Colorado Upsets Stanford To Reach Pac-12 Championship

BERKELEY – Colorado lacrosse moved on to the Pac-12 championship game for the first time since 2021 with its thrilling 12-11 victory over Stanford here Thursday night.

The Buffaloes (11-7, 7-3 Pac-12) scored with just over three minutes remaining in the game on a player-up opportunity to take the lead and the win over the Cardinal (10-8, 8-2 Pac-12).
"I am so proud of this team. It is not easy to play on back-to-back days, and we had to earn both wins," head coach Ann Elliott Whidden said. "Today was about our mental toughness and discipline."

Colorado and Stanford were extremely similar in most statistical categories this evening; however the Buffs were able to capitalize on more free-position attempts which was ultimately the difference maker.

The CU offense was led by Sam McGee who scored four goals for the second straight game. The Pac-12 leading goal-scorer, Charlie Rudy, also had a great performance, scoring three goals and dishing out two assists. Ashley Stokes and Morgan Pence each recorded two goals and an assist in the matchup.

After a tough first quarter, Grace Donnelly showed up when she needed to, allowing just two goals in the final quarter. She finished with nine saves and a 45.0 percent save percentage.

The Buffs will face off against No. 17 USC in the Pac-12 championship game on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. MT as they look to win their first ever Pac-12 title.

The Trojans are coming off a 9-5 victory over Arizona State in the semifinals. The last time USC won a Pac-12 title was in 2019 when it defeated Colorado.

"Saturday will be a tough matchup. USC is a great team; they're very well coached and they're very dynamic," Elliott said. "We know it will take 60 full minutes to get the job done, and we are excited for this opportunity to be back in the Pac-12 Championship game!"

HOW IT HAPPENED:

Both teams fought their way to an early 2-2 tie within the first five minutes of the game. Later in the quarter, the Cardinal took their first lead of the game at 3-2 and then extended their lead to two at 4-2 just under a minute later. Stanford's fourth unanswered goal made it 5-2, forcing a Colorado timeout with 3:26 remaining in the quarter. After the timeout, Rudy put an end to the Cardinal's scoring run with a free-position goal. CU trailed 5-3 heading into the second quarter.

Stanford took a three-goal lead once again at 6-3 with 10:45 to go in the second. Approaching the end of the quarter, McGee scored her first goal of the night on a free-position attempt to make it 6-4. Following a goal from the Cardinal, the Buffs responded with another goal from McGee to trail by just two at 7-5 entering halftime.

Pence brought Colorado within one at 7-6, scoring just over two minutes into the second half. Stanford answered with back-to-back goals, but the Buffs were able to match with goals from Rudy and Zoe McElhaney. CU trailed 9-8 with under eight minutes to go in the third quarter. Another goal from Pence tied things up at nine all, forcing a timeout from the Cardinal. No scoring occurred the rest of the third as the Buffs and the Cardinal were tied 9-9 going into the final quarter.

Only 59 seconds into the fourth, Stokes gave CU the lead at 10-9 on a free-position attempt. Stanford was able to regain the lead after scoring back-to-back goals. Shortly after, a McGee goal tied things up at 11-11. Following a yellow card committed by the Cardinal, the Buffs called a timeout with 4:04 remaining. Colorado was able to capitalize on the player-up opportunity and take the lead with McGee's fourth goal of the night. CU won the game 12-11 following the goal from McGee.

UP NEXT:

Colorado Lacrosse will compete for the Pac-12 title against the USC Trojans on Saturday, May 6th at 1:00 p.m. MT.