Red Hot Buffs Hold Off
BYU; Rematch Set For Playoffs
Nick Salen; Public Relations, CU Lacrosse
Is it safe to say the Buffs are back in black? Monday
night’s contest surely says yes as the University of Colorado pulled off
another MCLA upset defeating rival BYU 14-11.
CU is currently ranked No. 12 overall in the Prodigy polls compared to
BYU who is 4. The victory secures CU
with the #3 seed in the RMLC playoffs and will face off against the Cougars
again in the first round just a few days from now.
On the night of honoring the team’s seniors, Colorado did
not disappoint in their final regular season home game. The Buffs opened the scoring early in the
game, securing a 1-0 lead by the hands of junior attackman Colin
Rosenblum. The Buffs would never lose
the lead, and continued to out-play the Cougars offensively in the first half,
leading 4-2 at the end of the first. The
second appeared much like the first, scoring often and putting more and more
pressure on BYU to lockdown on defense and change their battle plan in the
offensive zone. AJ Blackburn would
strike first at the 13:15 mark, followed seconds later by Rosenblum. Attackmen Darren Hulick and Doug Lilburne
would add onto the Buff’s streak before senior long pole Mike Britt would nail
his first of the season on senior’s night.
Blackburn would score again before BYU ended their drought with 29
seconds left in the half, bringing the score to 10-3.
BYU began their
second half rally at the early, getting one past CU’s Brad Macnee at the 13:39
mark of the third, and another just over a minute later to bring the Cougars
within five. BYU would get another goal
with 7:15 left before CU senior Tyler Snyder responded with a goal of his own
at 5:47. Sophomore middy Nick Kupcewicz
slowed BYU’s comeback even more with a minute left to send the Buffs up by six
going into the final quarter.
The Cougars began one final push to rally, scoring first in
the fourth quarter at 8:28 and again at 7:39.
They would add another one at 5:45 to bring them within three of
Colorado, but took a silencing blow when Lilburne fired another into the twine
with 4:45 left followed by Blackburn just over a minute later. BYU would capitalize just once more before
the final horn went off at Kittredge Field, bringing the Buffaloes back to .500
on the season and great momentum going into Utah for the RMLC playoffs later
this week.
The win means that Colorado secured the #3 seed behind BYU
and CSU, who are #2 and #1 respectfully, leaving Utah as the 4th. This means that BYU would host the playoffs and will
have chance at redemption by facing off again versus the Buffs in the first
round. Opening rounds will begin April
30th for DI RMLC teams, beginning with the Utes and Rams at 4pm MST,
followed by CU and BYU at 7. The finals
will then be played two days later on May 1st at pm.