Colorado attacker Morgan Pence flings the ball during the women’s lacrosse game against the University of Michigan at Kittredge Field on Saturday, March 8, 2025. (Scott Tan/CU Independent)
After a strong first three quarters, the University of Colorado Buffaloes women’s lacrosse team gave up five unanswered goals to the No. 5 ranked University of Michigan Wolverines in the final 15 minutes of the Saturday game, leading to a 12-7 defeat at home and moving to 1-4 on the season.
The Buffs took a 5-5 score into the fourth quarter at Kittredge Field where not even a minute in, the wheels started coming off as Michigan’s relentless offense bore more fruit. Ten shots combined with two free positions and two green cards committed by Colorado turned an even scoring affair to a complete team breakdown.
While the final outcome was less than favorable, the Buffs showed glimpses of incredible skill and team work they can carry into their upcoming games.
“I think we gotta do a little better job making plays,” said Colorado head coach Ann Elliott Whidden. “We had some scenarios where we were in the right position…but we got there late, we had the opportunity to make a play and they [Michigan] made that play.”
Graduate student attacker Morgan Pence had a hat trick on the day bringing her to six goals in five games on the season and nine career hat tricks. Graduate student attacker Kendall Havill also had two goals on the day.
The greatest moments of the game, however, came on the defensive side of the ball. The Buffs rode Michigan hard all game long, closing quickly on attackers, making the right slides to disrupt the Wolverines, and were a perfect 21 of 21 on clears. Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week, junior Jess Peluso, had four ground balls, two draw controls and one caused turnover for the defensive unit anchor.
The shining star of the Buffaloes continues to be freshman net minder Elena Oh, who made a handful of ridiculous point-blank saves, keeping her team within one goal of the Wolverine’s until the final quarter. She stopped all three of Michigan’s free position shots in the first quarter and ended the day with 10 saves and two ground balls. Oh was also named Big 12 Goalkeeper of the Week.
“[I] take it one shot at a time, a goalie mentality is one shot is the same as every other shot, whether it be the first or the last one…and that’s the only way I know how to play, to ball out,” Oh said when asked about the newfound pressure and success of being the starting goaltender.
CU will continue their 2025 campaign on Tuesday at home against Marquette at 1 p.m. MT. Watch the next game and all CU women’s lacrosse games on ESPN+ and follow along live via X and Instagram @CUBuffsWLAX.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Thomas Bittner IV at thomas.bittneriv@colorado.edu
