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The Colorado women’s lacrosse team quickly is making up for a rough start to the season by sprinting out of the gate in Big 12 Conference play.
The Buffaloes won for the fifth time in the past six games and recorded their second consecutive road win on Sunday, topping Arizona State 14-13 in Tempe, Ariz. CU improved to 2-0 in the Big 12 after winning at San Diego State last week.
CU enjoyed a fast start while posting its fourth consecutive win against the Sun Devils, jumping to a 5-1 lead midway through the first quarter. ASU battled to within 7-6 early in the second quarter, but Colorado scored four of the next five goals before halftime to take an 11-7 lead at halftime.
The Buffs pushed their advantage to 13-8 six minutes into the second half, but had to hold off an ASU rally in the fourth. A Maddie Shoup goal with 9 minutes, 59 seconds remaining gave CU a 14-11 lead but two goals by ASU’s Teagan Ng, scored just 1:17 apart, put the Sun Devils within one goal with 4:08 remaining.
CU, though, kept its net clean the rest of the way, finishing with a 35-21 edge in overall shots and a 26-16 advantage in shots on goal.
Colorado College transfer Kendall Havill led CU’s offense with four goals, scoring three of them in the first half. Shoup and Teagan Ryan added three goals apiece. Fifth-year senior Madeline Pisani posted four points on a goal and three assists and moved into No. 10 among CU’s all-time points leaders with 129.
Including her time at CC, Havill reached the 200-point mark in her career.
“Big conference win for us. I have so much respect for Arizona State, and they battled today,” CU head coach Ann Elliott Whidden said in a press release. “We knew going into the game this would be a 60-minute game, and it was. It was not our best second half, and I take responsibility for that down the stretch – I have to do a better job preparing them for those moments. But I am so proud of our ability to keep believing in ourselves and make those last couple of plays.”
CU (6-5, 2-0 Big 12) hosts its first Big 12 home game on Saturday against Florida (11 a.m., ESPN+).
CU Buffs women’s lacrosse 14, Arizona State 13
Colorado 7 4 2 1 — 14
Arizona State 5 2 4 2 — 13
Goals — Colorado: Havill 4, Shoup 3, Ryan 3, Hill 2, Pisani 1, Assini 1. Arizona State: Ng 5, Oldknow 2, Behar 2, Shevitz 2, Thornton 1, Morris 1.
Assists — Colorado: Pisani 3, Shoup 2, Assini 1, Ryan 1. Arizona State: Behar 3, Oldknow 2, Thornton 1, Park 1, Nichols 1.
Goalies (Min.-saves-goals allowed) — Colorado: Oh (60-3-13). Arizona State: Vahle (60-14-12).
