The University of Colorado Boulder women’s lacrosse team celebrates a goal. April 12, 2019.(Vyla Carter/ CU Independent)
On Friday, April 14, the Colorado women’s lacrosse team was defeated by the University of Southern California, 16-13. This contest featured many exciting offensive plays from both teams, with the final score coming down to the final whistle.
“In terms of plays we made under pressure, we could have been a little more poised,” said head coach Ann Elliott Whidden. “We tried to make a big play in those moments, and they didn’t go our way. They went into turnovers, so that was tough. Then, obviously, we had trouble getting some stops to get ourselves the ball back down the other end.”
Graduate student Charlie Rudy dominated the game offensively, scoring seven goals on seven shots. Rudy’s offensive masterclass, however, could not make up for CU’s season-high 18 turnovers.
“It’s definitely frustrating, but I think we’re going to take this and learn a lot from it,” Rudy said. “We know that we can come out strong in the Pac-12 tournament and that we’re a contender for the Pac-12 championship this year.”
Colorado’s season so far has been interesting, to say the least. The team started out with a 0-4 losing streak and then proceeded to win their next three games. Then came a tough loss to USC, followed by another three wins. Now, the Buffs are facing a second loss to USC. Overall, this Buffaloes team has talent; however, they often struggled to find consistency.
The Buffaloes started the game strong, scoring four fast goals before USC had time to respond offensively. Rudy made a hat trick in the first quarter, bringing the score to 6-2. Then, USC answered back with four goals of their own heading into the second quarter. The Trojans tied the game at 8-8 with a little over two minutes remaining in the first half. Colorado then made two more goals to put their team up by two points at half-time.
As the third quarter kicked off, Colorado started out in control. Then, USC called a timeout, which changed the course of the game. After the timeout, USC tied the score at 12, and Rudy responded with her seventh goal of the game.
Going into the final quarter, USC once again scored to tie the game. Then, the USC defense completely shut down Rudy and the rest of Colorado’s offense, preventing them from scoring a single goal during the entire quarter. USC eventually scored three more goals and won the game by a score of 16-13.
“This isn’t over now,” Whidden said. “We’re still in contention to compete. As we look at the tournament, anything is still possible.”
For their next match on Sunday, April 16, Colorado finally got back into the win column with a 15-12 victory over the Arizona State Sun Devils. Next, they will take on Oregon on Friday, April 22, for a home game on Kittredge Field.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Griffin Dreifaldt at griffin.dreifaldt@colorado.edu.
