Buffs Head West For Conference Road Trip

BOULDER - The Colorado women's lacrosse team heads west this weekend to face No. 18 USC and Arizona State in their first conference road trip.

The Buffs (3-4, 2-0) are coming off a three-game win streak, including a 17-15 upset over then-21 Stanford in CU's first conference game this season. The victory also marked the program's 100th win and head coach Ann Elliott Whidden's 100th career win

The Buffs then defeated California 20-3 to close out the weekend on a high note. That win was also historic because it was the program's 50th win on Kittredge Field.

The two wins placed CU at the top of the conference standings.

With the wins, both Charlie Rudy and Grace Donnelly swept up the Pac-12 weekly awards. The sweep marked the ninth time in the program's history that two CU players received both awards. For Rudy, it was the fourth time in her career that she's earned Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week, while it was Donnelly's second time earning Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week.

In Colorado's victory over Stanford, eight different players found the back of the net with Sam McGee, Morgan Pence, and Rudy all earning hat tricks. McGee set a new personal season high with five goals.

CU's strong offense proved unstoppable in their game versus Cal as well. In that matchup, nine Colorado players scored goals. Ashley Stokes led the team with four goals while Rudy and McGee earned hat tricks again. Midfielder Liz Phillips also joined the hat trick crew by earning three goals in a game for the first time this season.

The weekend in Boulder also saw several new faces on the field. Katie McLean and Mack Hanlon recorded minutes for the first time this season, with both McLean and Hanlon picking up one ground ball and one caused turnover a piece against the Golden Bears.

USC

The Trojans (6-2, 1-0) started their conference play off strong by defeating Arizona State in their first conference game while at home last weekend.

USC had claimed the Defensive Player of the Week honor four times in a row prior to Colorado earning it most recently. The Trojans' are currently tied for third in the NCAA with 11.8 caused turnovers per game and they're fourth in the NCAA with 20.12 ground balls per game.

On the flip side of USC's tough defense is their strong offense which already has six players with double-digit goals this year. CU currently has three players with double-digit goals this season.

The Buffs will be looking to break a two-game losing streak when they face USC. CU will also be looking to improve their 1-2 road record when they meet the Trojans in Los Angeles.

ASU

The Sun Devils (1-5, 0-1) have faced cloudy skies so far this season, most recently losing 17-6 in Los Angeles to USC. Although ASU won their season opener 16-13 against St. Bonaventure, they're currently on a five-game losing streak.

Leading the Sun Devils in scoring is graduate student Kaylon Buckner who's put away 13 goals so far this season. Trailing slightly behind Buckner are Teagan Ng and Mina Scott who each have 10 goals this year.

Colorado will be on the hunt to end a two game losing streak against ASU and improve their overall 5-3 record against the Sun Devils.

Where To Watch

Friday's 4 p.m. MT game against USC will be shown on Pac-12 Networks.

Sunday's 1 p.m. MT game versus Arizona State will be featured on Pac-12 Mountain.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Grace Donnelly

Mack Hanlon

Sam McGee

Katie McLean

Morgan Pence

Liz Phillips

Charlie Rudy

Ashley Stokes

Colorado University Athletics