Colorado Wraps-Up Regular Season In Northern California

BOULDER — Colorado will finish the regular season on the road this weekend with a pair of contests in Northern California. The Buffs will start things off on Friday, April 21, in Moraga, Calif. against St. Mary's. Opening draw is set for 6 p.m. MT/5 p.m. PT. On Sunday, April 23, Colorado will face off against California. That contest is scheduled for a 2 p.m. MT/1 p.m. PT start.

HOW TO WATCH THE GAME AGAINST ST. MARY'S: Friday's game will not be streamed. Live stats will be available at CUBuffs.com/lacrosse on the schedule page.

HOW TO WATCH THE GAME AGAINST CALIFORNIA: Sunday's game will be televised live on Pac-12 Mountain/Bay Area. Live stats will be available at CUBuffs.com/Lacrosse on the schedule page.

ABOUT THE BUFFS: Colorado is 13-2 overall and owns a 5-1 record in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play. CU started the season with a school record 11 straight wins and is currently ranked ninth in all three polls.

Darby Kiernan leads CU with 57 points (40 goals and 17 assists). She leads the league and ranks seventh nationally in draw controls per game (6.47) and is second in the MPSF, 13th in the NCAA, in free-position goals per game (1.00). Johnna Fusco is second on the team with 45 points (38 goals and seven assists). Fusco is the MPSF leader in free-position goals per game (1.15), which is sixth in the NCAA. Fusco is also sixth in the MPSF in goals per game (2.85), while Kiernan is seventh with 2.67.

Defensively, Paige Soenksen is fourth in the NCAA with a 7.54 goals against average and a .546 saves percentage. She leads the MPSF in save percentage and is second in goals against average.

The Buffs have only allowed 109 goals this season and have scored 215. As a team, CU has 110 caused turnovers this season. Sarah Brown has tallied 23 to lead the team, which is also second in the MPSF, while Kelsie Garrison is second with 12.

As a team, the Buffs lead the conference in two categories: save percentage (.546) and win percentage (.867). They are second in draw controls per game (14.13), scoring defense (7.27), scoring margin (7.07) and shots per game (31.93).

ABOUT THE GAELS: St. Mary's is 1-11 overall and has a 0-6 mark in MPSF play. The Gaels' win was a 16-11 decision at Butler on Feb. 26.

Jocelyn Lubert leads the team with 32 points (27g, 5a). Jillian Dunlap is second with 26 points (18g, 8a) and Emily Mack is third with 22 points (17g, 5a). SMC has used three goalkeepers this year. Meg Sheehan has played in the most minutes (266:10) and has allowed 79 goals and has a .288 saves percentage through seven games. Sydney Pinello has also played in seven games (246:14 minutes). In that time, she has allowed 88 goals and has a .296 saves percentage. Lauren Neumann has 19 caused turnovers this season, which is third in the MPSF (1.58) and Jillian Dunlap is 13th in the league with 1.25 per game (15 total).

The Gaels' offense has recorded 104 goals this season, while its opponents have tallied 224. SMC has two regular season games remaining as a varsity program. It was announced on April 10 the program will move to the club level for the 2017 fall season.

THE SERIES: Colorado leads the series 3-0. St. Mary's is averaging 3.33 goals per game against CU, while the Buffs are averaging 21.00 in the series.

ABOUT THE BEARS: Cal is 4-11 this season, 2-4 in the MPSF. The Bears are 2-1 in the last three games, picking up wins against St. Mary's (20-10) and a 15-12 decision against UC Davis. They just suffered a 12-15 loss to Stanford on April 17.

Jena Fritts leads Cal with 50 points (37g, 13a). She ranks fourth in the MPSF, 29th in the nation, in free-position percentage (.563). Elizabeth Pellechi is second on the team with 36 points (27g, 9a) and Susie Ropp is third with 33 points (22g, 11a). Jenny Wilkens has a 4-10 record in goal. She has played in 786:56 minutes. In that time, she has allowed 189 goals and has a .408 saves percentage.

Cal leads the conference with 14.29 draw controls per game. The Bears have won just about half of the draw controls this season (213 of 428). Individually Chloe Wilkens leads the team with 34 draw controls.

THE SERIES: Cal leads the all-time series 2-1. The Bears took the first two meetings (7-6 and 12-10) before the Buffs won their first game in the series last April, 16-4. CU is 0-1 in Berkeley, Calif.

UP NEXT: The Buffs will compete in their fourth straight MPSF Tournament, which will run April 27-30, in Los Angeles.

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Colorado Wraps-Up Regular Season In Northern California

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Players Mentioned

Sarah Brown

Johnna Fusco

Kelsie Garrison

Darby Kiernan

Paige Soenksen