Colorado
10-5, 4-2Pac-12
USC
11-4, 5-1Pac-12
No. 21 Buffs Fall to No. 22 USC on the Road
April 21, 2024 | Lacrosse
LOS ANGELES, Calif. — The No. 21 Colorado Buffaloes dropped Sunday's contest on the road by a score of 15-6 against the USC Trojans. Despite the loss, sophomore defender Jess Peluso set a new school record for the most caused turnovers (35) in a single season.
The Buffs lose their first game in nearly three weeks, and their chances at securing the no. 2 seed and a bye for the upcoming Pac-12 Conference tournament. They will be locked into the no. 3 seed when they revisit the coliseum once again for the tournament in less than two weeks.
After posting back-to-back games of 20 goals the previous weekend, Colorado scored a season-low six goals on Sunday in Southern California. It was a 11-4 scoring run by the Trojans following the first quarter that led to a Buffaloes loss.
Sophomore Jess Peluso broke the single-season school record for caused turnovers, recording no. 35 on Sunday. The previous record was 34, set in the 2018 season by Sarah Brown. Peluso is averaging 2.33 CTOs per game, which would be another school record if that were to stand through the Pac-12 tournament.
Madeline Pisani found the back of the net once again, and has now scored in every game thus far, the only Buff to accomplish the feat. With two goals on the afternoon, she's now up to 49 goals on the season, still leading the Pac-12 Conference.
Eve Hritzuk and Ashley Stokes both earned goal no. 30 on the season, a career-high for Hritzuk, while Stokes needs three more goals (33) to earn a new season-high in goals. The Buffs boasts three players (Pisani, Stokes, Hritzuk) with 30 or more goals on the season.
HOW IT HAPPENED
With 9:23 remaining in the first quarter, the Trojans found the back of the net first between the two teams. Eve Hritzuk scored goals no. 29 and 30 consecutively to give the Buffs their first leads of the game. USC would score consecutive scores of their own, ending the first period with a 3-2 lead.
USC opened with the first score of the second quarter, with 13:51 remaining and extending their lead to two. Molly Reed answered back for the Buffs, cutting the home team's lead to one. The Trojans would score three more times in the quarter, while Pisani claimed one more goal for the Buffs in the final minutes of the first half.
The Trojans claimed the opening score of the second half, thanks to Maggie Brown's second goal of the game. Chasing four goals, Ashley Stokes tallied her first score of the game for the Buffs, making it an 8-5 USC advantage.
Three consecutive goals from Milton, Brown, and Bunting for the home squad extended their lead to 11-5 over the Buffs through three quarters.
USC took the game into their own hands, with another three goals in the fourth quarter, to go up nine on CU. Pisani finally scored to break the scoring drought, bringing the score to 14-6. The Trojans tallied one more score in the game bringing it to a final of 15-6.
GOAL SCORERS
Eve Hritzuk - 2
Madeline Pisani - 2
Molly Reed - 1
Ashley Stokes - 1
UP NEXT
The Buffs will be at home one final this season, on Friday April 26, at 6 p.m. MDT. Colorado will be playing at Prentup field under the lights against the Oregon Ducks for Senior Day.
SOCIAL MEDIA COVERAGE
?? RECORD SETTER ??
— Colorado Buffaloes Lacrosse (@CUBuffsWLax) April 21, 2024
Jess Peluso is now holds the ????????????-???????????? ?????? ???????????? in CU history!
Magic no. 35 came in the second quarter ??#GoBuffs pic.twitter.com/642H5thqwz
Sneaky Stokes...and a score! ??
— Colorado Buffaloes Lacrosse (@CUBuffsWLax) April 21, 2024
Goal No. 3?0? on the year #GoBuffs pic.twitter.com/QoaBOi2WJE
Molly Reed!!!
— Colorado Buffaloes Lacrosse (@CUBuffsWLax) April 21, 2024
We trail by one. #GoBuffs pic.twitter.com/I62WNOFLVb
