Buffs Battle Bears For 12-10 Win In The Bay

BERKELEY, Calif. – It was not always pretty, but the Colorado lacrosse team put together a 12-10 win on Sunday afternoon at California Memorial Stadium against a gritty California team. The Bears were looking for their first conference win this season and they were not going to let the Buffs come in and just take the game without a fight.

The two teams played to a 4-4 tie in the first half, but the scoring exploded in the second half. The Buffs were able to score eight times, while the Bears found the back of the net six times, which gave CU the important road win. Colorado improved to 7-5 overall and is now 4-3 in Pac-12 play. Cal on the other hand is now 2-11 and 0-7 in conference play, although the record does not match the level of play they have given the Buffs both times they have met on the field this season.

Charlie Rudy and Ashley Stokes tied for the game-high four goals as Cal's Maya Lawliss also recorded four goals. Stokes scored two goals in the first half and two in the second. Rudy was held scoreless in the first half, but her four goals came at the right time in the second half for the Buffs.

WHAT HAPPENED: The first half was very low scoring. Cal recorded the first two goals of the game. The first came at 26:33 and the second was a little over two minutes later at 24:17.

Then it was Colorado's turn with a 4-0 run. Sadie Grozier started it off with a goal at 21:58, while Zoe Lawless took advantage of a free-position opportunity at 19:06. After that, Stokes took over, scoring an unassisted marker at 14:45. A couple of minutes later, Grozier connected with Stokes, who was open in front of the net for her second goal of the day, putting CU up by two.

But the Bears put a stop to CU's run and ended their 19-minute scoring drought with a goal at 5:10 and 80 seconds later tied the game at 4-4, which is where it stayed until halftime.

Cal started the scoring in the second half at 28:39, but Liz Phillips got the Buffs on the board to even it up a minute later.

Unfortunately, the Bears answered with another quick marker at 26:08 to regain their lead. It took a few minutes, but Colorado answered as Rudy found the back of the net for the first time in the game, evening the game at 6-6. CU did not stop and added another two goals to take an 8-6 lead. Chloe Willard gave CU the lead, while Stokes put the Buffs up by two with her third marker of the day (8-6), causing the Bears to take a timeout (19:50).

Rudy scored again, putting the Buffs up by three at 18:25, but there was a lot of time and the Bears came back with another 3-0 run to tie the game at 9-9. When the third goal of the run was scored (13:45), Whidden took a timeout.

Neither team scored for the next three minutes, but before the game entered the final 10 minutes, Rudy notched her third marker, again putting CU up (10-9). Cal just was not going away, giving CU everything it had and at 6:15, Amanda Morse recorded her third goal of the game to even the game for the fifth time.

But the Buffs were not done either and Rudy found the back of the net for the fourth time to again give CU the lead with just over five minutes to play. Stokes continued her strong play and in the final three minutes added the dagger with her fourth goal.

NOTABLE:

Charlie Rudy has scored in 17 straight games dating back to the season opener of the 2020 season.
Rudy has recorded a hat-trick in nine games this season.
Sadie Grozier has recorded at least one point in each of CU's 12 games this season.
Grozier is two goals away from her 100^th career goal.
Ashley Stokes recorded a career-high four goals. Her previous best was three, which was against Cal in the first meeting in Boulder this season.
For the third time this season, the Buffs had a pair of players with four or more goals as Rudy and Stokes each recorded four.
CU leads the all-time series 8-2 and has won the last eight meetings. This was the closest contest between the two teams since Cal beat CU 12-10 on April 19, 2015.
CU is now 2-4 on the road this season after winning its last two road games.

TEAM LEADERS:

*Colorado*	*California*
Points: 14	Points: 13
Goals: 12	Goals: 10
Assists: 2	Assists: 3
Draw Controls: 9	Draw Controls: 15
Ground Balls: 14	Ground Balls: 10
Saves: 5	Saves: 7

UP NEXT: Colorado has a break in action before playing Oregon on April 23 in Eugene, Ore.

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Team Stats

Charlie Rudy

Ashley Stokes

Sadie Grozier

Zoe Lawless

Players Mentioned

Sadie Grozier

Zoe Lawless

Liz Phillips

Charlie Rudy

Ashley Stokes

Chloe Willard

Players Mentioned

Sadie Grozier

Zoe Lawless

Liz Phillips

Charlie Rudy

Ashley Stokes

Chloe Willard