Colorado’s late comeback attempt falls short against No. 5 Florida
- Jake Chau
- 12 hours ago
- 3 min read
In a battle of Big 12 heavyweights, the No. 15 Colorado Buffaloes (7-3, 1-1 Big 12) had their comeback attempt fall short in the fourth quarter against the No. 5 Florida Gators (9-2, 2-0) 9-7.
Despite recording more groundballs, having fewer turnovers and outshooting the Gators, Colorado’s depth failed to show up where Florida's did. Eight different Gators had goal contributions while their defense was led by sophomore goalkeeper Susan Radebaugh’s career-high 12 saves.
“Things got away from us a little bit in that fourth quarter, but I thought the team came out here, we battled, we competed,” head coach Ann Elliott Whidden said.
CU junior attackers Jamiey Hill and Rachel Kennedy scored three and two goals, respectively, while defender Averi Gardner and senior Lily Assini both scored one each.
“I think every single game, different people will step up and have different opportunities," Whidden said "I thought [Hill] took advantage of hers today, and we just have to do a better job of playing as a team.”
Sophomore goalkeeper Elena Oh saved five of the 14 UF shots she saw.
Kennedy scored on a power play, cutting in front of Radebaugh and sliding the ball low across the goal line before Hill followed up that effort on the next possession with an off-balance shot that pushed the Buffs’ lead to 2-0.
A second chance opportunity for Florida off an Oh save went in as Colorado led Florida 2-1 after the first frame.
Gardner made up for a turnover earlier in the second quarter by shaking a defender with a dropstep at the top of the circle and firing a shot past Radebaugh to extend the Colorado lead back to two.
The Gators began chipping away at the lead, scoring twice across the second quarter. They had a chance to take the lead into halftime, but a last-second stop by Oh kept the score 3-3 after 20 minutes.
Florida took the lead out of the break, as freshman Caroline Hoskins slid one past Oh on her only shot of the game.
Kennedy capitalized on the power play again, knotting the score back up at four just a minute later, neither team wanting to break first.
Both Oh and Radebaugh remained strong in their respective nets during the third quarter, but Hill broke through on a no-angle shot spin move that had Radebaugh guessing low while the shot sailed high over her right shoulder to give Colorado back the lead, 5-4.
A free position shot goal from Florida in the final minute of the third frame kept the momentum and the score deadlocked 5-5.
The CU offense got to work but couldn't find the back of the net on three shots in the first five minutes of the fourth quarter.
Florida used the stops on the defensive end as fuel for an offensive push that the Buffs couldn’t stop, scoring three times in three minutes, capturing an 8-5 lead with six minutes left.
Hill got the Buffs back within two with two minutes remaining, but a back-breaking goal from Florida out of a timeout pushed the lead back to three, 9-6.
Three Assini shots in 30 seconds finally culminated in a goal with 25 ticks left, but the effort was too little, too late, cementing the score at 9-7.
"Coming down here to play Florida, who's a great team, was a great opportunity for us," Whidden said. "I thought it was a battle for most of the game.”
Colorado will stay in the Sunshine State to play the Jacksonville Dolphins (8-3) in Jacksonville, Florida, on Monday. The first draw is set for 10 a.m. (ESPN+).