Buffs Hold on to Defeat No. 24 Texas

BOULDER – The price of admission was worth every penny for the Colorado soccer supporters on Sunday. The Buffaloes withstood a last-second chance by the No. 24 Longhorns and walked away with a 2-1 win.

Colorado (4-0-0) scored the first two goals of the game, both in the second half. Freshman Tessa Barton opened the scoring, picking up her first career goal. Senior Stephanie Zuniga added the second.

Texas (1-2-0) cut the lead in half in the 73rd minute and continued to press in the final third of the period. The drama intensified in the final second of play when Texas was awarded a penalty kick with 89:59 on the clock. Texas' Haley Berg stepped up to the ball and rang it square off the crossbar, closing out the match.

How it happened
The match took a while for each side to put together any kind of offense. Colorado's first shot of the day came on a Taylor Kornieck attempt in the 12th minute. Texas picked up its first attempt a few minutes later in the 14th minute.

Neither team found the back of the net in the first half and it was Texas who had the most looks. UT had eight shots in the half and the only shot on target between either side. Colorado had four shots in the first half split evenly between Kornieck and Libby Geraghty.

The Buffs did not waste any time in the second half, getting on the board in the 47th minute.

Senior Camilla Shymka made a run into the right side of the box. She was one-on-one and got tripped up in the box, drawing a second defender. Shymka regained control and took one step to her left and found Te. Barton. The freshman forward took a step and spun towards the penalty dot. She put a solid left-footed strike on the ball, beating the Texas keeper to the left corner.

Tatum Barton got the second goal in motion for the Buffs in the 64th minute. It was her cross that flipped the field on the Longhorns, leaving Zuniga wide open on the far post. Zuniga touched the ball into the six-yard box and punched into the far corner to put the Buffs up 2-0.

The Longhorns picked up the pace, playing with more urgency after the Zuniga goal. They broke the shutout in the 73rd minute and continued towards net the remainder of the afternoon.

Key Statistics: The Buffs upped its offense in the second half, finishing the game with 16 total shots. CU had six shots on net in the second half.

BY THE NUMBERS:
Colorado
Goals: 2
Shots: 16
Fouls: 6
Saves: 3

Texas
Goals: 1
Shots: 19
Fouls: 9
Saves: 4

Up Next: CU wraps up its six-match homestand next week with Austin Peay (Sept. 5) and No. 21 Baylor (Sept. 8).

Notes: Colorado improved to 10-30-9 at home against ranked opponents…The win was CU's first against a ranked non-conference opponent since its 2-1 win over No. 19 BYU on Nov. 21, 2013…It was the first regular-season win against a non-conference ranked opponent since defeating No. 10 UCLA on Sept. 19, 2010…The Buffs defeated No. 7 Washington State, 3-1, last season…Te. Barton picked up the first start of her career…the Barton sisters became the first siblings to have a point in the same game for CU since Fran and Laura Munnelly on Sept. 19, 2003.

Quotes
Head coach Danny Sanchez
Overall thoughts
"We knew that [University of] Denver played very well against them on Thursday, but we know they are quality. I was pleased with how we ended the first half. I was pleased with the first 30 minutes of the second half. First of all, great goal by Tessa [Barton] and then great service from Tatum [Barton] to find Stephanie [Zuniga]. We made it more difficult at the end than we needed to, but that's a very good team that will win a lot of game in the Big 12. It was a great result at home."

On second-half adjustments
"I think taking advantage of it just being Sunday and warm, plus the altitude. We wanted to stretch the field a little bit and just link the ball through the midfield and then go forward. I think in the first half we were getting a little impatient, we were just bombing the ball forward. In the second half, we found our forwards' feet, built our numbers and it was probably a little unfortunate not to get the third goal. When you keep really good teams like that around—well you saw what happened at the end of the game."

On the last-minute penalty kick
"These types of situations happen more often than not. With international rules, there is added time where usually you'll get one more play in before the whistle blows. Here, that 90 minutes is minutes. We talk about it all the time, you have to keep playing. I thought, once again, that we had a kick that should have been kicked into the stands or by my office, which would have ended the game. Instead, we keep the ball in play and next thing you know they get into the box and draw a penalty. It was a good call, it was a penalty. J.J. [Tompkins] is just so tough and read it so well, so I think even if it wasn't kicked that high that she would have still gotten it."

On Tessa Barton
"I thought she was fantastic. She's been playing well the last couple of games, so she earned a start. I thought, in the first half, that she was putting them under pressure and linking in the midfield well. She did a great job, but we do need everybody. The other team will focus on a couple of our players, so we need everyone else to step up, and today they did."

Freshman Tessa Barton
On halftime adjustments
"I think we just knew we had to stay calm and stay positive. With this team, as long as we fight together, we'll win together. We just told each other to stay calm, stay positive, play positive, play simple and we'll get a goal. Which we did."

On scoring first career goal
"Cam played an awesome ball. I just turned the girl and shot it [the ball] into the low-left corner. It was an awesome feeling. I knew right when it landed on my left foot that I was going to score it."

Next Event

Team Stats

Tessa Barton

Stephanie Zuniga

Tatum Barton

Camilla Shymka

Players Mentioned

Tatum Barton

Tessa Barton

Libby Geraghty

Taylor Kornieck

Camilla Shymka

Stephanie Zuniga

Players Mentioned

Tatum Barton

Tessa Barton

Libby Geraghty

Taylor Kornieck

Camilla Shymka

Stephanie Zuniga