Buffs Sink Dolphins 10-9 in NCAA Tournament First Round Thriller

Friday, May 8

Boulder, Colo.

4 p.m. MT

Colorado

15-3

Jacksonville

13-6

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Jacksonville	1	3	3	2	9
Colorado	4	2	0	4	10

Rachel Kennedy Fires at Goal in Colorado's 10-9 win over Jacksonville in the NCAA Tournament First Round

Buffs Sink Dolphins 10-9 in NCAA Tournament First Round Thriller

May 08, 2026 | Lacrosse

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Colorado Advances to the Second Round for the Third Time in Program History

By: CUBuffs.com

BOULDER, Colo. – The Colorado Buffaloes (15-3) overcame a two-goal deficit and withstood a wild fourth quarter to edge the Jacksonville Dolphins (13-6) 10-9 and earn an exciting NCAA Tournament first round victory Friday afternoon at Prentup Field in Boulder.

The Buffaloes started the fourth in a 7-6 hole before Jacksonville's Maeve Brennan scored roughly a minute and a half into the period to give the Dolphins their biggest lead of the day at 8-6. The unflappable Buffs immediately responded, however, as senior Maddie Shoup found the back of the net just six seconds later to bring CU within one before Teagan Ryan scored at 12:02 to knot the game at 8-8. Ryan added her second goal of the quarter to give the Buffaloes the lead at 9-8 with 10:44 on the clock, but the Dolphins answered when Shae Hagans scored less than a minute later to tie the game again 9-9. Freshman Rowan Edson gave Colorado its final advantage 10-9 with 6:06 left and the Buffs shut down Jacksonville for the rest of the game to salt away the hard-earned win. The back-and-forth fourth quarter featured five lead changes and ties and six goals with seven and half minutes before the Buffs nosed ahead for good.

"We knew this was going to be very similar to the last time we went down and played them," said head coach Ann Elliott Whidden. "They're a tough team and gave us a challenge on the defensive end and great on the draws and just scrappy overall but I'm excited and proud of my team for the fight and to just finish it out when our backs were against the wall."

"I think we weren't ready to stop playing and just kind of showed our fight in the fourth quarter," said Shoup. "Going into the fourth quarter we had a lot of energy and a lot of momentum even though we were down."

The final scoreline was identical to the last time CU played Jacksonville on the Dolphins home turf on April 6, which ended 10-9 in overtime with Edson scoring the game-winner. The Buffaloes are now 3-1 all-time against Jacksonville having won three straight and are 2-0 against the Dolphins in NCAA Tournament play. While technically considered a neutral site game, the Buffs remain a perfect 8-0 this season on home soil, matching the program record for wins in Boulder set in 2017 and equaled in 2018. This will be Colorado's third appearance in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in program history, having also won first round games in 2018 and 2019. The Buffs have now won eight straight.

Shoup led the Buffaloes with three goals and an assist, while Ryan, Edson, and Jaimey Hill each added two goals apiece. Jacksonville's Hagans led all scorers with five goals and an assist in defeat. CU edged the Dolphins in both shots (22-19) and shots on goal (16-13), while creating 12 turnovers to Jacksonville's six.
Buffs goalkeeper Elena Oh, who entered the game leading the nation in Goals Against Average (6.32), added four saves, as Colorado continued its season-long defensive streak of holding the opposition under 10 goals.

How It Happened
The Buffaloes, and Shoup in particular, started the game red-hot, as the senior found the back of the net 31 seconds into the game and then added her second with 12:27 on the clock to give CU a 2-0 edge. Shoup then fed Hill who scored with 7:02 to go to extend the early Colorado lead to 3-0. Jacksonville finally got on the board when Maddi Santini scored with 2:22 on the clock but Hill capped the first period in style with a goal with just 29 ticks left to give the Buffs a 4-1 advantage after one.

The Dolphins got one goal back just 33 seconds into the second period on Hagan's first before Edson answered with her first goal at 13:02 in the period to pad the cushion back to three at 5-2. The two teams then traded goals before Hagans added her second goal to cut the CU lead to 6-4 at half.

Jacksonville regrouped at the break and dominated the third quarter, scoring three times, two of them coming from Hagans, while holding Colorado scoreless to take their first lead of the day at 7-6. It was just the second time all season the Buffs had been held scoreless coming out of halftime, having also been blanked in the third in a loss at Stoney Brook way back on Feb. 26.

The uncharacteristically lackluster third only proved to light a fire under the undaunted Buffs, who scored four times in the fourth to punch their ticket to the next round.

Up Next
The Buffs will play the winner of Florida and Denver in the second round of the NCAA tournament on Sunday, May 10 at Prentup Field. Regardless of who wins, it'll be a rematch for the Buffs, who beat Denver 9-6 on April 15 and split with Florida, falling 9-7 on April 4 before claiming Colorado's first Big 12 Tournament title with an 8-6 win on May 2. The game starts at 1 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN+.

"For us it's just the joy of this moment," said Whidden. "It's been a while since we've been here. We're just excited to get to play again. It doesn't matter who we get to play. I think we've learned a lot from this game on how we have to step onto the field and what a great opportunity for this team to get to play another game."

Notes
Colorado has earned a berth in the NCAA Tournament four times in program history and with the win has advanced to the second round for the third straight appearance… A win on Sunday would give the Buffs their first appearance in the NCAA Tournament Quarterfinals in program history… CU has outscored its opponents 123-56 in the first half this season… Shoup recorded her seventh hat trick of the season and the 14^th of her career, extending her team lead in goals this season to 41 and points to 60… Ryan extended her team-leading goal streak to eight straight games, finding net 15 times during the span… Colorado's Molly Reed led all players with five groundballs.

For more information on Colorado Lacrosse, please visit cubuffs.com/wlax. Fans of the Buffs can follow @cubuffswlax on Instagram, X, TikTok, and Facebook.