Buffs Spook Aggies on Senior Day

BOULDER – The Colorado lacrosse team (7-7, 3-1 Big 12) defeated UC Davis (5-9, 1-3), 15-9, at Kittredge Field on Sunday, April 20.

The Colorado Buffaloes celebrated their seniors with their third conference win against UC Davis. The first quarter saw a scoreless UC Davis trying to fend off the Buffs and their six goals. The second quarter saw hat tricks from both graduate attacker Madeline Pisani and junior midfielder Maddie Shoup. After ending the first half 13-4 (CU), Colorado continued its momentum with sophomore attacker Teagan Ryan earning herself another hat trick for the fourth time in her career. After back-and-forth goals between the Buffaloes and the Aggies, Colorado defeated UC Davis 15-9 (CU).

"Every conference game is so huge, and we knew coming into this that we're still trying to earn our way into the conference tournament, as only the four teams make it," head coach Ann Elliott Whidden said. "I'm proud of the way they came out, and we fought and put ourselves in a good position throughout today. I'm really proud of our seniors, and when they got their opportunities, just stepping up, and everyone played great and with purpose and passion for the whole time. A good win for us. We know we have to do better in the second half. That's a trend for us, and we just have to continue to focus on the 60 minutes if we want to extend the season longer."

The Buffs caused 12 turnovers to the Aggies' five, had 21 groundballs to their 13 and won in the circle, 17-11. The three hat tricks from Pisani, Shoup and Ryan mark the second game this season where CU had three players with three or more goals.

After the game, Colorado honored eight of its graduating seniors: graduate attacker Kendall Havill, graduate goalkeeper Danielle Heintz, senior defender Katie McLean, senior defender Cooper Palm, senior attacker Sam Lipka, graduate attacker Morgan Pence, graduate attacker Madeline Pisani and graduate defender Jordan Johnson. Pisani reflected on the win and her class after the game.

"It's exciting that we got the win," Pisani said. "That's the most exciting thing. We're just trying to put ourselves in a position to keep our season going as long as possible. Some people just have to step up when it happens, and it was me today, and so it feels good, but what feels the best is getting a team win, especially for the seniors. […] I'm so proud of [the seniors]. They've all bought into different roles at different times, and that can be hard to do. […] Everyone has had a different story, but I'm proud of all of them for different things."

KEY PLAYERS:

Gr. A Madeline Pisani earned seven points for the Buffs with five goals and two assists. She also had one ground ball. She is sixth in all-time hat trick leaders with 19.
Jr. M Maddie Shoup earned her seventh hat trick in her career and her fifth this season with three goals, one assist, four caused turnovers, two ground balls and one draw control. She is now tied for fourth in ground balls in a single game.
So. A Teagan Ryan reached her fourth career hat trick. She earned the Buffs four points with three goals and one assist. She also had three ground balls and one caused turnover.
Jr. M Lily Assini scored two goals and had one assist. She also had one ground ball and one caused turnover.
Jr. D Jess Peluso led both teams in draw controls with seven, totaling 83 this season so far. She also picked up three ground balls and had one caused turnover.
Gr. A Kendall Havill scored one goal. She also had one assist and three ground balls.
Gr. GK Danielle Heintz had five saves, saving .385.
Sr. A Sam Lipka had her first assist of the season.
So. M Averi Gardner had four draw controls, one caused turnover and one ground ball.
Jr. M Molly Reed earned the Black and Gold two points with one goal and one assist. She also had five draw controls and one caused turnover.
Jr. D Mack Hanlon had three ground balls and one caused turnover.
Fr. GK Elena Oh saved .500 with one save. She now has 78 saves this season.
Gr. D Jordan Johnson and Sr. D Cooper Palm each had one caused turnover and one ground ball.
For the Aggies, Alex Agnew scored three goals. Ally Richardson-Pepper had 20 saves, saving .571.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

Colorado got an early lead in the first quarter with a goal from Havill, assisted by Shoup (1-0, CU). Shoup turned around and scored a goal of her own with an assist from Ryan (2-0, CU). After a ground ball was picked up by Havill, she assisted Assini in scoring the third goal for the Buffaloes (3-0, CU). Reed scored her first goal of the game one minute after Assini's goal (4-0, CU). Shoup scored her second goal of the game to keep the Buffs ahead, bringing the score to 5-0 (CU). Pisani's 30th goal of the season brought an end to the first quarter (6-0, CU).
Shoup opened the second quarter with her third goal, earning her fifth hat trick of the season (7-0, CU). 40 seconds later, Pisani scored her second goal of the game (8-0, CU). After eight unanswered points, the Aggies responded with their first goal (8-1, CU). Pisani scored her third goal of the game (9-1, CU), which was quickly followed by a goal from Ryan, assisted by Pisani (10-1, CU). Colorado started a running clock after Pisani's fourth goal of the game, with an assist from Assini (11-1, CU). The Buffaloes closed out the first half with a final goal from Assini, who was assisted by Lipka for the first assist of her career (12-1, CU).
The Black and Gold started the second half with a goalie change. Heintz started the half with two saves within 30 seconds. After a free position goal from UC Davis (12-2, CU), Ryan earned her third point of the game with her second goal (13-2, CU). The end of the quarter saw two goals from UC Davis (13-4, CU).
Colorado saw a slower start to the fourth quarter. The Aggies scored twice (13-6, CU) before Ryan answered with her third goal of the game (14-6, CU). A fifth save from Heintz allowed for a fifth goal from Pisani, bringing the Buffs to 15-6 (CU). The Aggies were able to score three times, but a resilient Colorado maintained a six-goal to close out the match with a Senior Day win, 15-9.

UP NEXT:

Colorado goes on the road for its last regular season game against Cincinnati on Saturday, April 26, at Nippert Stadium. Opening draw versus the Bearcats is set for 10 a.m. MT. Fans can watch the games on ESPN+ and can follow along via Twitter @CUBuffsWLAX.

MATCH NOTES:

CU moves to 129-74 (.635) all-time and 5-3 in home games this season.
The Buffs improve to 9-0 all-time against UC Davis, 29-8 (.784) against currently Big 12 teams and 67-27 (.713) against conference opponents.

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

Maddie Shoup

Teagan Ryan

Lily Assini

Players Mentioned

Lily Assini

Averi Gardner

Mack Hanlon

Kendall Havill

Danielle Heintz

Jordan Johnson

Katie McLean

Elena Oh

Cooper Palm

Jess Peluso

Morgan Pence

Madeline Pisani

Molly Reed

Teagan Ryan

Maddie Shoup

Players Mentioned

Lily Assini

Averi Gardner

Mack Hanlon

Kendall Havill

Danielle Heintz

Jordan Johnson

Katie McLean

Elena Oh

Cooper Palm

Jess Peluso

Morgan Pence

Madeline Pisani

Molly Reed

Teagan Ryan

Maddie Shoup