Buffs Begin Tough
Stretch On West Coast
By Nick Salen; Public Relations, CU Lacrosse
With the loss to rival Utah Monday night at home, the
Buffaloes find themselves in need of a tune-up going into California this week,
as they face No. 22 Loyola Marymount and No. 2 Chapman, two teams that they
know will take more then they delivered against the Utes to pull off a win
against either team. Should they play in
the same manner, the Buffs will come back to Boulder under .500, with other top
five opponents waiting in the wing and drop dramatically, perhaps even
completely, out of the top 23.
BRIGHT SUNSHINE, WARM
WEATHER, AND HOT WATER
Wednesday the 22nd, the Buffs will begin their
road trip versus Loyola Marymount (7-3, SLC 3-1) who currently sits 3rd
in their conference behind UCSB and Chapman.
Coming into Wednesday’s matchup LMU is on a three game win streak after
defeating Arizona 13-6. Leading up to
the Buffs next game against the Chapman Panthers (8-0, SLC 2-0) who sit on top
of the Southwest Conference and look to extend their undefeated streak against
the struggling Buffaloes. The Buffs are
aware of the challenge that lurks ahead this week, and the bumpy road won’t
stop there. After Chapman, Colorado is
set to face rival CSU, Michigan, and Minnesota-Duluth. Did I mention the Rams are No. 3, Wolverines
No.1 and the Bulldogs No. 6? Long story
short, CU won’t go down without a fight, they are here to win. Anything else will be a failure for a team
that demands success this season.
WHAT THE RECORD BOOKS
SAY
Since 2001, Loyola Marymount and Colorado have met one time,
the outcome in favor of CU by a final of 13-9 back in March of 2007. The Buffs are also undefeated matched up with
Chapman, going 2-0 since 2001 as well.
KEY PLAYERS
Freshman Doug Lilburne is coming off a three goal
performance from the Utah matchup, expect him to keep up the performance with
more tallies in the next couple of games.
James Blackburn stands opposite of Lilburne, who was quiet after a 2
goal performance against
Lindenwood. This has been a recurring
theme for Blackburn, cold one game and hot the next. Despite a 3 goal show in the season opener,
senior Tyler Snyder has been all but silent, unable to find the cage in the past
few contests. Expect that to change in
the next few games, including these two California games.
Loyola is highlighted by midfielders Alec Paul and Magnus
Karlsson, each of whom average above 2 points per game, and having 14 and 9
goals respectfully. The pair also is notorious for finding the open man down
low, and their assists prove just that (Paul with 9 and Karlsson for 7). Defensively, senior goaltender Thomas Holman holds
an impressive 77.5% save average, has a goals against average just below four
per game and denies offensive players nearly thirteen times a game.
Chapman is another story though. Both sophomore Andrew Clayton and senior
Connor Martin sit among the MCLA’s top 25 players statistically. Clayton currently boasts a 4.5 ppg with 22
goals and 10 assists on the season, while Martin rests at 4.6 ppg currently
with 23 goals and 14 assists.