Championship Saturday in women’s collegiate lacrosse at the NCAA Division I level produced two titles for the Centennial State as CU upset Florida in the Sunshine State for the Big XII crown, and DU won convincingly over Georgetown in the Mile High City to net the Big East trophy.
With the victories, the Universities of Colorado and Denver await the NCAA selection show to learn their seeding and first-round sites. ESPNU will televise the process on Sunday at 7 p.m. on ESPNU.
First round of play begins on Friday (May 8) with the championship on May 24 at Northwestern University’s Martin Stadium in Evanston, Ill. The 44th championship is a 29-team, single-elimination tournament.
In winning its first league title in its seventh conference finale and first since 2014, Colorado (14-3, 4-1 Big XII) led 7-4 after three periods enroute to an 8-6 win. The Buffs had a four-goal second quarter in the second meeting this season between the two schools. READ MORE
Maddie Shoup led the Buffs with four unassisted goals, with her final score with 4:59 left in the third period, giving CU a 7-4 lead. Shoup has scored 38 goals in 17 games for the Buffs this season.
Florida (15-3, 5-0), which had won 12 straight matches entering the game, posted a 9-7 win over the Buffs on April 4 in Gainesville. The Florida setback was the Buffs’ last loss this year, as CU has won its last seven matches.
Led by five goals from Caroline Keil, Denver (15-3, 6-0 Big East) never trailed in the Big East finale as the Pioneers posted a 12-4 win over Georgetown (12-6, 5-1). Keil’s fifth goal and 55th of the season gave DU an 8-2 lead with 6:52 remaining in the third period. READ MORE
NCAA NOTES
CU, which posted a 9-6 win at Denver on April 15, appeared three straight seasons (2017-2019) for its only previous trips to NCAA Division I championships. It would be only appropriate for the Buffs to make the national finals, as CU is coached by 2007 Northwestern graduate Ann Elliott Whidden. In her 13th season in Boulder, Elliott Whidden has a 144-78 record (64.9 percent).
DU netted its eighth-straight NCAA berth (2013-2014-2018-2019-2021-2022-2023-2024-2025-2026) under Liza Kelly, who is in her 20th season with the Pioneers. With a 281-90 record (75.7 percent) at DU, Kelly coached the Pioneers to the 2023 “final four,” where DU lost to Northwestern 15-7 in the national semifinals.
