Colorado Beats Denver, Advances to First NCAA Quarterfinal in Program History

Photo by Remi Krupinski

BOULDER, Colo. -- The Colorado Buffaloes beat the Denver Pioneers 11-9 Sunday at Prentup Field in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, punching their first-ever ticket to the NCAA Quarterfinals.

Colorado trailed 4-1 after the first quarter, its largest deficit of the season. The Buffs responded with five goals in the second quarter to take a lead they never gave back.

Rachel Kennedy led Colorado with three goals and an assist. The junior has now scored eight goals in two NCAA Tournament games against Denver. Teagan Ryan added three goals, extending her scoring streak to nine straight games, a span in which she has scored 18 goals. Maddie Shoup scored twice and assisted once, pushing her season total to 43 goals. Goalkeeper Elena Oh made seven saves.

Kennedy scored twice in the second quarter to flip the game. Lily Assini scored and added two assists during the second-quarter run. Colorado outshot Denver 29-18 and held a 21-16 edge in shots on goal.

"Being down early, we knew that we could still get the job done and there was a lot of the game left," Assini said. "Just having that faith in ourselves and knowing that no matter what they're doing, just focusing on our game plan and knowing eventually it's going to turn out."

Colorado finished the season 9-0 at home, a program record for wins in Boulder.

"We knew it was going to be a battle," head coach Ann Elliott Whidden said. "Similar to Friday I'm just proud of our team for sticking with it, believing and just going one play at a time to get ourselves back in."

Up Next

Colorado travels to Northwestern for the quarterfinal on May 14 at Martin Stadium. The game will air on ESPNU. Colorado beat Northwestern 10-9 on Feb. 9 to open the season when the Wildcats were ranked No. 2.