Buffs Prep for Final Stretch

BOULDER – Colorado soccer returns to Prentup Field for its final two regular-season matchups this week. The Buffaloes will get the week started with Arizona on Thursday (7 p.m.) and No. 18 Arizona State on Sunday (Noon).

Colorado (10-3-4, 2-3-3 Pac-12) sits sixth in the Pac-12 standings with nine points but has only mustered two points in the last five matches. CU is currently on the wrong end of a five-match winless streak (0-2-3). The Buffs' last win came on Oct. 1 at Oregon State.

CU has been away from Boulder the past two weekends and is looking forward to getting back on the home turf. The Black & Gold is 6-3-1 at Prentup Field this season and has outscored opponents 16-9 in the 10 games. Senior Shyra James has scored seven of her Pac-12-leading 12 goals in front of the home crowd this season.

"We've been on the road the last couple of weeks and had some good results but didn't get quite get all out of it that we wanted," head coach Danny Sanchez commented. "The team knows that it's about getting results. Arizona had a great performance on Sunday against a top-15 team in USC and deservedly got a result. We know the challenge on Thursday night, but it's good to be home in front of our fans."

CU has only scored three goals in the recent stretch with two of them coming from the penalty spot. Colorado's last goal in the run of play came off the foot of James in the 14th minute against Stanford on Oct. 5.

"We didn't create a ton of opportunities on the weekend," Sanchez said about last week in Washington. "I think being at home provides a bit of a park and a little more confidence and comfort level will help. We're healthy and we have the personnel that is 100% capable of it [scoring]. We have confidence in them and these kinds of stretches happen. Fortunately for us, we still have opportunities to have big moments this year."

The Buffs only gave up one shot on goal against WSU last Thursday, but it found the back of the net. Colorado was able to secure a 1-0 advantage at Washington on Sunday, but three minutes after scoring the Huskies got back to even and forced the draw.

"When goals are hard to come by, there's this kind of natural inclination to relax for a second and not go for the second goal," Sanchez explained. "I think we saw that at Washington on Sunday. We've talked about it and we know that we have to continue playing on the front foot, especially when there's still 30 minutes left in the game. If there's no time left, that's a different story. But when there's so much soccer to be played, these teams are so good, you have to keep playing."

Arizona (4-7-5, 1-5-2 Pac-12) is four points back of CU in the standings but is coming off a 1-1 draw against No. 11 USC on Sunday. UofA is in a similar spot as the Buffs, having gone winless in its last seven matches. The Wildcats' last win was back on Sept. 22, opening Pac-12 play with a 3-0 result over Oregon.

Thursday's match will be aired across the Pac-12 Networks. Thad Anderson will be on the call for the 7 p.m. kickoff.

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Players Mentioned

Shyra James