Teams rarely like to be congratulated after losing, but the Colorado women’s lacrosse team believes it can use its narrow loss to 13th-ranked Stanford on Sunday as a benchmark.
“Overall it’s a step in the right direction,” CU coach Ann Elliott said. “We just made too many mistakes that are going to cost you against a good team. We’ll learn from that.”
Despite losing 16-14, CU scored its most points ever against a ranked team.
Colorado, in just its second year of competition, is 6-4 overall and 1-2 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. Women’s lacrosse is not a Pac-12 sport, so CU and four other Pac-12 schools compete in the 10-team MPSF, which includes the University of Denver and league leader San Diego State. Colorado went 11-6, 6-3 in its debut season with a team made up mostly of freshmen.
The close loss to Stanford is an indication that the Buffaloes are improved, said sophomore midfielder Marie Moore of Brick, N.J.
“We were proud of how we played,” Moore said. “I think it showed us where we are and where we can be.”
With a roster now made up of two recruiting classes, Elliott said her team is better able to hang with faster and more athletic opponents. But a lack of depth is an issue.
Colorado typically uses 13 or 14 players in a given game. Having two or three more quality players would make a huge difference, Elliott said.
“That would allow us to play a little faster through the midfield,” the coach said. “We struggled a lot against Stanford in transition and clearing the ball. We need to continue to get better at that, and if you’re fresher you can. Also, being fresher helps you put more pressure on the other team.
“We competed with Stanford and then we struggled at the end. We need to find ways to finish off some of these games.”
Moore and sophomore attacker Johnna Fusco of Marietta, Ga., are building blocks, Elliott said. Both scored three goals against Stanford. Fusco also recorded an assist.
“Their attitude, their competitiveness, the leadership that they show has been extremely important for us in building a foun- dation for this program,” Elliott said.
Tom Kensler: tkensler@denverpost.com or
