Colorado Looking for Results Against No. 13 USC

LOS ANGELES – The Colorado Buffaloes are off to warmer weather this weekend, taking on No. 13 Southern California in the lone match of the weekend in Los Angeles. The Buffs will be looking to snap a two-game winless streak.

Colorado (10-3-1, 2-2-1 Pac-12) is coming off a strong performance against California last Sunday but got nothing to show for it in the scoreless draw. The Buffs controlled the match from the opening kick outshooting the Golden Bears 18-5 and 5-1 on target.

"It's been a great week of preparation," head coach Danny Sanchez noted. "Obviously, we're excited to get back out to Southern California. We have numerous players on our team from there, so we know that we'll have good support. USC is on a roll. They're healthy and have all their players back. We know that's going to be a huge challenge, but we're excited to get out there."

The draw against California extended CU's winless streak at home to three matches. The Buffs have a 6-3-1 record at Prentup Field this season, but remain unblemished on the road. CU has had just two Pac-12 matches away from its home pitch, picking up six of its seven points on its swing through Oregon.

"We've got some good results on the road," Sanchez added. "USC is a whole different level of challenge. Having said that, the weather will be good and as I said, we'll have some good support there from our SoCal supporters. We'll be ready to go."

Colorado is right in the middle of the Pac-12 standings, entering the weekend sixth in the conference. Stanford, UCLA and USC are tied with 15 points atop the rankings, making Saturday's match the Buffs' last chance to knock off one of the conference's top contenders.

"It has been a normal Pac-12 year," Sanchez commented. "Every team you're going to play is capable of getting a result against you, but you're also capable of getting a result against them. We don't look at it [this week] like that. We look at it as a single game weekend where we can throw it all out there and gameplan for one team and put our best foot forward."

USC (9-2-0, 5-0-0 Pac-12) moved up two spots this week to No. 13 in the United Soccer Coaches poll. The Trojans have outscored conference opponents 14-1 in their five matches, recording seven goals last weekend against Oregon and Oregon State. Angeles Escobar is the reigning Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week, leading a defensive unit that allowed just 13 shots in two matches last week.

Saturday's kickoff is set for 1 p.m. MT and will be streamed online at CUBuffs.com/WatchSoc.

Next Event

Related Videos