Quick Trip to Utah Ahead for Buffs

SALT LAKE CITY – Colorado will head over the Rocky Mountains and make the quick visit to Utah for its only match of the week on Saturday. The Buffaloes and Utes will battle it out in a non-conference game at 11:30 a.m. MT on the Pac-12 Networks.

Colorado (5-3-1, 2-2-1 Pac-12) is coming off four consecutive matches against ranked opponents. CU upset then-No. 10 California in Berkeley and then-No. 14 Southern California on Monday to go an even 2-2 during the tough stretch.

"Utah's playing well," head coach Danny Sanchez noted. "It's a single game weekend. It's a non-conference game but at the end of the day it's still a Pac-12 game against a team that's well-coached and had a good weekend last weekend as well."

CU scored three unanswered goals in Monday's double-overtime win. Two of the goals were facilitated by freshman Lawson Willis, who is now sixth in the NCAA with six assists this season. The Buffs are third in the Pac-12 and 54th in the nation with 11 assists a team.

"I've been getting a lot of free-kick opportunities," Wills explained. "We have people in the midfield working hard to earn a foul, then I just serve it in. It's all about service and I have great targets up there who are willing to get up for it and score goals."

Two of CU's goals against the Trojans were in the run-of-play, matching CU's total for the season. The Buffs have four goals this season that have come in the flow of the action, something Willis credited to the team getting more familiar with each other as the season progresses.

"It's been a really weird year," Willis added. "I think the more games we've played; we've gotten in rhythm and we've been working hard. I think we are starting to really build that chemistry and I think it has shown as we've gotten some big wins."

Utah (2-5-2, 1-3-1 Pac-12) has played its last six matches against ranked opponents, going 1-4-1. The Utes opened last week with a 2-0 win over USC. The gauntlet of a stretch for the Utes started with back-to-back games against then-No. 15 Washington State.

CU owns an 8-6-2 overall record over the Utes but have finished on the wrong end of 1-0 decisions the past two meetings.

Looking ahead, Colorado will play four of its final six games at home. The Buffs will host Washington State in another single-match weekend. The team will then hit the road for two against Oregon State and Oregon, before closing at home against Arizona, Arizona State and Utah.

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Players Mentioned

Lawson Willis