The Colorado Buffaloes (10-2-3, 4-1-3 Big 12) and the UCF Knights (3-4-4, 1-3-3 Big 12) split points on Sunday evening after a scoreless draw.
The Buffs started off fast, constantly pressuring and pressing the UCF offense.
Early on, Colorado forward Hope Leyba received a through ball in the box that was then stolen by UCF goalkeeper Genesis Perez Watson. Perez Watson then proceeded to roll the ball on the ground to kick it off, but Leyba was prowling behind waiting to steal the ball, which she did. Perez Watson tried to steal the ball back, but instead, she fouled the sophomore in the box, resulting in a Colorado penalty.
The Buffs had a golden opportunity to take the lead early in an important bounceback game.
Colorado midfielder Michaela Rosenbaum stepped up to the spot to take the penalty kick. Rosenbaum tried to slot the shot into the bottom left corner, but her shot met the gloves of a diving Perez Watson and bounced out of bounds.
On the corner kick after the missed penalty, CU defender Ava Priest nearly whipped the ball into the net for an Olimpico goal. The ball soared over the head of the UCF keeper and nearly entered the net on the far post, but a Knights defender was right on time to clear the ball out of the goal.
The Buffs had created a variety of early chances to open the scoring, but they could not capitalize on any of them.
The Knights’ first chance came after a string of chances through the midfield that found a forward in the box. The forward relayed the ball toward the penalty spot to a striker who shot the ball toward the goal. The try was barely saved by Colorado co-captain Jordan Nytes for her first big save of the day.
Moments later, UCF shot a ball from outside of the box that seemingly bounced of a CU defender’s hand, but it was not seen by the referees.
At the half, both teams were level, though CU was outplaying its opponents.
Minutes into the second half, Buffs’ forward Emerson Layne pickpocketed a UCF defender and had a clear route to the net. Instead, Layne slowed down to look for an extra pass and ended up losing the ball after being challenged.
Colorado forward Jace Holley created another chance not too long later with her run up the right sideline. She played a pass into the box for Leyba who passed it to CU co-captain Juliauna Hayward. The junior shot it towards goal but was denied by Perez Watson.
Hayward was the heart and soul of the CU attack all game. Shortly after her near goal, Hayward created another chance. The midfielder played a beautiful cross from the right side of the pitch into the box that found Colorado’s Jenny Beyer who one-timed it, aiming for the top right of the net. UCF’s goalkeeper once again denied the Buffs from scoring the go-ahead goal.
The Buffs kept pressing the Knights, and after a challenge from the Buffs midfield, the ball arrived at the feet of Hayward, who unleashed a power shot from outside of the box that went towards the bottom left corner of the net. What looked to be the first goal of the game narrowly rolled past the far post, barely missing the net.
Colorado was knocking at the door, and it seemed like the game-winner was destined to arrive.
In their last chance, Hayward again had control of the ball at the top of the box. The co-captain shot a beautiful ball towards the bottom left corner that was saved by a diving UCF keeper.
As the final whistle blew the teams stood even. The Buffs could not get past Perez Watson, who had 14 saves on the day.
“I think we have to score goals, at the end of the day it's difficult to do, and I think it gets in your head sometimes,” Colorado head coach Danny Sanchez said. “We created a lot of really good chances… We had plenty of chances to win this game.”
Sanchez’s team has struggled to score goals. In their past three outings, the Buffs have only scored two goals while conceding seven.
Colorado looks to get back on the right track with a win at Cincinnati on Thursday night. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ at 5 p.m. M.T.
Cover photo by Aspen Doust/Sko Buffs Sports
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