Darby Kiernan had six goals, three assists and five draw controls as No. 11 Colorado wrapped up the inaugural Pac 12 regular season title with a 19-9 win over Oregon on an emotional Senior Day.
The Buffs season got off to a tragic start when senior Julia Sarcona died in a single-vehicle crash in January. Colorado honored Sarcona with their seniors before the game and have worn a patch with her initials all season.
"We had goals to compete in the first Pac-12 season in both the regular season and the postseason," said Colorado head coach Ann Elliott. "To come out here and to keep battling through a lot of emotions and to come out with a win was huge for us and we are happy about that."
"I mean it means everything," said junior Miranda Stinson. "This season did not start out the way we wanted it. We just wanted to rally and do it for these seniors and for Julia's family and for ourselves."
The game got off to a wild start with the two teams combing for 10 goals in the opening 7:39, but Colorado then ripped off five straight goals to break a 5-5 tie. Leading by four goals early in the second half, Colorado scored six straight to pull away. Oregon scored just once in the final 26 minutes of the game.
Kiernan, the IWLCA National Offensive Player of the Week last week, broke her own school records for goals and points in a season. Kiernan scored 52 goals in 2015 and 2017 and now has 57 this year through 16 games. Her 81 points for the season broke the mark of 77 that she set last year.
Stinson helped Colorado with four goals and Mariah Gatti led Oregon with four goals.
The Buffs (12-4, 9-1 Pac 12) will host the conference tournament April 26-29.
UMass Takes Control of Atlantic 10
In a battle of unbeaten conference teams, Massachusetts downed Richmond 17-13 to take control of the Atlantic 10 race. UMass can win the A-10 regular season title with a win on Sunday at VCU.
Senior Ashley Faulhaber had a career-high four goals, all in the second half, to lead the Minutewomen. UMass has won a NCAA record 61 consecutive conference games and improved to 12-3 overall and 7-0 in the league this year.
Richmond (12-3, 6-1 A-10) had won seven straight entering the game, and the Spiders led by two goals on two separate occasions in the first half. UMass led 8-7 at the half, but Richmond came back to tie the game 9-9 on Rachel Ziemba's goal with 25:54 left.
UMass answered just 14 seconds later on a goal by Abby Walker, igniting a three-goal run and Richmond never pulled closer than two down the stretch.
Hannah Burnett and Kaitlyn Cerasi each had hat tricks for UMass. Katie Sciandra scored four times for Richmond.
Games of Note
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No. 10 Towson won its eighth straight game since a loss to No. 1 Stony Brook, beating Hofstra 15-11. Carly Tellekamp scored seven goals on just eight shots to lead the Tigers to the win and Emily Gillingham added three goals and two assists.
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Kelsey Murray had a hat trick as No. 14 Stanford completed a season sweep of rival Cal, beating the Bears 17-7. Julia Massaro had 4 groundballs, 3 caused turnovers and 11 draw controls for the Cardinal, setting a new school single season record with 74 draw controls.
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Johns Hopkins took a big step towards clinching a spot in the Big 10 tournament with a 13-5 win over Ohio State. Maggie Schneidereith scored four times for the Bluejays. Hopkins can clinch a spot in the tournament with a win over Rutgers next Saturday.
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Saint Joseph's outlasted George Washington 11-10 despite a school-record 25 saves from GW's Jenna Oler. Sinead Brierley led the Hawks with a hat trick.
Nike/US Lacrosse Division I Top 20 Scoreboard
No. 10 Towson 15, Hofstra 11
No. 11 Colorado 19, Oregon 9
No. 14 Stanford 17, Cal 7