Grozier’s Six Goals Lead Colorado Past California

BOULDER – Sadie Grozier scored six goals for the Buffaloes as the University of Colorado lacrosse team defeated the California Bears 16-10 at Kittredge Field Sunday.
 
Grace Donnelly recorded an impressive performance in net, tallying 14 saves.
 
Coming off their 17-16 win against No. 24 Stanford, CU had a 3-0 run in the first quarter and a 5-0 run in the second quarter to race out to a 10-2 lead at 8:37 in the second quarter.
 
"It's our ability to stay focused and stay committed to the things that got us that lead," head coach Ann Elliott Whidden said. "We played well for most of the game. We could have done things better to make things easier for us in the end. We've got to continue to work on executing on Sundays after playing a tough game on Friday."
 
Cal would respond, as it cut CU's advantage to five (10-5) with 12:57 left in the third quarter. The Buffaloes responded with another 3-0 run to take a 13-5 lead with 8:20 remaining in the third. The back-and-forth continued as the Bears used a 5-1 run to get within four of the Buffaloes, 14-10, with just over 10 minutes to play in the game.
 
"We are playing a competitive schedule in the Pac-12," Whidden said. "You've got to expect that the (opponent's) going to respond. For us, it's our ability to stay focused and stay committed to the things that got us that lead and execute in the moments that we need to execute."
 
Colorado kept that focus, as the team buckled down defensively and got timely goals from Sam McGee and Grozier. The Buffaloes' defense did not allow a goal in the final 10:28 of the game.
 
"As the game came down to the end, we were composed and we did a good job being in control and finishing, which is big for us," Whidden said.
 
Whidden said the team accomplished its goal of going 2-0 during this weekend's homestand.
 
"Coming in this weekend we knew we had to have a big weekend at home," Whidden said. "It's important in conference play to win at home and compete."
 
Colorado improved to 8-2 (3-2 Pac-12). California is now 0-11 (0-5 Pac-12).
 
WHAT HAPPENED: The Buffaloes opened the game on a 3-0 run, with two goals from Grozier and one from Charlie Rudy.
 
Up 4-2, Grozier scored her third goal at the 1:40 mark to give her a first quarter hat-trick and putting CU up 5-2 heading into the second quarter.
 
The Buffs opened the second frame with a 5-0 run as they led 10-2 with midway through the stanza. The run included two goals in 17 seconds from Chloe Willard and Katie Haley to give Colorado an 8-2 advantage.
 
Cal responded with two goals from Quinnlyn Mason and Kennedy Mason, as the Bears held CU in check defensively for the rest of the half. CU led 10-4 heading into halftime.
 
After the Bears scored a goal to open the third quarter, CU responded with a 3-0 run to take a 13-5 lead at the 8:20 mark.
 
The Bears responded with a 3-0 run of their own to cut CU's advantage to 13-8 with 1:50 remaining in the quarter, prompting Colorado to call a timeout. After the break, Willard scored a free-position goal with 31 seconds left, putting the Buffs up 14-8.
 
Cal opened the fourth quarter with two goals to get within four at 14-10 at the 10:28 mark, but the Bears would not score after that point. The Buffs on the other hand were not done as they responded with goals from McGee and Grozier to take a 16-10 lead with 6:11 remaining in the contest.
 
Colorado saw out the last 6:11 and registered its eighth win of the season.
 
NOTEWORTHY: Grozier's six goals tied a career-high. It was the fourth time she has scored six goals in a game (third this season).
 
UP NEXT: The Buffaloes embark on a road trip in the Bay Area this week against Stanford (April 1) and California (April 3).
 
"It's always an interesting thing to turn around and play them again," Whidden said. "The nice part for us is there's not that much work we have to do in terms of learning something new. We've already prepared for them this weekend so it's a little bit easier to prepare for the same teams next weekend. At the same time, you have got to do something a little bit different or it's going to be a little bit harder for you to get the same result. We'll be ready for that."
 
NOTABLE:

• Colorado is 45-11 all-time at Kittredge Field.
• The Buffaloes are 6-0 at home this season.
• CU is 9-2 all-time against Cal.
• Grozier registered her 21st career game with three or more goals.
• Colorado scored 16 goals by nine different players in the game.
• With 14 saves in the game, Donnelly registered her third career game with ten or more saves.
• Devon Bayer and Kate Burnside tallied 13 of Colorado's 19 draw controls this season, giving them a combined 100 of CU's 156 draw controls this season.

 
TEAM LEADERS