BERKELEY, Calif. – Colorado Buffaloes women's lacrosse (0-2) is off to a rocky start in the inaugural campaign of Big 12 lacrosse, being dominated by the No. 24-ranked Southern California Trojans (2-1), 15-6 on Sunday afternoon. The team came in as the No 21-ranked unit in the country but had a rude awakening after Thursday’s loss against the Stanford Cardinal to start its season.
The Trojans jumped to a 4-2 lead after the first quarter thanks to two goals from sophomore attacker Emma Bunting, while the pair from CU came courtesy of junior midfielder Maddie Shoup.
It was the second quarter when USC separated and never looked back, outscoring Colorado 5-1. Bunting collected her third and fourth goals, and CU’s graduate student attacker Kendall Havill got on the board with a score of her own, assisted by graduate student attacker Madeline Pisani.
The second half was a similar story, ending with USC’s nine-goal victory. Trojans’ senior attacker Maddie Dora overtook Bunting as the game’s leading scorer, ending with five netted. Three players ended up scoring for the Buffs, as Shoup, Havill and Pisani each had two.
USC’s redshirt senior attacker Isabelle Vitale had an outstanding six assists in the match, leading the Trojans’ effort of landing eight assists on their 15 goals. The Buffs would get assists on half their scores, from Pisani, sophomore midfielder Emily Dodd and junior midfielder Lily Assini.
Surprisingly, competitiveness and pressure were more level, with CU taking six more shots and five more draw controls. The Buffs were also more disciplined, committing two fewer fouls and four fewer turnovers than the Trojans.
With that said, much of this game was decided by goalkeeping. USC’s sophomore goalie Annie Shields had a great performance with 12 saves for a .67 save percentage. It was a conflicting story for CU’s graduate student keeper Danielle Heintz, who had a .25 save percentage, allowing 15 goals.
Although it’s been a rough start for the Buffs, they look to get in the win column with another tough test against the No. 3 Northwestern Wildcats (2-1) on Friday at 5 p.m. MT. The matchup in Evanston, Illinois will be streamed live on the B1G+ Network.