BOULDER – The Colorado Buffaloes defeated the Colorado State Rams in a comeback victory to round out their home games for the 2024 spring season.
The Buffs opened up the match with a mixed lineup of projected reserves and starters with the spring about to end. Typical starter Jordan Nytes was sidelined for the match in favor of the projected second-string goalkeeper Lindsey Smith.
The Buffs struggled early on to take control of the match, facing constant pressure from the Rams’ attack. This culminated in the black and gold giving up an early goal just 12 minutes into the game.
However, the Buffs’ pressure surged in the last 20 minutes of the half, spending the majority of the late first half on the attack which provided multiple scoring opportunities. Despite that, Colorado entered the break down 1-0.
The second half was not much different than the end of the first, which was all too frustrating for CU. Colorado State’s Shayna Ross stopped multiple great scoring opportunities, and the Buffs' pressure resulted in no points throughout most of the half.
But with their constant attack came more opportunities. After a crowd-boosting rainbow pass from midfield to the box, defender Ava Priest set up forward Hope Leyba with a chance to score. The goalkeeper aggressively played the rush, but she fouled Leyba, giving the Buffs a penalty kick.
Shyra James took the kick and after an exasperating 83 minutes, she put in the Buffs' first goal of the game.
Following the celebration, there was still a sense of frustration from the Buffs, who were now tied with less than 10 minutes in the match against a team that had a slightly worse record in a comparatively worse conference last season.
But that frustration didn’t last long. Less than one minute later, the Buffs got another open chance to shoot from the right side of the net. The goalkeeper deflected the shot, but the ball went right into the path of James who scored again for the second time in one minute to give the Buffs the lead, and the eventual win.
What was set up to be a lackluster finale to the spring season versus in-state rivals on home turf became a great display of resilience for the Buffaloes who closed out their home spring season with a 2-1 victory against the Rams.
The Buffaloes will wrap up their spring season with a road trip to Lincoln, Nebraska to take on the Nebraska Cornhuskers on April 20 at 6 p.m. MT.
Cover photo by Cristian Blanco/Sko Buffs Sports
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