The Colorado Buffaloes women’s lacrosse team is going to look a lot different this season when they take the field on Sunday for the first time.
The team that was one loss from making the NCAA tournament last season is returning a lot of experience but has to make up for a loss of production. Last season, this team was headlined by the two-headed snake of Charlie Rudy and Sam McGee, who both graduated last spring at the end of the season. Rudy finished the season with 66 goals and 17 assists, while McGee finished with 57 goals and five assists. The Buffs’ main goalkeeper from 2023, Grace Donnelly, will also not be returning. Donnelly started in 13 games last season, finishing with a .445 save percentage, which was fourth-best in the Pac-12.
Looking ahead to 2024, this team has lots of key contributors returning. Their chemistry, headlined by head coach Ann Elliott Whidden, who will be coaching her 11th season for the Buffs, will be an immense advantage to this team as they get the ball rolling.
From a production standpoint, Colorado is going to lean on senior midfielder Ashley Stokes and senior attacker Morgan Pence, who were third and fourth on the team in goals last season, respectively. Those two showed their offensive potential at times, but with the keys to the offense in 2024, expect big seasons from both.
Pence finished 2023 with a career-high five-goal game in the Pac-12 Championship game against USC. In a game where the rest of the team was in a lull and had nothing going, she showed that she is ready to lead the charge.
Pence was eighth in the conference in assists last season, and Stokes was fourth. They also both finished in the top 10 in the conference in terms of total points.
On the back end, Danille Heintz is returning in net for the Buffaloes this season. Heintz was the backup to Donnelly in 2023, but still got a good amount of playing time. She started in four games finishing with a .406 save percentage, and showed that she has what it takes to be a starting goalie when she posted a .600 save percentage against San Diego State, allowing just four goals.
Other key contributors returning for the Buffs include sophomore midfielder Jess Peluso, sophomore midfielder Lily Assini, and senior midfielder Sydney Zimmerman. Those three round out the top five in terms of returning offensive production for the Buffs this season.
Last season, what hurt this Buffaloes squad was their very slow start to the season. The Buffs started 0-4 in the non-conference portion of their schedule, with two of the losses coming against ranked opponents.
This season, Colorado has three ranked non-conference opponents according to the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWCLA). The first matchup is against No. 1 Northwestern, who comes to Boulder on February 22. The Buffs then travel to Ann Arbor to face the No. 12 Michigan Wolverines nine days later. Last season, CU lost 12-5 at Michigan. The final ranked non-conference game for the Buffs comes on April 3, when the team will take a short trip down US-36 to take on the No. 4 Denver Pioneers.
Having three games as challenging as these is always tough for a team, especially early in the season when teams are still figuring things out. If the Buffs are able to steal one of these three games, that will be a success.
Looking at the Pac-12, Colorado was voted third in the preseason coaches poll with 37 points. USC was voted first with 48 points and six first-place votes, while Stanford came in second with 44 points and two first-place votes. USC is the only team of the three ranked in the IWLCA, starting the season at No. 17.
Last season showed that if this team gets hot coming down the stretch in April, they will have a good shot to win the Pac-12 and earn a berth in the NCAA tournament. The four ranked matchups and the game against Stanford will all pose a great challenge to this Colorado team. However, any team has the capability to win the six-team, single-elimination tournament if they’re playing their best lacrosse.
CU’s first game is against Louisville at Kittredge Field on Sunday at noon MT. The game can be watched on the Colorado Live Stream.
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