GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (5/2/11) – The No. 7 University of Colorado men’s lacrosse team will be looking for their first conference championship when they travel to the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse Conference Playoffs this weekend.
The Buffaloes will be the No. 3 seed for the RMLC’s and will play the No. 2 seed Colorado State Rams in the semifinals on Friday at 4 p.m. at Walker Field on the campus of Mesa State College.
Colorado is 11-4 this season and is 2-2 against conference opponents. Colorado State has an 11-2 overall record and is 2-1 versus RMLC teams this year.
CSU is currently ranked fourth in the nation and is coming off of an 8-5 loss to No. 2 Brigham Young on Apr. 23. The Rams are the defending conference champions and defeated the Buffaloes earlier in the year, 9-8 on Apr. 16 at INVESCO Field at Mile High in Denver.
In their previous matchup this season, the Rams jumped out to an 8-3 halftime lead, but the Buffs battled back and tied the contest at eight midway through the fourth quarter. However, CSU’s Alex Devlin scored with under seven minutes to play and the Rams’ defense denied the Buffs’ offensive attack late to secure the victory.
“I would like to think what would have happened if we had more time on the clock,” said CU associate head coach Taylor Short. “The story of our season is us coming back in games, and I think that the guys are ready to play a full 60 minutes at the RMLC tournament.”
The Buffs have never won the conference tournament, however they were close in 2009. In that year, CU earned the conference regular season title, but lost 11-10 to BYU in the RMLC championship game on a last minute goal.
Colorado has lost their last two games to CSU, but the Buffs have momentum on their side after they won their final three games of the regular season.
If CU wins, they will play the winner of the other semifinals matchup between BYU and Utah in the championship game on Saturday at 5 p.m. The conference champion earns one of the 10 automatic bids to the Men’s Collegiate Lacrosse Association National Championships on May 17-21 at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colo.
