No. 13 Buffs Down UC Davis 18-5

BOULDER — Senior Johnna Fusco and junior Carly Cox each recorded four goals as the Colorado women's lacrosse team improved to 4-0 on Sunday afternoon with an 18-5 win over UC Davis at Kittredge Field.

WHAT HAPPENED: The No. 13 Buffs (4-0, 1-0 MPSF) opened their 2017 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation schedule with a powerful win against the Aggies (1-2, 0-2 MPSF).

Cox had a big day for the Buffs with a career-high four goals and an additional two assists for six points. She was 2-2 on free-position shots and had one caused turnover and one ground ball. Fusco recorded five points for CU, adding an assist with her four goals. She was 2-7 on free-position shots, had two ground balls and one caused turnover. Fusco also registered six draw controls.

The Buffs got on the board first and never looked back. Fusco recorded the first goal of the day with 21:51 remaining in the first half. Senior Cali Castagnola scored her only goal of the day three minutes later (18:51) and 10 seconds after that (18:41), Cox had her first goal of the day.

UCD recorded its first goal at 13:17 with Mellissa Kellan's 11th goal of the season off an assist by Shannon Cross, cutting CU's lead to a pair. A short time later the Buffs had increased the lead to 5-1, but the Aggies finished the half with a pair of goals, again getting within two goals.

After intermission, CU wasted no time. Junior defender Kelsie Garrison tallied her third goal of the season at 28:24, which was the first of nine straight goals scored by the Buffs, putting them ahead 15-3 with 13:52 remaining in the game. The Aggies scored two of the next three goals, bringing the score to 16-5, but the Buffs finished the game with another two goals.

In total, seven Buffs scored goals and five Buffs had assists for a total of 26 points on the day. Junior Darby Kiernan and senior Katie Macleay both scored three goals, while sophomore Samantha Nemirov had two.

KEY STATISTICS: Colorado had the huge edge in draw controls at 20-5 and also outshot the Aggies 44-12. The Buffs were a perfect 11-11 on clear attempts. UCD committed 50 fouls in the game, which included two yellow cards, while CU had just 15 fouls and one yellow card.

TEAM LEADERS:

Colorado
Points: 26
Goals: 18
Assists: 8
Draw Controls: 20
Ground Balls: 18
Saves: 6

UC Davis
Points: 8
Goals: 5
Assists: 3
Draw Controls: 5
Ground Balls: 17
Saves: 13

QUOTEABLE:
Head Coach Ann Elliott
I thought we came out a little slow in the first half. We had some trouble shooting and just working together to get open looks. We have to go back and watch the film and see what errors we were running into. UC Davis is very well coached and they were very well prepared for us. We had a little trouble adjusting and finishing in the first half. The second half was stronger for us. I think the girls came out more with a sense of urgency across the board. We played together and we were able to get more opportunities and connect in transition.

We picked up the level of play. We got in the opportunities in transition in the first five minutes of the second half and it was good. We're good in transition. We're a fast team and being able to put a few of those away gave us a little more confidence. We were able to relax a bit and get into our offense.

Defensively, it takes everyone down there playing good one-on-one defense and trying to contain people. Paige Soenksen came up with some big saves when we had a couple breakdowns. Our defenders were big in transition too and that really helped create a spark for us in the second half.

Kelsie Garrison, Junior Defender
It was a lot of fun, it was fun to be a threat from up there. But it is just me having an opportunity and you have to go. We are all working together and pushing the ball in transition, there are a lot of attackers creating opportunities for the defense and the midfield. We are a threat from everywhere.

We never make it easy for Paige, she makes it easy for us. She works hard, talks to us, and leads our defense. It was fun for us that she wasn't taking that many hits.

Johnna Fusco, Senior Attacker
I think that we started the game off a little slow. We had to get use to the zone; it was the second time we have played against the zone so it took us a little while. I say that it took us to the second half to get use to that. We had to change up a few things to be successful and that took us a full thirty minutes. So I think that we needed to clean it up in the first half, but in the second half we were successful and did what we had to do.

NOTABLE:

CU leads the all-time series against UCD 4-0
The Buffs are 2-2 in MPSF openers with this win
Senior Paige Soenksen recorded six saves in her fourth win of the season
Junior Darby Kiernan had 11 draw controls in the game
Redshirt sophomore Blair Sisk played in her first game since the 2015 season

UP NEXT: Colorado continues its three-game home stand next week with a pair of games. The Buffs will host No. 15 Denver on Friday, March 3 and on Sunday, March 5, Marquette will be in town. Both games will be played at Kittredge Field.

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Team Stats

Carly Cox

Johnna Fusco

Katie Macleay

Darby Kiernan

Players Mentioned

Cali Castagnola

Carly Cox

Johnna Fusco

Kelsie Garrison

Darby Kiernan

Katie Macleay

Samantha Nemirov

Blair Sisk

Paige Soenksen

Players Mentioned

Cali Castagnola

Carly Cox

Johnna Fusco

Kelsie Garrison

Darby Kiernan

Katie Macleay

Samantha Nemirov

Blair Sisk

Paige Soenksen