If you were expecting a shootout between two titans, you were half right.
Eight days after shocking the lacrosse world with an upset win over No. 1 Michigan, the CU men’s club lacrosse team was at it again.
This time it was Michigan State who stood in their way.
But the Buffaloes showed that their triumph over Michigan was no fluke, trumping the Spartans by a final tally of 10-4.
Coming into the game, laxpower.com had the Spartans ranked No. 9 in their weekly national poll, while the Buffs sat at No.10.
The Buffs shot out to a hot start, scoring three goals in the opening quarter and momentarily silencing the Spartan fans. Michigan State answered back in the second, scoring twice but giving up another Colorado goal late in the half. The Buffs led 4-3 at halftime.
During the break, the mood on the Colorado bench was mostly upbeat and encouraging.
Senior midfielder Josh Albrecht smiled when asked to comment on his team’s resolve during intermission.
“We just said ‘let’s keep working hard and keep up the pace,’” Albrecht said.
The simple philosophy stuck and the Buffaloes came out swinging once again to begin the second half.
Just as in the beginning of the game, CU scored three quick goals, this time all within the first six minutes of the third quarter. The Buffs would punch in another to make it four in the stanza.
In the final quarter, CU pumped in two more goals and never looked back.
Despite all the scores, the story of the night was the rabid Buffalo defense, especially in the second half.
Colorado gave up only one goal in the half and it came during garbage time with only nine seconds remaining in regulation.
CU junior defensive midfielder Andy Carstensen said the squad looked much sharper than they have previously in the season.
“This is the best we have played all year,” Carstensen said. “We all had good communication with each other tonight and also during practice. We had great leadership from our captains.”
Albrecht is one such captain, and he stressed the importance of this win for the CU lacrosse program.
“Beating Michigan State is a great victory for us,” Albrecht said. “We really came together and worked as a team to win this one.
“We just have to keep working hard and take the rest of [the season] one game at a time.”
The Buffs return to conference action in the Rocky Mountain Lacrosse Conference when they play at Wyoming on April 20 at 4 p.m.
Colorado will then play host to Utah State on April 23 at Kittredge Field at 7 p.m. before capping off the regular season against Brigham Young on April 26 at the same time and place.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Gino Figlio at gino.figlio@colorado.edu.
