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Game thread- LACROSSE begins season hosting Louisville (Sunday, 2/11/24, Noon MT; Live stream)

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The last Buffs to start their action this academic year begin their season tomorrow as LACROSSE (Last season - 11-8 overall; 7-3 in conference) hosts the Louisville Cardinals (0-1) Sunday at noon.

Louisville will have the advantage of already having a game under their belts, although it was a tough 8-16 loss to the preseason #4 ranked DU Pioneers yesterday (Friday).

The game is slotted to be provided on a free CU-provided stream. (Further info and links for media options available near the bottom of this thread.)

Go Buffs!!!

Preview -




Direct link - https://cubuffs.com/news/2024/2/7/lacrosse-buffs-set-for-season-opener-against-louisville

"
BOULDER — The University of Colorado Women's Lacrosse team will kick off their 11th season this Sunday at Noon MT. The Buffs will take on Louisville at home, marking the third time in four years Colorado has played the Cardinals in their season opener.

Head Coach Ann Elliott Whidden is once again at the helm, also entering her 11th season leading Colorado Lacrosse. Whidden has a career 109-61 record overall in her 10 seasons, including an impressive 59-24 (.711) mark in Pac-12 Conference play. CU has reached three NCAA tournament Appearances (17', 18', 19') since the birth of the program in 2014.

"We are looking forward to starting our 2024 season," head coach Ann Elliott Whidden stated. "This is a great group to be around and we share in our goals and passion we bring everyday to practice to compete and get better. There are many unknowns every year going into your first regular season game but we have been focused on what we can control and preparing for the unknown. We are excited to get the season started this Sunday verse Louisville."

The Buffs were ranked third in the Pac-12 preseason poll for the second straight year, behind USC and Stanford. Notable away games for CU this season include Penn State, Michigan, and Marquette all before they open up conference play.

Colorado will also host the defending NCAA champions, Northwestern, in less than two weeks. The Buffaloes are 1-3 all-time against Wildcats but earned their lone win back in 2017, the only matchup that has been played in Boulder until this season.

"Our schedule is a great one that will challenge us in and out of conference," coach Whidden said. "This is the type of schedule our players want, we want to jump right in and test where we are at so we are prepared to compete for a championship. We are looking forward to the challenges we have on the road as well as those at home. We know to win a championship we have to be able to win both on the road and at home this year."

TEAM OVERVIEW

Colorado heads into 2024 welcoming back 18 players from the 2023 roster, well over half of the players on the current squad. Among the most notable returners are seniors Ashley Stokes and Morgan Pence.

Stokes had 28 assists last season to lead the team, while Pence was right behind with 21 of her own. Morgan found the back of the net 33 times while Ashley was one goal behind with 32, placing them third and fourth on the team in goals last year.

After the departure of Grace Donnelly, it will be Danielle Heintz who will step into the starting goalie role. In nine games played the previous season, Heintz tallied 52 goals saved with a .406 save percentage.

Among the newcomers, the Buffs' welcomed nine Freshmen and one transfer from Northwestern, Eve Hritzuk.

"Our goal for this season is consistency," head coach Ann Elliott Whidden exclaimed ahead of Sunday's season opener. "We have seen great moments of Colorado Lacrosse over the last 3 years but have not found that consistency throughout. That is something we talk about daily in practice, we have the talent and effort to get it done – we just have to be more consistent in our execution than we have been the last few years if we want to win a championship. This is a very close group with a lot of buy in from every single player, it is fun to be around every day, and I believe we can find that consistency that will allow us to accomplish our goals of winning a championship and playing in May that we have fallen just one game short of the last few years."

2023 SEASON OVERVIEW

Colorado ended last season with an 11-8 record, including 7-3 in conference play. The Buffs had an impressive Pac-12 tournament, taking down Oregon and Stanford but fell short in the championship to Southern California, ending their season.

After starting off 0-4, Colorado would go on to win nine of their last 12 games for yet another winning season. Head coach Ann Elliot Whidden has not recorded a losing season in her career at Colorado and will surely look to continue that streak in her 11th season.

The highlight win of the season came against #21 Stanford at home, where the Buffaloes took down their Pac-12 rival by a score of 17-15. Colorado took down the Cardinal once more in the conference tournament to advance to the championship. It was the first time since the 2019 season that the two squads played each other three times, in which both occurrences CU won two of the three showdowns.

LOUISVILLE

It was Louisville who bested the Buffaloes last season in Kentucky, but CU won the last matchup in Boulder, going to overtime winning by a score of 14-13. The Cardinals won the first contest ever between the two programs in 2021, Colorado will look to even the series up at two a piece Sunday afternoon.

