Contact CU Independent Sports Writer Kevin Pankow at kevin.pankow@colorado.edu.
The No. 3 University of Colorado men’s club lacrosse team (4-2) lost in its second game of the weekend this Sunday against No. 1 Chapman University (8-0) in an overtime thriller.
Colorado’s defense got off to a slow start going down 3-0 quickly in the beginning of the first quarter. But the Buffs turned around quickly on both ends of the ball and tied the game at four going into the second quarter.
Both teams played at a much slower pace during the second quarter of play. Freshman midfielder Ben Willows scored the first goal of the second quarter, his second on the season, giving CU a 5-4 lead over the Panthers.
Chapman managed to rally and score two unanswered goals in the late stages of the quarter with a 6-5 lead over Colorado going into halftime.
Freshman defenseman Nick Cottrell suffered a neck injury at the end of the quarter but was able to walk off the field after a few minutes.
Colorado had a total of 33 shots on the day with 15 attempts in the first half and 18 in the second.
Senior midfielder Hunter Molnar tied up the game for the Buffaloes at 6-6 in the beginning of the second half. But sophomore goalie Jensen Makarov received a slashing penalty, which forced the freshman backup Wayne Hoffman to enter the game.
The Panthers had a lot of momentum going into the fourth quarter after scoring four-straight goals in the third, giving them a 10-7 lead over Colorado.
CU recovered in the fourth quarter scoring three unanswered goals and tying the game at 10 apiece, but the Panthers intercepted the ball and scored on an open net giving them an 11-10 lead.
The final moments of the game were intense. The Buffs scored two goals giving them a one-point lead with 35 seconds left in the game. Molnar scored the final goal of the quarter for Colorado giving him a hat trick on the day.
The Panthers managed to come right back and score in 10 seconds tying the game at 12 at the end of regulation.
Overtime was a physical battle and Colorado suffered from a penalty it managed to kill after a minute. But Chapman managed to score the game-winning goal leading them to a 13-12 victory over Colorado.
Colorado plays University of California-Santa Barbara at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 22 at Kittredge Field.
