Last year, the Colorado women’s lacrosse team struggled out of the gate on the road, and often fell short in close games.
So far this year, the Buffaloes have addressed those shortcomings in a big way.
CU won its second consecutive road game and improved to 3-0 with a 7-6 victory at St. Joseph’s (Pa.) on Sunday. The Buffs have won all three games my a lone goal, setting up a showdown at home on Thursday against top-ranked Northwestern, the alma mater of CU head coach Ann Elliott Whidden, at Kittredge Field (11 a.m.).
CU’s seven goals tied a program low in a victory, while the 13 combined goals also tied the fewest in any match in team history. The Buffs also posted a 7-6 win against San Diego State in 2015.
Once again the Buffs received late-game heroics, with Madeline Pisani’s fourth goal of the match giving the Colorado the final lead with 3 minutes, 9 seconds remaining. Pisani has scored at least four goals in all three games.
The Buffs led the defensive affair 3-2 after the first quarter and 5-2 at halftime, but St. Joseph’s pulled even in the fourth quarter with 4:18 remaining. Pisani, though, recaptured the lead just 1:09 later, giving the Buffs a win in the first matchup between the programs.
CU recorded a 29-14 advantage in shots with a 23-12 edge in shots on goal. St. Joseph’s Jorden Concordia kept her team in the game with 16 saves. Danielle Heintz recorded six saves for the Buffs.
CU Buffs women’s lacrosse 7, St. Joseph’s (Pa.) 6
Colorado 3 2 1 1 — 7
St. Joseph’s 2 0 3 1 — 6
Goals — Colorado: Pisani 4, Dodd, Hritzuk, Stokes; St. Joseph’s: Yoder 2, Fuhrman 2, O’Neill, Yu.
Assists — Colorado: Stokes, Zimmerman; St. Joseph’s: Capozzoli.
Goalies (Min.-goals allowed-saves) — Colorado: Heintz (60-6-6); St. Joseph’s: Concordia (60-7-16).
