Friday, November 10
College Station, Texas
6:00 PM
Colorado
13-5-3, 5-3-3
0
at
1
Texas A&M
10-7-4, 4-3-3
1
2
F
Colorado
0
0
0
Texas A&M
1
0
1
Team Stats
COL
TAMU
Goals
0
1
Shots
11
13
Shots on Goal
5
4
Saves
3
5
Corners
7
7
Fouls
12
10
Scoring Plays
Mia Pante (3)
GOAL by TAMU Pante, Mia.
21:25
Game Leaders
Players
fwd
Shots
3
SOG
1
Goals
0
Assists
0
Shots
3
SOG
0
Goals
0
Assists
0
Shots
2
SOG
2
Goals
0
Assists
0
def
Shots
1
SOG
1
Goals
0
Assists
0
Players Mentioned
M
/ SoccerM
/ SoccerF
/ Soccer
F
/ Soccer
D
/ SoccerF
/ Soccer
GK
/ SoccerD
/ Soccer
Photo by: Gavin Crowson
Colorado's Season Comes to a Close at Texas A&M
November 10, 2023 | Soccer
Unfortunate bounce sends Buffs home
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – An unfortunate bounce was the catalyst for Texas A&M and ended Colorado's season in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at Ellis Field on Friday.
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Colorado finishes the season 13-5-3 after returning to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the 2020 season.
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Friday's conditions worsened as the night went on as the two teams played in a constant mist. Colorado led in shots on goal 5-4 and out-chanced the Aggies 3-1 in the second half, but couldn't come up with the equalizer to force overtime.
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"First off, congratulations to Texas A&M for advancing," head coach Danny Sanchez commented after the match. "I told the team [after the game] that this is a team of great teammates and our success this year was because of great teammates and how much everybody cares for each other. I told them that's what we're choosing to focus on. It hurts for the players who don't get another opportunity, but we have zero to hang our heads about. Tonight's performance was absolutely fantastic. It was tough conditions on the road in a tough environment. We did not back down from the challenge at all. It just wasn't our night."
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Senior Shyra James and freshman Hope Leyba led the Buffs in shots with three apiece. Sophomore Juliauna Hayward accounted for two of CU's five shots on target. Sophomore Jordan Nytes made three saves on the night.
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Texas A&M (10-7-4) advances to the second round and will play No. 1 Florida State. Mia Pante was credited the goal in the 22nd minute.
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How it happened
The Aggies registered the first shot of the game, forcing Nytes to make a diving save to her right in the 9th minute, but it was the Buffs who came back and flipped the field early on.
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H. Leyba had CU's first shot, a sliding attempt chasing down a free kick from midfield. Ava Priest had a bullet of a shot on net in the 15th minute, but A&M goalkeeper Kenna Caldwell deflected it out of play leading to the Buffs' third corner kick of the half.
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A&M's goal came off an unfortunate bounce in the 22nd minute, shifting momentum away from Colorado. Faith Leyba had a sliding clear attempt and went right into Mia Pante's shins and backward towards the CU net. The ball floated backward 25 yards over Nytes' head and under the crossbar.Â
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"I've been coaching for a long, long time and have never had a goal like that scored against us," Sanchez expressed. "That's soccer. We had plenty of time to rally from that and unfortunately, we just couldn't find that final pass or that final moment to make it happen."
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CU didn't get another shot attempt until the 39th minute and went into the half trailing by one.
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Nytes made her third save of the night right out of the gate in the second half. Ally Clark followed up on the opposite side of the field with CU's first shot on goal in the half in the 53rd minute.
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Colorado's best chance to tie came in the 60th minute off the foot of Emerson Layne. Hayward played a cross into the box from the far side of the field and Caldwell deflected it to the middle of the box. Layne found the rebound just off the penalty spot, but was a bit off-balanced with her left foot and and had her shot blocked before it could find the open net.
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"When you have two evenly matched teams in the NCAA Tournament it's going to be the smallest of margins," Sanchez added. "Once we gave up the goal, especially the second half, I thought we really ramped up our play. Our tackling in the back, Jordie in goal was fantastic and kept us in the game when it got stretched. It just didn't fall our way tonight. But it doesn't take away from the quality of this team and the quality of people in this program."
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The Buffs got a corner chance in the 88th minute and threw all 10 field players in the box but couldn't gain possession. The Aggies cleared the ball upfield and killed the game off.
