LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Shannon Connolly scored nine times to collect Player of the Game status as Texas Division Champion/No. 5-ranked Texas A&M University overwhelmed Rocky Mountain Division Champion/No. 17 the University of Colorado, 11-4, in the first round of the 2023 Women’s National Collegiate Club Championship.
Competing at the University of California-Los Angeles’ Park Pool at the Sunset Canyon Recreation Center, the Aggies earned a quarterfinal date with Southwest Division Champion/No. 3 Arizona State University at 11:20 a.m. on Saturday, May 6. Colorado will return to the water at 8:45 p.m. tonight versus North Atlantic Division Champion/No. 14 the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) – which fell to Arizona State by a 14-8 score earlier in the day – in a consolation round game.
Due to the outcome, Texas A&M can not finish lower than eighth place in the 16-team tournament’s final standings, while Colorado can not place higher than ninth.
The game was a story of first half equality and second half domination as the Buffaloes kept pace with the Aggies in the first 14 minutes, but Texas A&M outscored Colorado 7-2 in the second half.
The Buffaloes jumped on the scoreboard first in the game as Peyton Schmitz broke the ice with 5:36 left in the first quarter. It marked the only time Colorado led in the game as the lead lasted for 26 seconds until Connolly twirled in an equalizer on a man-chance at the 5:10 mark and stroked in go-ahead (4:22) and insurance (1:22) strikes to stake Texas A&M to a 3-1 lead.
In the second quarter, Rachel Seyler (5:50) shaved Colorado’s deficit down to one at 3-2, but Connolly struck again at 2:04 to return the spread to a pair at 4-2. Lily Smith (36 seconds) responded in the concluding seconds of the first half to again move the Buffaloes within one at 4-3.
However, Texas A&M put any doubts about the contest’s eventual outcome to rest during a 7-0 outburst that stretched from the 2:54 mark of the third quarter until 2:14 remained in the fourth quarter.
Connolly accounted for the inaugural five tallies during the run by bombing four shots in during the third quarter (2:54, man-up; 2:07; 1:45, man-up; 48 seconds) and tacking on another in the fourth quarter (3:37, man-up) to build the spread to 9-3.
Emily Traynor (2:41) and Aubrey Mai (2:14) capped off the scoring spree with back-to-back chances to enlarge the Aggies’ margin to 11-3 before Seyler closed out the contest with a man-up score for Colorado with 39 seconds left to establish the 11-4 final score.
For Colorado, Seyler led the way with a pair of markers, while Smith and Schmitz chipped in solo tallies. Esme Stotland made five saves in cage for the Buffaloes.
Traynor and Mai accounted for Texas A&M’s other two goals along with Connolly’s nine strikes. Goalkeeper Corine Kaderli made six saves to pick-up the victory.
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| No. 17 University of Colorado |
1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | – | 4 |
| No. 5 Texas A&M University | 3 | 1 | 4 | 3 | – | 11 |
| Texas A&M Goals: | Shannon Connolly (9); Emily Traynor; Aubrey Mai | |||||
| Colorado Goals: | Rachel Seyler (2); Lily Smith; Peyton Schmitz | |||||
| Saves: | Texas A&M – Corine Kaderli (6) ; Colorado – Esme Stotland (5) | |||||
| Exclusions: | Texas A&M – 7 ; Colorado – 5 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | Texas A&M – 4-for-5 ; Colorado – 1-for-7 | |||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | Texas A&M – None ; Colorado – None | |||||
| Officials: | Brandon Skiba; Jerry Lozano | |||||
University of Colorado’s Morgan Bruun-Jensen (#14) gets a shot off over a charging Avery Davis (#3) of Texas A&M University as Aubrey Mai (#6) lurks
Texas A&M University’s Hannah Vacek (#9) pursues the University of Colorado’s Mimi Herrick (#8)
Texas A&M University’s Shannon Connolly (#10) tries to block a shot by the University of Colorado’s Rachel Seyler (#10)
