Contact CU Independent Sports Staff Writer Kevin Pankow at kevin.pankow@colorado.edu.
The No. 3 University of Colorado men’s club lacrosse team (2-1) hosted the No. 19 University of Oregon (4-1) on Friday night for their home season opener. Colorado defeated the Ducks 12-8, handing Oregon its first loss of the season.
The Buffaloes, who were ranked No.1 in the rankings to begin the season, fell to No.3 this week after losing their first game of the season at Grand Canyon University.
The Buffs’ offensive ball movement and possession looked good during the early stages of the game. For the majority of the first quarter the Buffs were in control and had an early 2-0 lead; at the end of the first quarter Colorado led Oregon 3-1.
Colorado’s defense was also consistent throughout the game. Sophomore Goalie Jensen Makarov had a total of 15 saves on the night with only eight goals scored against him.
A couple of penalties in the early stages of the second quarter left Colorado in man-down situations on the defensive end. However, Colorado held strong on defense and increased their lead over the Ducks to 8-1.
Oregon scored their second goal of the game with nearly two minutes left in the second quarter to make it an 8-2 Buffs lead. The momentum continued for the Ducks at the end of the second quarter, propelling them to cut Colorado’s lead to 8-4 by halftime.
The Buffs took 38 shots in the first half of the game compared to only 13 shots in the second half.
Colorado senior attackman John Clayton scored the first goal of the fourth quarter giving him his fourth goal of the game and an 11-6 CU lead. This was the first game Clayton played this season.
The Ducks answered with two goals of their own, cutting Colorado’s lead to three with less than three minutes remaining.
But the Buffaloes defense and tempo allowed them to pull away with a 12-8 victory over Oregon. Sophomore attackman Ben Wharton scored the final goal of the game for CU to secure the win, finishing the game with a total of four goals. Eight of Colorado’s goals came from Clayton and Wharton.
Colorado plays No. 18 Boise State University at home Sunday, March 6 at 1:00 p.m. at Kittredge Field.
