CINCINNATI, Ohio – Thursday was yet another tie for the Colorado Buffaloes (10-2-4, 4-1-4 Big 12). The 0-0 draw on the road against the Cincinnati Bearcats (6-7-3, 2-5-2 Big 12) marks their third straight and fourth on the season.
Both teams' offenses were impacted by the absence of their leading scorer. The Buffs played without the experience and shot-making ability of Shyra James for the fifth game in a row, and the Bearcats were missing star freshman Rylee Felton, who has six goals this season.
The first half started slowly, in part due to the missing scorers. The only action in the opening minutes of the match came from Cincinnati forward Ellie Flower. In the first minute of action, she centered a beautiful ball into the box, but there were no red jerseys in the area to make a play on it. Five minutes later, she mustered the first shot of the game but did not have the angle to force a save.
With zero shots on goal through the first 20 minutes, both goalies could comfortably ease into this late-season Big 12 matchup.
The first real chance of the game was ignited by a long pass by midfielder Laura Gouvin to a marked Hope Leyba. Despite the defense by Faith Broering and Erin Coleman, Cincinnati goalkeeper Anna Rexford took a risk and came off her line, leaving Leyba an empty net. By attacking the ball, Rexford put pressure on Leyba and forced a quick shot that glided a foot wide of the open goal.
Jordan Nytes tallied the first save of the game in the 29th minute on a shot from junior Megan Smith.
Minutes later a Jace Holley header forced Cincinnati goalkeeper Anna Rexford to make her first save of the contest.
With 20 seconds left in the half, Colorado was awarded a corner kick. The Buffs scrambled to get the ball in play. The ball squirted out to midfielder Michaela Rosenbaum, who volleyed the ball over the goalpost to end the half.
The story of the opening half was eight Cincinnati fouls compared to zero from CU. The multitude of set pieces allowed Colorado to control the time of possession leading to the Buffs having more total shots (six), shots on goal (two) and corners (three) than the Bearcats through the first 45 minutes.
Both teams came out of halftime with urgency on the offensive end, forcing three saves in the first seven minutes.
Perhaps, the best opportunity of the night for the Buffs came with 20 minutes left, as junior Juliauna Hayward performed a give-and-go at the top of the goalie box. A strategic pass created space for her to receive the ball back and find an open Ava Priest. The sophomore gathered the pass and fired a strike toward the near top corner, but Rexford was there for the save.
Within the final minutes of the game, both teams had an opportunity but were unable to capitalize. In the 88th minute, Flower had a golden chance right in front of Nytes, but her strike was not powerful enough to put it behind the multiple-time Big 12 goalkeeper of the week.
With less than a minute left, Colorado pushed the ball up the field one last time. Priest had an opportunity to stun the Bearcats, but midfielder Lauren Bastian was able to deflect the shot out of bounds to end the game.
Similarly to the first half, Colorado possessed the ball more than the Bearcats and was able to tally more shots and shots on goal. Despite the ample scoring opportunities for the Buffs, they could not find the back of the net on Thursday night.
Rexford stepped up for Cincinnati in the second half with five saves and no goals conceded. The graduate student played with poise, finishing the game with seven saves, her second-most in a game this season.
Both teams earned a valuable point with two games left to go in the season. The tie bumped the Buffs one spot lower in the Big 12 rankings though, as Oklahoma State passed them with a win over Iowa State.
Colorado will travel to Morgantown to take on the West Virginia Mountaineers (10-4-2, 6-2-1 Big 12) on Sunday at 11 a.m. MT in their last road game of the season. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
Cover photo by CUBuffsSoccer/X
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