SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (4/29/11) – The No. 1 seed University of Colorado women’s lacrosse team will be looking for their first ever national title when they head to the Women’s Collegiate Lacrosse Associates National Championships on Wednesday at the Scottsdale Sports Complex.
The Buffaloes will look to finally get over the hump at nationals after CU finished second in 2009 and third in 2010.
“We are very excited to have the opportunity to go to the WCLA National Tournament,” said head coach Dan Finck. “This has been our goal and our focus for the past 10 months. Our players and our coaching staff have worked extremely hard to put ourselves in the best position possible entering this tournament. If we stay focused, I know we will have a lot of success in a very tough tournament field.”
Colorado went 15-1 during the regular season with their only loss coming to the Florida club team on Mar. 26 at the A-Town Throwdown in Georgia. The Buffaloes defeated the Gators earlier in the year at the Santa Barbara Shootout in February.
“Other than the one day of bad lacrosse in Georgia, this year’s team has been extremely focused on their end goal and all of the steps it takes to get there,” Finck said. “A lack of focus in our second game against Florida gave us our only loss of the season. We can play with anyone in the country and they proved that during the regular season. As long as we stay focused, we have a chance to beat anyone.”
Other than beating No. 2 Florida, the Buffs defeated six other national tournament field teams during the season: No. 3 UC Davis, No. 5 Lindenwood, No. 6 Colorado State, No. 7 UC Santa Barbara, No. 10 Texas and No. 11 Pittsburgh.
One of the reasons why the Buffs have been so successful in 2011 is from the underclassmen stepping up and filling the void left by the lack of seniors on this year's squad.
One of the reasons why the Buffs have been so successful in 2011 is from the underclassmen stepping up and filling the void left by the lack of seniors on this year's squad.
“We are a team made up of strong individuals, who are all very good lacrosse players, but we do not depend on any one girl,” Finck said. “Everyone needs to play well for us to be successful. Our team is largely sophomores, and this group has stepped up and played like upperclassmen all year long.”
Colorado will enter the May 4-7 tournament on a seven game winning streak and will play No. 16 Midland University from Fremont, Neb., in the first round on Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. If the Buffs win, they will play the winner of UCLA-Michigan on Thursday at 8:30 p.m.
Also, US Lacrosse announced on Thursday that Colorado Springs, Colo., will host the 2012 and 2013 WCLA National Championships.
Tournament information: http://www.uslacrosse.org/TopNav2Right/Events/2011WCLANationalChampionship/ScheduleBrackets.aspx
Women's Lacrosse website: http://coloradowomenslacrosse.weebly.com/
