Colorado Buffaloes playing against Cornell University at Kittredge Field on Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026. (Aspen Doust/CU Independent).
After their comeback attempt fell short against Stony Brook, the No. 15 Colorado Buffaloes (4-1) struck early and struck often to cruise to a potent 13-6 win over No. 19 Army West Point (3-2) Sunday.
The Buffaloes won more ground balls, had more draw controls, forced more turnovers and took more shots en route to their win.
Junior attacker Jaimey Hill tied her career-high three goals in her second career hat trick.
Senior midfielder Lily Assini guided two balls to the back of the net while distributing two assists, and senior attacker Maddie Shoup scored twice as well while dishing out three assists for a game-high five points.
Sophomore goalkeeper Elena Oh stopped eight of the 14 shots she saw across the hour of gameplay.
Army found the back of the net as senior attacker Allison Reilly beat Oh eight minutes into the contest to put the Black Knights up 1-0.
While the Buffs were a man down, Assini connected with junior defender Averi Gardner, who cut in through the defense and got the Buffs on the board, 1-1.
From there, the floodgates opened as Hill scored on a free position shot and Shoup shook a defender on a spin move to score twice more before the end of the quarter.
Hill got back to work, netting her second of the game before freshman attacker Rowan Edson’s strong shot found nylon to put the Buffs up 5-1 on five unanswered goals.
Junior attacker Teagan Ryan got on the scoresheet with a goal while Assini added to her earlier assist with a goal of her own, forcing an Army timeout while the Buffs extended their lead to six, 7-1.
Freshman attacker Sophia Yeskulsky scored her first career goal out of the timeout on a low shot that came from in front of the net.
The Buffs continued to pour it on the Black Knights as Assini capped off a 6-0 quarter for the Buffs as they headed into the locker room ahead 9-1.
After the first Army goal, senior midfielder Molly Reed ballooned the lead up to nine, 10-1.
The Buffs scored 10 goals unanswered as Oh and the defense held Army scoreless for nearly 25 minutes, turning away all three shots on frame.
Reilly beat Oh just 15 seconds after the Buffs pushed the lead to nine as sophomore midfielder Paige Moretti scored again to begin a potential comeback attempt.
Hill scored her second of the game after good defensive posturing on the other end stuffed out a buzzing Black Knights’ possession.
Reilly found the back of the net for the third time for a hat trick on just three shots as the Buffs protected an 11-4 lead headed to the final frame.
Captain senior midfielder Brigid Duffy got a goal on her ninth shot of the game as junior midfielder Ryan Remaly followed it up with a goal of her own to cut the lead to five with 11:41 to play.
Shoup put a stop to the mounting momentum, scoring her second goal of the game to push Colorado ahead 12-6.
Edson added an insurance goal in the final minute as the Buffs took home the 13-6 win.
“I thought our team came out confident and played together,” Colorado head coach Ann Elliot Whidden said. “We executed a lot of the little things that we talked about, just in terms of finishing plays, playing for each other, supporting the ball, and I thought we did a great job of that in the first half.”
The Buffs will be in action again next Sunday, March 8, as they head to Ann Arbor, Michigan to play their second top-five opponent this season in the No. 5 Michigan Wolverines (3-1). First draw is set for 11 a.m. MT and will be streamed live on B1G+.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Jake Chau at jake.chau@colorado.edu.
