Buffs Tame Tigers, 2-0

BOULDER—The Colorado Buffaloes outlasted Mother Nature and the Colorado College Tigers in the bounce-back win on Thursday night. The Buffs got two first-half goals and weathered a lightning delay on the way to their second win of the season under the lights at Prentup Field.

Colorado (2-1-0) dominated the night, putting 26 shots on the board. It was the most shots fired by CU since its 38 against Texas A&M Commerce in last season's 6-0 win. The Buffs landed 12 shots on target, also marking the most since 15 in the same match.

Both tallies for the Buffs came from new faces. Graduate transfer Ally Clark got the scoring started with her ninth career goal, but first in the Black & Gold. Freshman Faith Lebya added some insurance with the first of her career.

"We started great," head coach Danny Sanchez expressed. "We had lots of opportunities, hitting a couple of posts early. There was a great individual effort from Hope [Leyba] to keep the ball alive and it's nice for Ally [Clark] to open her CU account. It was the worst time for the weather [delay] to happen for us. I think we were playing extremely well. Having said that, the rest of the first half I thought we played very well as well and got that second goal."

Sanchez made two changes to the starting lineup, slotting in Clark and sophomore Greer Maguire. In all, 21field players got in on the action on Thursday.

"I think it's still early in the season," Sanchez noted. "We want to make sure we give as many players as we can an opportunity to show what they can do. I thought that Ally played really well, especially in the first half. I thought Greer was solid throughout the match. We also realize that Sunday's going to be on another level of pressure and level of play. We're going to have to ramp up our play as we prepare for Michigan State."

Sophomore Jordan Nytes picked up her second shutout in three starts to the season. She wasn't called into action until the second half, making two saves on the night.

How it happened
Colorado jumped on the Tigers right out of the starting blocks with Hope Leyba getting the game's first shot off inside the first minute. H. Leyba was a constant for the Buffs' early offensive, ripping off two of CU's first five shots.

CU's first good scoring chance came off a deflection in the box by H. Leyba. Rachel Rosen sent in the ball from the near side and H. Leyba got enough of a deflection to force a diving save by CC goalkeeper Regan Wallace.

Moments later Emerson Layne nearly got the Buffs on the board. The sophomore forward turned and fired a left-footed shot off the far post and H. Leyba on the rebound chance from point-blank but was offside.

Colorado broke through in the 9th minute with Clark capping off a hustle play from H. Leyba at the top of the penalty area.

"That was 90% Hope," Clarke explained. "I just had a simple finish in the end. I feel like her work ethic and her heart in the game – she really left it all on the field."

Colorado continued to push the offensive until lightning in the area forced a 40-minute delay. CU was outshooting CC 12-0 when play was delayed in the 20th minute.

"We just wanted to make sure that the energy was still up," Clark said about the delay. "Obviously, we didn't expect there to be a delay so we were just keeping the vibes high in the locker room and making sure that we were still locked into the game. I felt like we kept that energy up in the second half of that first half."

It took CU just 15 minutes upon the resumption of play to get back on the board. Mallory Allen served up a corner kick that found its way through traffic and found the chest of F. Leyba. The ball bounced off her chest and across the goal line for the 2-0 advantage.

CU finished the first half with 19 shots and added seven more in the final 45 minutes. H. Lebya made a run down the near side, cutting to the top of the box in the 77th minute, and had a prime chance on net, but Wallace made a save to keep things a two-goal game.

Upcoming
Colorado will host No. 14 Michigan State on Sunday. The Spartans have been in Colorado all week, opening with a 7-0 win over Northern Colorado.

Notes
CU improves to 11-2-1 all-time against CC…Colorado has not conceded a goal to CC since a 2-1 win in 2006…CU has outscored opponents 5-1 in three games to start the season…Two of CU's five goals this season have come off corner kicks…CU has outshot opponents 61/24 and 27/10 on goal in three games…The Leyba sisters became the first CU sisters to get a point in the same match since Tatum and Tessa Barton did so against Northern Colorado on Sept. 19, 2019.

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Team Stats

Ally Clark

Faith Leyba

Hope Leyba

Mallory Allen

Players Mentioned

Mallory Allen

Ally Clark

Emerson Layne

Hope Leyba

Greer Maguire

Jordan Nytes

Rachel Rosen

Players Mentioned

Mallory Allen

Ally Clark

Emerson Layne

Hope Leyba

Greer Maguire

Jordan Nytes

Rachel Rosen