Despite a solid comeback in the second half on the part of the Buffs, the Seawolves of Stony Brook ended Colorado’s perfect season, winning 10-6. Sloppy play by the Buffaloes made a successful comeback improbable, as Colorado registered a season-high 26 turnovers.
Stony Brook took a lead early in the game, as the Seawolves’ Keri McCarthy scored two of her team’s first three goals. Colorado senior attacker Cali Castagnola responded quickly to McCarthy’s first goal, netting one of her own at the 23:25 mark in the first half.
However, shortly thereafter, Stony Brook tacked on two goals within 29 seconds, going up, 4-1 with in the first 10 minutes of play. Junior attacker Darby Kiernan scored a goal about three and a half minutes later, making the score 4-2 in favor of Stony Brook. From there, the Buffs’ luck ran out, as the team was unable to add any more points in the half. Colorado would exit the field at halftime trailing, 6-2.
The Buffaloes came out swinging in the second half, trimming their deficit early on with two consecutive goals scored 15 seconds apart from each other. Castagnola netted the first one and was followed by a goal from sophomore midfielder Miranda Stinson.
The Seawolves added another goal shortly after Stinson scored but Kiernan struck again at the 16:53 mark. She went on to earn a hat trick with her third goal of the game with 14:56 left to play. Stinson and senior attacker Katie Macleay picked up the assists on Kiernan’s respective goals. The two scores got the Buffs right back into the mix of things, as they trailed by just one, 7-6.
But similar to the case in the first half, Colorado went cold for the final 15 minutes of the game. After Kiernan’s third and final goal, the Buffaloes committed eight turnovers, stalling all hopes of some offensive rhythm. The Seawolves added three unanswered goals en route to their win.
Colorado will return home to play the Stanford Cardinal on Friday, April 7. The game will begin at 3 p.m. MST at Kittredge Fields.
Contact CU Independent Head Sports Editor Justin Guerriero at justin.guerriero@colorado.edu and follow him on Twitter @TheHungry_Hippo.