Colorado's game versus Louisville on Sunday afternoon will be streamed here. First draw will take place at Noon MT.

"
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Links with more info on Louisville:

Roster
- https://gocards.com/sports/womens-lacrosse/roster
Stats - https://gocards.com/sports/womens-lacrosse/stats/2024
Schedule - https://gocards.com/sports/womens-lacrosse/schedule
Their preview article - https://gocards.com/news/2024/2/8/w...-2024-season-with-a-pair-of-games-in-colorado
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Media links:

Live video -
Game is scheduled to be shown on a free live stream available at https://pac-12.com/live/cubuffs .

Link to link to live stats (All games) - https://www.statbroadcast.com/events/statbroadcast.php?t=1&gid=colo
Specific game link(s) (left blank if not available as I type this.):
Louisville - https://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=517326
 
CU just won a THRILLER by a 16-15 score!

Way to go Buffs!

(I just caught the last minute of the video stream early morning here in Asia. Unfortunately, live stats aren't working to get more details. Just from twitter, looks like the Buffs led at the half 11-6 at the half and led 15-11 with 14 minutes to go, so the Cardinals must have mounted a big comeback to tie it at 15, but then looks like Buff grad transfer (from Northwestern) Eve Hritzuk scored the game winner (maybe her 6th goal overall?) with about 1-1/2 minutes left and CU withstood the final Louisville offensive possession to go 1-0 in the young season.)

 
Article after today's W -




Direct link - https://cubuffs.com/news/2024/2/11/...louisville-two-buffs-combine-for-eleven-goals

"

Colorado Holds on Against Louisville in Season Opener​

Two Buffs Combine for Eleven Goals

By: Tanner Kay, Athletic Communication Associate

BOULDER —
The Colorado Women's Lacrosse team edged the Louisville Cardinals 16-15 in their home opener at Kittredge Field Sunday afternoon.

After taking an 11-6 lead into halftime, the Buffs were able to stave off a Louisville comeback who scored nine goals in the second half.

Colorado had 26 shots in the first half to the Cardinals 11 but it was Louisville who dominated the second half, getting off five more shots (15-10) and four more goals (9-5) than the Buffs.

"Good game for us and glad to come out with the win," head coach Ann Elliott Whidden said after the game. "I thought we came out strong and started very well. Things got away from us a little in second half. We know Louisville is a tough team and would make a push, and credit to them as they made plays and put us on our heels. I'm really proud of the team for staying with it and making the plays in the final minutes we needed. They were confident and composed under that pressure. And that was huge for us!"

CU's Eve Hritzuk scored the game winning goal with just under two minutes left, her sixth of the game. Hritzuk made her debut with Colorado after transferring from Northwestern. This is the first Colorado player to score 6+ goals in a single game since April of last season, when Charlie Rudy did it against Stanford. Hritzuk matches her season total in goals for the last two seasons (6) in her debut as a Buffalo. She had four of Colorado's five goals in the second half.

Madeline Pisani tallied a hat trick in the first five minutes of the game, giving Colorado an early cushion. Pisani would go on to score two more goals the rest of the game, a career-high in goals for the senior. She found the back of the net more times in the first half of this game (5) than she did in all of the 2023 season.

"Obviously Eve and Madeline had big days for us," coach Whidden stated. "I love that for them. Great start. But I'd also like to credit our whole offense for doing the little things and creating good looks for each other. Ashley had a great day leading our team, Sydney and Rachel were awesome in the details and our middies showed up and had an impact."

Hritzuk and Pisani combined for 11 of their teams' 16 goals, the first time since the 2021 season that two Buffs have logged at least five or more goals in a game. Charlie Rudy and Sadie Grozier were the last pair to do so, each scoring five times in a 14-5 win over SDSU.

Ashley Stokes and Maddie Shoup added two goals to their teams' total, while Rachel Kennedy also found the net in the second half.
...

NEXT UP
The Buffaloes will head to the east coast to take on Penn State and St. Josephs, before returning home to play #1 ranked Northwestern.

"We are excited to hit the road for Penn state and St. Joes," stated coach Whidden. "Two big games for us on the road. It's nice to have this one under our belt. We will learn from this both the positives and areas we can improve and make sure we are ready next Friday. This will be a great test for us. We have to find a way to be successful on the road this season and I know this team can do that."
"

Box score - https://cubuffs.com/sports/womens-lacrosse/stats/2024/louisville/boxscore/16952
 
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