WATCH: The Colorado Buffaloes beat the 2-0 Arizona Wildcats Thursday night. (Video by BuffsTV/YouTube)
On Thursday, Oct. 26, the Colorado Buffaloes soccer team defeated the Arizona Wildcats 2-0 at a cold and rainy Prentup Field. The Buffs had been struggling in this year’s Pac-12 play with only two wins against the Oregon Ducks and the Oregon State Beavers.
Arizona was off to a hot start, with senior Nicole Dallin just narrowly missing the net as early as the fifth minute. The Wildcats kept the ball away from the Buffs in the first ten minutes of the game, and they played solid defense when Colorado did manage to get the ball.
After struggling to maintain possession at the beginning of the game, Colorado’s leading scorer Shyra James gave the Buffs some energy. In the 15th minute, James took a shot at the goal that was deflected. Just four minutes later, freshman Hope Leyba took another shot that Arizona’s Hope Hisey saved.
But soon, Hisey had too many shots coming her way to save them all. In the 19th minute, James scored the first goal for Colorado. James found the net after the first touch was deflected.
About a quarter of the way into the game, the time of possession shifted in favor of the Buffs. Colorado was able to take more shots, including another near-goal from James that bounced off the goal post. The Buffs had a 1-0 lead going into the half.
The Buffs came out of halftime ready to play. After a couple of missed shots by Colorado, Faith Leyba, Hope’s twin sister, scored the Buffs’ second goal of the match in the 46th minute out of a corner kick.
Shortly after, Arizona almost cut Colorado’s lead in half, but sophomore Jordan Nytes saved the goal and kept the Buffs up two.
“Jordi Nytes dealt with a couple of situations where she needed to stay disciplined defensively,” said Colorado head coach Danny Sanchez.
In the 50th minute, Arizona’s Shanti Weddington made another attempt to get the Wildcats back in the game, but the ball sailed over the top of the net.
Colorado made it hard for Arizona to gain possession of the ball, so it was important for the Wildcats to get shots on goal when they had the opportunity. Unfortunately for Arizona, none of those shots were able to get in the goal. Just three minutes after Weddington missed, Nytes made yet another save to keep the Buffs in the lead.
The Buffs had the chance to extend their lead to three when graduate student Ally Clark had a fast break towards the goal in the 76th minute. The shot ended up getting deflected, but Colorado still won by a score of 2-0. In addition to the win, Colorado also set a season record of 26 shots. The Buffs’ next game will be Sunday against the No. 18 Arizona State Sun Devils.
“Sunday is going to be Senior Day against a very good team that’s had a very good season,” Sanchez said, “We haven’t gotten that big win that we’ve needed to have in conference play. Sunday we’re going to have to be at the top of our game to get a result.”
Photo courtesy of @CUBuffsSoccer/X
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