The Colorado Buffaloes women’s lacrosse team secured an 11-9 victory over the Denver Pioneers in the NCAA Tournament Second Round on May 10, earning their first-ever berth in the tournament’s quarterfinals. The game took place at Prentup Field in Boulder and marked a significant milestone for the program.
This achievement is notable as it represents Colorado’s deepest run in the NCAA Women’s Lacrosse Tournament. The Buffaloes have now won nine consecutive games, closing out a perfect home season with a 9-0 record.
Head coach Ann Elliott Whidden said, “We knew it was going to be a battle. A little bit of a tough start for us, but similar to Friday I’m just proud of our team for sticking with it, believing and just going one play at a time to get ourselves back in. I thought we played some really controlled poised lacrosse down the end, especially in the offensive end in our ability to execute. This is an awesome moment for us, just to be able to be going to the next round and back to Northwestern where we started the season.”
The Buffaloes overcame an early three-goal deficit before scoring five times in the second quarter. Rachel Kennedy led Colorado with three goals and one assist, while Teagan Ryan added three goals and Maddie Shoup contributed two goals and an assist. Lily Assini had one goal and two assists that were key during Colorado’s comeback effort.
Reflecting on their resilience this season, Assini said, “The past few years when the momentum has shifted to the other team we’ve had a hard time coming back but this year we’ve found ways to shift that momentum and that’s where we’ve found some pretty successful moments especially today.” She continued, “Being down early, we knew that we could still get the job done and there was a lot of the game left. Just having that faith in ourselves and knowing that no matter what they’re doing just focusing on our gameplan and knowing eventually it’s going to turn out.” Goalkeeper Elena Oh made seven saves as part of CU’s defensive effort.
With this win behind them, Colorado will face Northwestern on May 14 at Martin Stadium for their first-ever NCAA Quarterfinal appearance after having defeated Northwestern earlier this season.
Whidden said about advancing further than ever before: “I think it’s awesome and a testament to our mentality all season long and this senior class… Being able to start at Northwestern… down this last stretch we regrouped and found the fun back in playing… Playing to win instead of playing to lose… we’re going to enjoy it… we’ll get refocused on Northwestern again.”
