The plan, at first, was to redshirt. Ease into the first year of college, get a sense of Division I competition, and be ready to go in 2026.

Elena Oh had barely begun her rookie season with the Colorado women’s lacrosse team when that plan went out the window. Pressed into action, the freshman goalie has provided a huge boost to the resurgent Buffaloes.

Oh already is making a habit of collecting Big 12 weekly awards as the Buffs get set to host No. 4 Florida on Saturday with first place in the conference standings on the line.

A late bloomer out of Chapel Hill, N.C., Oh has started the past nine games for the Buffs.

“I wasn’t expecting to play at all. I was planning on redshirting, then doing a fifth year and getting my master’s,” Oh said. “When I was told I was going in, I was just excited to get an opportunity and just try to show what I’m made of. I guess I took it. It’s been really great. It’s been great to have the whole team have my back knowing that I am a young player and the youngest starter.”

Even though she comes from a lacrosse family — her father played at MIT — Oh’s first sport of choice was competitive jump-roping, which honed the footwork skills Oh puts on display in the net.

Oh finally took to lacrosse as a sophomore in high school. At that point, Oh was simply trying to master the basics, and it wasn’t as if she was a bursting-on-the-scene phenom who stirred recruiting excitement. One of the exceptions was interest from CU and head coach Ann Elliott Whidden.

“I just worked hard my first few years to get up to the level I wanted to be and keep growing from there,” Oh said. “In my recruiting summer I had only been playing for about a year and a half. So honestly, I wasn’t that good. I had been to a couple camps and playing college was something I was interested in. I only looked at a few schools and Colorado was the only one to offer me, which I’m really grateful for. It checked all the boxes.”

After two games, Oh took over for incumbent starter Danielle Heintz. She has been integral to a recent turnaround by the Buffs.

CU began the season 1-4, all against ranked foes. The Buffs go into Saturday’s first-place showdown with wins in five of the past six games.

Earlier this week, Oh won the Big 12’s freshman of the week honor, her fifth weekly honor of the season. She takes a league-best 9.84 goals-against average into the battle against the Gators.

“(Oh) is just a competitor,” Elliott Whidden said. “Hasn’t played the sport that long but has a great skill set. Good size in the goal, she’s athletic, and I think just a good mindset of going out there and competing and keeping things simple. I think she’s done a great job when she’s gotten the opportunities and obviously that’s been helpful to us.”