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No. 20 Colorado Defeats Arizona State at Home

by CUBuffs.com
Apr 12, 2024

BOULDER —  Ashley Stokes tied the school record with seven assists and Maddie Shoup scored a career-high six goals on Friday, which paved the way for the No. 20 Colorado Buffaloes in a 20-12 win over conference opponent Arizona State. Colorado moves to 9-4 (4-1, Pac-12), while Arizona State is now 7-7 (2-3, Pac-12). 

After trailing 3-0 early in first quarter, the Buffs managed to go on an 8-2 scoring run the rest of the first half, which would eventually secure the win. They have now won back-to-back games and four consecutive conference games since losing to Stanford. It was the first game all season the Buffaloes have posted 20 or more goals. 

"Proud of the team for their composure down the stretch," head coach Ann Elliott Whidden stated. "When the game got close in the 4th quarter we stayed focused and executed the plays we needed. This was the key to our success in the beginning of the year and proud we found that today and managed the game well."

A few Buffaloes did it all today, with Shoup and Pisani combining for nine of the 20 CU goals. Shoup recorded three of those goals in the first quarter alone. She had a career-high six goals on the day, breaking her previous-high of three which she set against Northwestern earlier in the season. She is the third different Colorado player this season to record at least six goals in a game. 

Pisani recorded her twelfth multi-score game of the season, with her three goals on Friday. She also had a career-high three assists and ended with six points overall. Her season total is up to 46 goals, most on the team and in the Pac-12 Conference. 

Ashley Stokes didn't find the back of net but set a career-high and tied a school record in assists with seven on the day, leading all CU players in points. She assisted on all four of the consecutive goals in the second quarter by the Buffs, three of which were scored by Pisani. Katie Macleay was the last Buff to have seven assists in a game, just over a decade ago. 

Eve Hritzuk scored three separate times all in the fourth quarter after not finding the net the first three quarters of play. It's the sixth time this season she's had three or more goals in one game. 

Nine CU players had at least one caused turnover in the contest, the most this season. Camryn Stoner, Molly Reed, and Shoup all had two caused turnovers which led the team. 

As a team Colorado scored 20 goals and 12 assists, which is total of 32 points. That's the most points and assists scored by CU since they posted 35 (21 G, 14 A) against Oregon during the 2020 season. 

"Every conference game is huge and we knew this was a really important one for us," Whidden said. "The standings are close and every game matters, especially as we get towards end of the season and start looking at the Pac-12 tournament. We have to put ourselves in the best position to be successful in turns of W/Ls and tie breakers."

HOW IT HAPPENED
Arizona state kicked off scoring in this one, grabbing a 1-0 less than a minute into the contest. They would net another score with 13:30 remaining, extending the lead to two. Another minute would go by which would result in another ASU goal. 

Lily Assini scored first for the Buffs, on a free position attempt. Maddie Shoup followed up shortly to bring CU within one goal. The fourth different Sun Devil scored with nine minutes remaining in the first to go up 4-2. After six goals in the first six minutes, both offensive sides went quiet until Shoup recorded her second and third goals of the game to tie things up at 4. 

Sun Devil Mina Scott put the Sun Devils back out front with 22 seconds remaining in the first period, putting her team up 5-4. 

The Buffs leading scorer, Pisani, nabbed her first goal of the game at 13:55 in the second quarter. Just over a minute later the Buffs repeated the previous score, with Pisani getting the goal while Ashley Stokes earned the assist once again, putting CU up 6-5. The tandem connected for yet another goal, giving Pisani a hat trick on the day and a 7-5 Colorado lead. 

 Shoup recorded a career-high fourth goal, also assisted from Stokes, to give the Buffaloes their largest lead of the day headed into halftime. 

Arizona State broke their scoreless drought with the first score in the second half from either team. Emily Dodd scored for the Buffs shortly after to neutralize the opponent score. Rachel Kennedy found the back of the net for the first time all game, putting CU up 11-6. ASU answered back with two goals, cutting the deficit to three. Shoup added one more to her tally, her fifth of the game, putting CU back up by four. 

Up 12-9 headed into the final quarter, ASU cut the lead to just two in the beginning of the fourth thanks to a score from Lydia Oldknow. Eve Hritzuk and Molly Reed logged their first scores for CU, extending the lead back to four. 

Sydney Zimmerman became the eighth different player for Colorado to score on the day, and scored consecutive goals for Colorado's 17th and 18th goals of the game. ASU would end with 12 goals as a team. 

GOAL SCORERS
Maddie Shoup - 6
Madeline Pisani - 3
Eve Hritzuk - 3
Lily Assini - 2
Sydney Zimmerman - 2
Emily Dodd - 2
Rachel Kennedy - 1
Molly Reed - 1 

UP NEXT 
The Buffs will play once more at Kittredge Field this year on Sunday, at 12 p.m. MDT when they take on non-conference opponent Kent State. 

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