The No. 14 Colorado Buffaloes (10-2-1, 4-1-1 Big 12) hosted the No. 23 TCU Horned Frogs (9-2-2, 4-0-2 Big 12) at Prentup Field.
On what seemed to be another big day for Colorado after netting a goal in the first couple of minutes, TCU answered with six unanswered goals.
The Buffaloes were simply exposed by TCU, losing a disappointing match ending 6-1.
Colorado now stands fourth in the Big 12 behind TCU, West Virginia and Texas Tech.
The game began almost instantly for the Buffs as they drew an early foul. Freshman Jace Holley whipped in a beautiful curling cross right into the penalty mark which bounced off a couple of players and into junior Emerson Layne’s lap who tapped in the shot behind the keeper, giving the Buffaloes an early lead.
The Horned Frogs took this personally. Just off the kickoff, the Buffs found themselves conceding a cross into their own box, and a TCU attacker was left unmarked with an on-goal opportunity. Junior goalkeeper Jordan Nytes wasn’t able to stop the shot and the game was tied up within the next minute, beginning her and the defense’s worst performance of the year.
Two minutes later the black and gold found themselves in the same situation. TCU played a dangerous ball down the wing which was whipped into the box and blocked by a CU defender. The referee blew the whistle and a handball inside the box was called, awarding the Horned Frogs a penalty. TCU didn’t waste their opportunity and scored. Nytes dived the correct way but couldn’t reach the ball and the Buffs were down 2-1.
The Buffaloes seemed to be trying a kickoff strategy this game, where the ball was played back at the middle of the field to a midfielder, then booted up the left wing in an attempt to catch TCU off guard. Unfortunately, sophomore forward Hope Leyba launched the ball down the left wing out of bounds. The Frogs countered quickly, playing a long ball down the wing again, then played inside where a TCU attacker had yet another one-on-one with Nytes.
Within six minutes of the game, in which the Buffs scored in the first minute, CU found itself down 3-1. TCU seemed to have Colorado’s number, scoring both non-penalty goals in the exact same way. The Horned Frogs were attacking the Buffaloes' wing backs with their speedy wingers, then whipping in crosses and simply tapping them in. It was a strategy that had Colorado frozen.
CU looked fatigued and slow just 15 minutes into the game, losing the ball almost immediately after getting it. In the 16th minute, sophomore defender Faith Leyba went down while play was happening. Play was called dead shortly after. The Buffs looked evidently tired.
Forwards Holley and Leyba looked to spark the team's energy again with their high press, another defensive strategy that has often worked well for CU. Unfortunately for the Buffs, it didn’t on Saturday as in the 17th minute TCU scored yet another goal, in exactly the same way: attacking Colorado’s wingbacks.
The Horned Frogs scored once more in the 25th minute and the result of the game began setting in not only for the crowd but the team too. The Buffaloes were playing like they had already accepted defeat, yet not even halfway into the game.
The half ended with a score of 5-1 and Colorado went into the locker room with bad posture, listening to the TCU celebrations.
The second half began with a goalkeeper substitution, introducing redshirt freshman Jamie Campbell into the game as well as a notable number of starters subbed out for backups. Not only did the team look like they had accepted defeat, but this action from the coaching staff proved that their goal was no longer to win.
In the 55th minute, the Buffs found themselves in an attacking situation off of a TCU yellow card. The set piece was whipped into the box long and cleared away by the Frogs. TCU caught Colorado in bad positioning off the clear with only two defenders back. The Horned Frogs booted the ball up to half field, where Campbell found herself out of position and TCU’s captain Seven Castain booted a long-range shot into an empty net extending its lead to five. Castain finished with four goals and an assist.
Shortly after, the Buffaloes committed to taking the remaining starters out of the game, playing almost all backups who showed some late fight by creating chances. Unable to get the ball in the back of the net, CU still had some fight in them.
Still, the game ended 6-1 in favor of TCU.
“I don’t think that myself or the coaching staff prepared well enough for this game.” CU head coach Danny Sanchez said in his general statement on the game. “We got the early goal, but couldn’t build any momentum off of it.”
Sanchez took accountability for the result discussing the result of the game, A mature thing to do for a coach.
“At the end of the day it’s one game,” Sanchez said. “...Now it's all about how we can [prepare] for Texas Tech on Thursday.”
When talking about the reality of the result, Sanchez offered the perspective that at the end of the day, a loss can be 1-0 or 6-1 and count in the same column.
Overall, the Buffaloes didn’t prepare well for this game. TCU had numerous chances that were undefended from CU. The Frogs also countered better on opposing mistakes than Colorado did, ultimately resulting in a blowout victory for TCU. The Buffs will have a short week to get back on track until their next opponent Texas Tech, who currently leads the Big 12 at 5-0-1 in conference play.
The Buffaloes (10-2-1, Big 12 4-1-1) take the trip to Lubbock, Texas to take on the Texas Tech Red Raiders (10-2-1, Big 12 5-0-1) on Thursday, at 6 p.m. MT (ESPN+).
Cover photo by Cristian Blanco/Sko Buffs Sports
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