“#7 Colorado Lacrosse Set For Weekend
Match Ups”
Nick Salen; Public Relations, CU Lacrosse
The Colorado Buffaloes kick off the season with 2 games this
weekend, opening Friday night against New Hampshire and rapping up Sunday
versus Simon Fraser. In the first weekend,
Colorado is ranked #7 (MCLA Magazine), and should they want to go anywhere but
down, the Buffs will have to bring new chips to the table to avoid the foul ups
witnessed in the preseason.
At the same time, head coach Pete Stevenson and his players
will prepare to face one team that is virtually unknown in many aspects, the
other built for scoring and strong goaltending.
“We
need to be prepared to ride and clear much better than we have in the first 3
preseason games. New Hampshire is a team that we know nothing about, but they
just beat a varsity team in their own preseason, something we could not
accomplish. So going into that game we need to be ready to adapt to what they
have, and the threats that they pose. We
need to take advantage of the weaknesses that they show as well.”
Stevenson
goes on to state that, “Simon Fraser is a team that will kill you in transition
if you make mistakes and so we need to limit the number of chances that we take
against them. Their offense and goalie are both filled with All-America talent
and we will be hard pressed to take advantage of those position matchups. “
New
Hampshire will open their season against Colorado, but in retrospect 3rd
ranked Simon Fraser has already warmed up with a powerful 18-3 victory over
Western Washington and will play Colorado State on Friday night. Bottom line is that CU should counter both
games with precision shooting, and strong communication between the long poles
and goalie Will Brown to shut down any surprises. Assistant Keith Lohmuller said the following
about the defense, “we need to make sure that the defense continues to pressure the ball. They have
to utilize their speed and strength the way they have been and create fast
break opportunities.”
The
CU defense will be bolstered by the return of LSM Taffet and D-Mid Britt who
both sat out much of the preseason.