Riley Kulm waits for a pass from across field, keeping possession a crucial component in the Buffaloes defeat over the Florida State Seminoles on Friday, March 13. (Alexander Joyce/CU Independent)
No. 1 Colorado was fired up during the pre-game and they let that flow over into their Friday night game against No. 22 Florida State University. The Buffaloes were able to grab a 17-15 hard-fought win. It was a back and forth game throughout—the game was tied a total of seven times.
“Teams are going to come out here and they’re going to want to beat us,” said senior captain Jace Gan. “Every game we play, someone is always going to be gunning for us and we have to match their intensity every time.”
Every time the Buffs took a lead, the Seminoles struck quickly and stole the lead back. The Buffs later took a 12-11 lead over the ‘Noles and refused to let FSU tie the game again.
CU went up 2-0 to start the game after a goal by Gan. Florida State answered nine seconds later with a goal by Davis Goodman. Twenty-six seconds later they scored another to tie it at two. Freshman Colin MacIlvennie then tacked on a goal to give the Buffs a temporary 3-2 lead.
Florida State scored two unanswered goals, giving the Seminoles a 4-3 lead. Colorado was able to tie it up to go into the second quarter at four a piece.
Connor Ervin gets tied up with a Florida Seminole in a close match-up on March 13, 2015. (Alexander Joyce/CU Independent)
One reason for FSU’s quick strikes was its dominance in the face-off battle.
“They really beat us in the first half on face-offs,” said Colorado head coach John Galvin. “I think it was probably almost 90 percent then. We really weren’t winning the ball there, we really weren’t even making it a fight, so it was tough.”
Colorado found itself down 5-4 after a goal by Florida State’s Cole Lindquist. MacIlvennie tied it up once more with an absolute rip on goal. The tie didn’t last long as the ‘Noles quickly put another two in to make it 7-5.
Junior midfielder Zane O’Brien and senior attackman Cary Garfinkel made it a 7-7 game, but the Buffs were unable to find the net again in the half.
At the half, CU made some adjustments. “Offensively, we switched up into a couple different sets that gave us more opportunities for shooting.” Galvin said. “We were trying to get our guys to be able to beat their men on the high wing and it worked.”
Florida State struck quick again to put the ‘Noles up 8-7 ten seconds into the second half and then 9-7 less than a minute later.
Goals by senior Riley Kulm and three more by Gan brought the score to an 11-9 Buffaloes lead.
The ‘Noles caught Makarov out of goal and put an easy one in to close Colorado’s lead to just one, then added another to tie the game back up.
“They caught us on a couple of transition goals so that hurt us,” Galvin said.
The Buffs put two more in before quarter’s end to make it a 13-11 game going into the final period.
Gan tacked on two more in the fourth for his seventh goal of the night, his team-leading 19th on the season. But after the game he wasn’t keeping track of his goal total.
“We were able to move the ball around and play our team game and get some good opportunities shooting,” Galvin said.
Florida State mounted a comeback, but Colorado held FSU at bay. CU didn’t let up from there on its way to a 17-15 win. Makarov got the winning goal.
No. 1 Colorado (7-0) will play No. 13 Sonoma State (5-2) at 1 p.m. this Sunday at home.
The Buffaloes are taking each game one at a time and giving every opponent equal weight.
“It’s just another game for us,” Gan said. “Whether we’re playing number 1, 14, 25 or whoever it may be, you still have to come out and show up.”
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Cannon Casey at cannon.casey@colorado.edu.
Florida State puts on the pressure in hopes of breaking the undefeated Colorado Buffaloes. Colorado now holds a 7-0 season record after defeating Florida. (Alexander Joyce/CU Independent)