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Notes
Colorado falls to 10-13-1 all-time in the NCAA Tournament…CU drops to 2-18-2 all-time against Texas A&M…CU finished with seven corner kicks…James wraps up her CU career second in career goals (40) and third in points (86)…She holds the school record for goals per game, finishing with 0.53…Colorado's 13 wins tied for the most since the 2018 season (13-4-3)…Friday was just CU's second road loss of the season finishing 5-2-2 away from Boulder.
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Quotes
Head Coach Danny Sanchez
On CU's defensive effort
"We really limited [Texas A&M]. Jordie dealt with what she had to, but we really limited their dangerous players. I thought we played really well. That's all you can hope for. This time of the year there's going to be small margins. We played really well and we're really proud of this team."
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Colorado finishes the season 13-5-3 after returning to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the 2020 season.
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Friday's conditions worsened as the night went on as the two teams played in a constant mist. Colorado led in shots on goal 5-4 and out-chanced the Aggies 3-1 in the second half, but couldn't come up with the equalizer to force overtime.
Â
"First off, congratulations to Texas A&M for advancing," head coach Danny Sanchez commented after the match. "I told the team [after the game] that this is a team of great teammates and our success this year was because of great teammates and how much everybody cares for each other. I told them that's what we're choosing to focus on. It hurts for the players who don't get another opportunity, but we have zero to hang our heads about. Tonight's performance was absolutely fantastic. It was tough conditions on the road in a tough environment. We did not back down from the challenge at all. It just wasn't our night."
Â
Senior Shyra James and freshman Hope Leyba led the Buffs in shots with three apiece. Sophomore Juliauna Hayward accounted for two of CU's five shots on target. Sophomore Jordan Nytes made three saves on the night.
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Texas A&M (10-7-4) advances to the second round and will play No. 1 Florida State. Mia Pante was credited the goal in the 22nd minute.
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How it happened
The Aggies registered the first shot of the game, forcing Nytes to make a diving save to her right in the 9th minute, but it was the Buffs who came back and flipped the field early on.
Â
H. Leyba had CU's first shot, a sliding attempt chasing down a free kick from midfield. Ava Priest had a bullet of a shot on net in the 15th minute, but A&M goalkeeper Kenna Caldwell deflected it out of play leading to the Buffs' third corner kick of the half.
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A&M's goal came off an unfortunate bounce in the 22nd minute, shifting momentum away from Colorado. Faith Leyba had a sliding clear attempt and went right into Mia Pante's shins and backward towards the CU net. The ball floated backward 25 yards over Nytes' head and under the crossbar.Â
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"I've been coaching for a long, long time and have never had a goal like that scored against us," Sanchez expressed. "That's soccer. We had plenty of time to rally from that and unfortunately, we just couldn't find that final pass or that final moment to make it happen."
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CU didn't get another shot attempt until the 39th minute and went into the half trailing by one.
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Nytes made her third save of the night right out of the gate in the second half. Ally Clark followed up on the opposite side of the field with CU's first shot on goal in the half in the 53rd minute.
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Colorado's best chance to tie came in the 60th minute off the foot of Emerson Layne. Hayward played a cross into the box from the far side of the field and Caldwell deflected it to the middle of the box. Layne found the rebound just off the penalty spot, but was a bit off-balanced with her left foot and and had her shot blocked before it could find the open net.
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"When you have two evenly matched teams in the NCAA Tournament it's going to be the smallest of margins," Sanchez added. "Once we gave up the goal, especially the second half, I thought we really ramped up our play. Our tackling in the back, Jordie in goal was fantastic and kept us in the game when it got stretched. It just didn't fall our way tonight. But it doesn't take away from the quality of this team and the quality of people in this program."
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The Buffs got a corner chance in the 88th minute and threw all 10 field players in the box but couldn't gain possession. The Aggies cleared the ball upfield and killed the game off.
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Notes
Colorado falls to 10-13-1 all-time in the NCAA Tournament…CU drops to 2-18-2 all-time against Texas A&M…CU finished with seven corner kicks…James wraps up her CU career second in career goals (40) and third in points (86)…She holds the school record for goals per game, finishing with 0.53…Colorado's 13 wins tied for the most since the 2018 season (13-4-3)…Friday was just CU's second road loss of the season finishing 5-2-2 away from Boulder.
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Quotes
Head Coach Danny Sanchez
On CU's defensive effort
"We really limited [Texas A&M]. Jordie dealt with what she had to, but we really limited their dangerous players. I thought we played really well. That's all you can hope for. This time of the year there's going to be small margins. We played really well and we're really proud of this team."
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