Colorado University Athletics
Colorado
3-1
Stony Brook
3-0
No. 15 Colorado Falls at No. 18 Stony Brook
February 26, 2026 | Lacrosse
CU takes its first loss of the year
STONY BROOK, N.Y. – Scoring was at a premium as both No. 15 Colorado and No. 18 Stony Brook's defenses took the spotlight Thursday afternoon at LaVelle Stadium. The Seawolves clung to a two-goal advantage as time expired on the Buffs' comeback attempt, falling for the first time this season, 9-7.
"It wasn't our best day, unfortunately," head coach Ann Elliott Whidden commented. "We talk about playing aggressively and disciplined, and we lacked some discipline at times. There's only so much you can control, and we have to be able to adjust to the way the game is going, and we didn't do a great job of that."
Stony Brook's Isabella Caporuscio led the way for the Seawolves with a four-point day. She accounted for three goals and assisted on another. Keira Martin found the net twice, registering the game-winner in Stony Brook's momentum-shifting third quarter.
"I'm proud of the way they [the team] responded," Whidden added. "I thought that game could have slipped away, and we could have lost by 10, but we fought back. We got some stops. We won a couple draw controls and made a couple of plays on the offensive end to give ourselves a chance down to the end."
Colorado (3-1) had a trio of players finish with two goals. Maddie Shoup, Teagan Ryan and Lily Assini continued to lead the offensive unit for the Buffs, with each finding the net twice. Rowan Edson scored in her second consecutive game to round out CU's scorers on the day.
CU goalkeeper Elena Oh, fresh off her third Big 12 Goalkeeper of the Week honor, tied her career-high with 12 saves.
"I think the experience Elena got last year has really carried over to this year," Whidden noted. "It's awesome to have someone back there that we have confidence in and can help us. Being able to limit the people in scoring is a big factor of just being able to have every layer of that defense step up and make a play, whether that's the first person, the second person or back in goal, and she's been doing a great job."
Stony Brook (3-0) outshot the Buffs 25-22 overall and 21-14 on net. But outside of the shot totals, the game was pretty even across the board. Each team registered 13 groundballs, while CU accounted for one more turnover than the Seawolves, 14-13. Stony Brook controlled the draw circle with an 11-7 edge.
How it Happened
Martin opened the scoring, beating Oh on the first shot of the game, but the CU defense locked it down the rest of the quarter, keeping Stony Brook off the board the remainder of the period. Oh made five of her saves in the first quarter, and Shoup tied the game off a free-position chance to go into the second quarter tied 1-1.
CU's offense got into a rhythm in the second frame, outshooting the Seawolves 10-8. Ryan scored her first of the day just 40 seconds into the quarter to give the Buffs their only lead of the day, 2-1.
Stony Brook would respond with back-to-back scores from Reese Hjertaas and Caporuscio to go back in front 3-2 with just under 10 minutes to play in the half. Assini's goal at the 6:28 mark tied the game again, but the Seawolves found the net one more time before the buzzer to take a 5-4 lead at the half.
The tides turned against the Buffs in the third when Caporuscio scored the first of three Stony Brook goals in the quarter. The Seawolves put together a 5-0 scoring run from the end of the second quarter to Oliva Schorr's goal at the 14:13 mark of the fourth quarter, putting the home team up by five, 9-4.
Colorado picked up five cards during the run, finding themselves playing man-down too frequently.
"At the end of the day, when you're down however many we were going into that last little chunk, we had to make plays and give ourselves a chance," Whidden continued. "And they were able to do that."
Despite the five-goal deficit, the Buffs battled back in the fourth quarter, holding Stony Brook off the scoreboard the remainder of the afternoon. Assini scored her second of the day with 9:55 to play to get CU back within four, 9-5. A little over two minutes later, Edson recorded her second career tally, and Shoup found the net for her second score with 5:27 to go.
"I think the toughest part for us during the climb back was us," Whidden explained. "[We had] Turnovers, we had missed opportunities, and honestly, the fouls. It's really hard to build momentum when you're playing a player down. At the end of the day, we found a little bit of a way to do that in part of the fourth quarter, but it's really tough."
Colorado had chances from Shoup and Assini down the stretch but was unable to get a shot on target in the final five minutes, closing the comeback two goals short.
Up Next
Colorado will have a quick turnaround, continuing on in New York on Sunday at No. 22 Army (10 a.m. MT).
Notes
Colorado is now 1-3 all-time against Stony Brook…Assini extended her consecutive game points streak to 20 games, while now scoring in 11 straight games…Assini is now at 47 career goals…Shoup now has a goal in 15 consecutive games…CU's 14 turnovers were the most this season… Jess Peluso recorded three draw controls, giving her 115 for her career…Peluso and Mack Hanlon led the team with three caused turnovers…Molly Reed matched her career high with two assists.
Season and single-game tickets are on sale now at CUBuffs.com/WlaxTix
For more information on Colorado Lacrosse, please visit cubuffs.com/wlax. Fans of the Buffs can follow @cubuffswlax on Instagram, X, TikTok, and Facebook.
