SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (5/5/11) – The No. 1 University of Colorado women’s lacrosse team scored six second half goals but the No. 9 UCLA Bruins still upset the Buffaloes 11-7 in the quarterfinals of the Women’s Collegiate Lacrosse Associates National Championships at the Scottsdale Sports Complex.
The loss ends an eight game win streak for the Buffs, dropping their overall record to 16-2 and eliminating them from championship contention. Colorado will continue playing in the consolation bracket on Friday against Cal Poly. With the loss, the highest CU can finish at nationals is fifth.
Jen Hantke and Andie Solomon both scored two goals for Colorado while Avery Toothman, Stuart Anderson and Sara Tanabe each scored once.
The first half belonged to the Bruins as UCLA scored the final five goals of the half and took a 7-1 lead at break. CU’s only goal in the period came from Hantke which cut the Bruins lead to 2-1 early in the game.
However, the second half belonged to the Buffs as Colorado came out firing with two quick goals from Toothman and Solomon. After a Bruins penalty shot goal with nearly 22 minutes left to play, CU rattled off three straight goals, including a pretty one by Tanabe in traffic to make it an 8-6 contest. After UCLA scored their third penalty shot goal of the game, Solomon scored her second of the half to cut the deficit back down to two, but that was as close as CU would get. The Bruins scored two empty net goals in the final seconds to pick up the win and advance to the national semifinals on Friday against No. 4 Santa Clara.
UCLA’s win wasn’t the only upset of a top seed on the day as No. 2 Florida and No. 3 UC Davis also lost in the quarterfinals on Thursday.
The Buffaloes will look to finish off the year strong as they will play No. 12 Cal Poly on Friday at 12:30 p.m. MDT in a rematch of last year’s semifinals game. Cal Poly lost 18-10 to Santa Clara on Thursday. If CU wins, they will play in the fifth place game on Saturday morning.
For live updates of the Buffs at nationals, follow them on Twitter at http://twitter.com/#!/CUWomensLax. A live blog will also be available from Lacrosse Magazine at http://www.laxmagazine.com/college_women/club/2010-11/news/050411_live_blog_wcla_lacrosse_national_championship.
CU Women’s Lacrosse website: http://coloradowomenslacrosse.weebly.com/
