LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Morgan Bruun-Jensen scored five times to take Player of the Game accolades as Rocky Mountain Division Champion/No. 17-ranked the University of Colorado topped North Atlantic Division Champion/No. 14 the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), 12-11, in a consolation game at the University of California-Los Angeles’ Spieker Aquatics Center during the 2023 Women’s National Collegiate Club Championship.
Via the victory, Colorado advances to a game at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 6, in the Park Pool against the winner of a consolation game pitting Southeast Division Champion/No. 15 Florida State University and Southwest Division runner-up/No. 7 San Diego State University. The winner of Colorado’s next game competes for ninth place on Sunday, May 7, while the loser will battle for 11th place.
The loss drops MIT into a weekend concluding 13th/15th place at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 6, at the Spieker Aquatics Center versus the fallen from the Florida State-San Diego State game. Due to limited pool availability, the No. 13, 14, 15 and 16 positions are not played out with the victors of the 13th/15th place games tying for 13th and the losers tying for 15th.
The Buffaloes led for the vast majority of the contest as Mimi Herrick opened the scoring 26 seconds into the game by burying a shot with 6:34 left on the first quarter clock. Sophie Reynolds (6:14) balanced the scoreboard at one-all, but Lily Smith (5:02) returned the lead to Colorado at 2-1.
The back-and-forth scoring continued as MIT’s Shannon Moreno (4:24, penalty shot), Bruun-Jensen (3:50, penalty shot) and Reynolds (3:17, man-up) drilled home shots to make it a three-all game.
Colorado acquired some breathing room as Isabelle Hardie (2:17, man-up) and Rachel Seyler (1:01) swished shots to provide the Buffaloes with a 6-4 margin. Amanda Jackson (29 seconds) shaved a goal off the Engineers’ deficit, but Erin Ruster (one second) beat the clock with a man-up tally to make it 6-4 in favor of Colorado after seven minutes.
MIT outscored Colorado 2-1 in the second quarter as Moreno (4:43) and Reynolds (32 seconds) sandwiched a response by Bruun-Jensen (3:28) to close the gap between the teams to 7-6 in favor of the Buffaloes by halftime.
The Engineers completed a comeback 22 seconds into the third quarter as Soumya Kannan delivered an equalizer to balance the scoreboard at seven-all with 6:38 on the clock.
The lead swayed back-and-forth as Bruun-Jensen (6:08, man-up) pushed Colorado ahead 8-7 and Reynolds (5:35, man-up) pulled MIT even.
Ria Sonecha flipped the script and put the Engineers into the lead at 4:35 by connecting on her team’s ninth goal, but Bruun-Jensen returned the favor for the Buffaloes to deadlock the teams at nine-all heading into the fourth quarter.
Colorado built a marginal lead in the first two and a half minutes of the final seven minutes of regulation as Bruun-Jensen put away even-strength (6:31) and penalty shot (5:46) markers before Seyler notched what proved to be the eventual game-winning goal at 4:23 to provide the Buffaloes a 12-9 advantage.
MIT attempted to make a comeback as Moreno (3:58) and Reynolds (2:15) shrank the Engineers’ deficit to 12-11, but the Colorado defense stiffened to hang on for a one-goal victory.
For Colorado, Bruun-Jensen (five) and Seyler (three) accounted for multi-goal games, while Smith, Herrick, Ruester and Hardie slipped in solo scores. Esme Stoland made nine saves to earn the win in cage.
Across the tank, Moreno and Reynolds keyed the Engineers’ offense with four goals each. Jackson, Sonecha and Kannan notched solo strikes to round out the offense, while Mak Kirkman-Davis stopped 10 shots in taking the loss.
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| No. 14 Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | – | 11 |
| No. 17 University of Colorado | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | – | 12 |
| Colorado Goals: | Morgan Bruun-Jensen (5); Rachel Seyler (3); Lily Smith; Mimi Herrick; Erin Ruester; Isabelle Hardie | |||||
| MIT Goals: | Shannon Moreno (4); Sophie Reynolds (4); Amanda Jackson; Ria Sonecha; Soumya Kannan | |||||
| Saves: | Colorado – Esme Stotland (9) ; MIT – Mak Kirkman-Davis (10) | |||||
| Exclusions: | Colorado – 9 ; MIT – 6 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | Colorado – 5-for-6 ; MIT – 4-for-9 | |||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | Colorado – None ; MIT – None | |||||
| Officials: | Aaron Springer, Brandon Skiba |
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Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Amanda Jackson (#5) tries to line a shot as the University of Colorado’s Erin Ruster (#11) pursues
The University of Colorado’s Esme Stotland (#1) rises to make a save as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Ria Sonecha (#2) prepares to shoot
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Shannon Moreno (#14) defends the University of Colorado’s Lily Smith (#9)
