Colorado
10-3-5, 4-2-5
Utah
8-5-5, 5-3-3
Buffs and Utes Draw on Senior Night
October 25, 2024 | Soccer
Colorado earns its fifth draw of the season
BOULDER — Colorado's scoreless drought hit four games Friday night, closing the regular season with a 0-0 scoreless draw against Utah on Senior Night. It is the Buffaloes' third 0-0 result of the season and fifth draw overall.
A season-high 1,904 fans filed into Prentup Field to send off the team's nine departing players and almost witnessed a thrilling finish in the final moments with CU getting three corner kicks in the final 60 seconds. A scramble in front of the Utah net in the final seconds resulted in three of CU's 20 shots but to no avail.
"Like I just told the team, they have to continue to believe," head coach Danny Sanchez expressed after the match. "You can look at the last few minutes, we're on the front foot, created all the chances, corners, balls in dangerous spots. They have to believe it's going to happen. The great part of being in the Big 12 is now we have a second season, and we have an opportunity to work on this and rectify it."
The Buffs (10-3-5, 4-2-5 Big 12) totaled 14 shots in the second half, with five landing on target. At the same time, the Utes totaled 17 shots over the full 90 minutes.
"I really felt it was one-way traffic [in the second half]," Sanchez continued. "Jordi [Nytes] made the saves she had to, like she always does, just once again, it's interesting because the ball is in the box; it just doesn't quite fall. Sometimes, that's a mentality; sometimes, it's just a little bit of being in the right place at the right time. But I'm really proud of the effort tonight."
Jordan Nytes recording her 11th shutout of the season was a sliver-lining on the night. She made 10 saves on the night as she moved into a tie with Kate Scheele for the second most shutout in a season by a CU goalkeeper. Nytes is now just one off Jessica Keller's program record 12 shutouts in 2004.
The team's five draws match the program record set back in 2022. All five draws have come in Big 12 play, marking the most in a conference season. Colorado's three scoreless draws this season are its most since playing four 0-0 draws in 2017.
Colorado is now off to Kansas City for the Sprouts Farmers Market Big 12 Championship, where they will rematch against the Utes in Wednesday's first round.
"It's another opportunity," Sanchez said of the tournament. "It's another opportunity to continue to work and be together and go on the road, hopefully get results. We're getting results, just not the results we want. The [team] psyche is great. I think if this is the last game of the season, it's a little different. Sometimes ties feel like wins, and sometimes they feel like losses. I think we left some points out there today. But Utah played well, especially in the first half."
How it Happened
Utah (8-5-5, 5-3-3 Big 12) outshot Colorado 11-6 in the first half, forcing Nytes to make seven saves in the first frame.
The Buffs adjusted at the half and earned an early corner kick, resulting in Laura Gouvin playing the ball short to Juliauna Hayward inside the box. Hayward then cut back upfield and heeled the ball back to Gouvin, who fired a shot toward the top of the net, forcing Utah's Kasey Wardle to make a save just under the crossbar in the 51st minute.
Colorado kept pressing, getting the ball deep in the Utah box, and Hope Leyba put a header on net in the 55th minute, forcing Wardle to go up high for a save again. Minutes later, Rachel Rosen served up a free kick that slipped through traffic and skipped on the net.
CU tilted the field for a large portion of the second half and continued to create chances. H. Leyba fired a chance off the crossbar that stayed in play, and Shyra James put the follow-up chance wide of the far post from the top of the six-yard box.
Colorado's final scramble came in the 90th minute. Ava Priest put the first corner kick in play from the near corner as the Buffs sent everyone into the box. The was headed on net by James but saved off the line by a Utah defender. The rebound was hit by Faith Leyba, getting deflected wide and outplay, giving CU another corner from the opposite side of the field.
Rosen's serve got off with 30 seconds to play, getting headed out of bounds by the Utah backline, giving the Buffs a third corner chance. Priest raced to the corner and sent the ball in with 10 seconds on the clock. James headed the ball off the far post. Gouvin followed with a shot that got blocked, and Rosen had the final attempt, putting the ball high over the net at the final whistle.
Up Next
Colorado enters the Big 12 Championship as the No. 9 seed, drawing No. 8 Utah. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. MT at CPKC Stadium in Kansas City.
Notes
CU's scoreless streak is now at 377.22 minutes, having not found the back of the net since Priest's goal in the 73rd minute at Texas Tech (Oct. 10)…The team's four-game scoreless streak is the longest since going scoreless in four games from Oct. 1-13, 2017…CU is now winless in its last six matches (0-2-4)… Nytes' 10 saves tied her season high (10 vs North Carolina)…Lindsey Smith, Gouvin, Lola Stanley, Rosen, Jenny Beyer, Michaela Rosenbaum, Phoenix Dawn Miranda, James and Hannah Duguid all participated in the Senior Night ceremony before the match…Former Buff Taylor Flint (Kornieck) was in attendance for the first time since graduating in 2019.
Quotes
Head coach Danny Sanchez
On history with Utah – "We always played them the last game of the season in the Pac-12, and for whatever reason, we got them this year in the Big 12. I have a lot of respect for Hideki, their coach. They've been playing really well. We look at the results over the last month, they've been playing really well. It does kind of always come down to this. But instead of this being it, we have another opportunity."
On improvements for Wednesday – "I think we have to build off what we did in the second half. Goals change games, and we need to find them."
On changes at the half – "We changed some things tactically. Utah plays a really good brand of soccer, and I thought we weren't getting pressure on the ball higher up the field. I thought we did a much better job, especially in the midfield in the second half defending."
