the same as it started: with Pisani scoring yet another goal, her fourth of the game, to bring the Buffs within one (6-5, ASU).
Arizona State got the third quarter started with two goals of their own before Havill put a stop to it with a goal assisted by Pisani (8-6, ASU). The Sun Devils scored a duo of goals at the twelfth and eleventh minute marks, and the last five minutes of the third quarter saw action from both sides. Shoup brought the momentum, scoring her first of the game (10-7, ASU). Arizona State responded, but Shoup wasn't done yet – she scored her second of the game within minutes (11-8, ASU). The Sun Devils closed out the third quarter with a pair of goals, bringing their lead to five (13-8, ASU). The Buffs saw caused turnovers from Hanlon, Johnson, Carson and Reed in the third quarter.
After the first quarter started with an Arizona State 4-0 run, Assini was on fire, scoring three goals on her own 3-0 run (17-11, ASU). Ryan followed in Assini's footsteps and scored her first of the game before the Sun Devils scored the final goal of the game and took it,18-12.

MATCH NOTES:

CU moves to 130-75 (.634) all-time and 11-11 in conference tournament games.
The Buffs move to 9-4 all-time against ASU.
Colorado moves to 30-9 (.769) against current Big 12 teams.

For more information on the Colorado women's lacrosse team, a complete schedule and results, please visit CUBuffs.com. Fans of the Buffs can follow the team on Instagram and Twitter @CUBuffsWLax.

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Team Stats

Madeline Pisani

Lily Assini

Maddie Shoup

Kendall Havill

Players Mentioned

Lily Assini

Caity Brower

Mary Carson

Averi Gardner

Mack Hanlon

Kendall Havill

Danielle Heintz

Jordan Johnson

Katie McLean

Elena Oh

Jess Peluso

Madeline Pisani

Molly Reed

Teagan Ryan

Maddie Shoup

Players Mentioned

Lily Assini

Caity Brower

Mary Carson

Averi Gardner

Mack Hanlon

Kendall Havill

Danielle Heintz

Jordan Johnson

Katie McLean

Elena Oh

Jess Peluso

Madeline Pisani

Molly Reed

Teagan Ryan

Maddie Shoup