Colorado drops nail-biter to No. 9 Michigan

Maddie Shoup gets peppered by defenders while driving with the ball during Colorado’s home opener against Cornell. (Photo by Kekoa Brown/Sko Buffs Sports)

Turns out momentum goes both ways. After shutting out Michigan in the third quarter to capture the lead, the Buffs suffered the same fate, spelling their demise in a top-15 matchup.

The No. 14-ranked Colorado Buffaloes (4-2) stayed close, but couldn’t close out the No. 9-ranked Michigan Wolverines (5-2) on Sunday.

Senior attacker Maddie Shoup had her fifth multi-goal game of the season with two and added an assist.

Assini scored her 50th career goal in another two-score performance and paired it with an assist.

Junior attacker Teagan Ryan also recorded two goals, while junior attacker Rachel Kennedy scored once on three shots.

Michigan midfielder Ava Class found the scoresheet first, but Kennedy got a great feed from Shoup for an emphatic goal to tie the game at 1-1.

Things stayed quiet for large parts of the first quarter before senior attacker Calli Norris scored on a free position shot, putting Michigan ahead 2-1 before the end of the first quarter.

Shoup used the intermission to tie the game back at 2-2 with a great stutter step move to shake a defender.

Norris and Class got back to work, each adding another goal to their tallies, pushing the Michigan lead up to two, 4-2, just five minutes into the second quarter. 

Ryan used a screen to navigate in front of the net, splitting the defense and the lead in half, 4-3.

Junior attacker Emma Bradbury helped Michigan to a 5-3 lead headed into the locker room. 

Assini’s 50th career goal came on her legs, speeding past a defender with good positioning before sneaking it low past freshman goalkeeper Elizabeth Johnson.

Shoup used an excellent drop step to shake a defender and put momentum firmly in favor of the Buffs, tying the game at 5-5.

Ryan and Assini built on the momentum, rocking shots past Johnson and giving Colorado its first lead of the game.

The Buffs found four unanswered goals in the third frame, going ahead 7-5 before the final 15 minutes.

“I'm proud of the team for the third quarter," head coach Ann Elliott Whidden said. "I think we challenged them a little bit at halftime, and they responded.

Johnson and the Wolverines’ defense tightened up in the fourth. Freshman attacker Rowan Edson had two back-to-back opportunities saved by Johnson as the Buffs kept pouring it on the Wolverines.

Keeping the Buffs off the scoresheet allowed momentum to swing back towards Michigan, and it scored three unanswered goals, recapturing the lead, 8-7. It forced a Colorado timeout with three minutes left. 

A ground ball pickup by Ryan gave the Buffs a chance to tie it with 30 seconds left, but the Wolverines’ defense stood stout for one last stop on a centering pass, capturing the win.

Michigan forced more turnovers than Colorado and dominated draw controls.

"I think we're looking for things to come a little easier than they're going to be in games like this," Whidden said. "This was going to be a defensive battle. We had to find a way to make a couple more plays down that stretch.”

Colorado’s next game will be on Prentup Field when they host the Stetson Hatters (0-6) on Sunday (ESPN+).