Wednesday, October 30
Kansas City, MO.
10:45 a.m.
Colorado
11-3-5, 4-2-5
2
vs
1
Utah
8-6-5, 5-3-3
1
2
F
Colorado
0
2
2
Utah
1
0
1
Photo by: Adrianna Parker/KC Current
Late Heroics Advance Buffs in Kansas City
October 30, 2024 | Soccer
Colorado scored two unanswered goals to down Utah
KANSAS CITY – Colorado sophomore Ava Priest blasted the game-winner in the 86th minute to complete the 2-1 come-from-behind win over Utah at CPKC Stadium on Wednesday. The Buffaloes scored two unanswered goals in the second half to shatter their scoring drought and advance to the second round on Saturday.
Utah led 1-0 after the first 45 minutes in the windy conditions as the Buffs' offensive struggles continued to plague the team in the opening half.
"I'm really proud of the group," head coach Danny Sanchez said after the win. "I know coaches say that, but when you've gone through the stretch we've gone through, you have to keep believing. That's all we said at halftime. At this point, you give up that early goal, but the soccer gods were on our side a little in the second half. Those things even out over time."
Hope Leyba ended CU's four-match scoreless drought and tied the game in the 73rd minute, sparking the Buffs the rest of the way. Priest's shot from an off angle on the near sideline continued to sail and found the far-side netting to propel the Buffs to victory.
"It was a great effort from Hope on the first goal, and then Ava was just fantastic today," Sanchez continued. "Jordi [Nytes] was big time [for us]. Credit Utah. It was a match that could have gone either way, just like Friday, and today was our day."
Colorado (11-3-5) was outshout, 16-12, by Utah in a reversal of Friday's regular-season finale. The Buffs won the battle in the offensive end on the day, out-earning the Utes 8-2 in corner chances.
"If you go through a stretch like we did and you're losing every game 4 or 5-0, that's one thing," Sanchez expressed. "But when you're tying or maybe getting lucky to get a draw, the players have belief because they are a good team and they're talented. It wasn't a tough sell to say that at some point it's going to be our time."
Nytes, the newly minted Big 12 Goalkeeper of the Year, made six saves in the win.
Utah (8-6-5) took the 1-0 lead with a goal from Katie Callaway and had five saves from Kasey Wardle.
How it happened
The Buffs trailed 1-0 as they went into the break, but it was not for a lack of effort. Shyra James had two shots on goal from inside the 18, and Jace Holley had two more shots on target. Colorado had five corner chances in the first 45 minutes, but the ball couldn't find the net.
"I thought we actually played really well in the first half," Sanchez added. "Maybe the score wasn't reflective of the performance."
The Buffs were outshot 6-1 to start the second half before they broke through in the 73rd minute.
Phoenix Dawn Miranda floated a ball into the box from just inside midfield, and H. Leyba won the race to get the ball in the box. She stabbed it out of midair with her right foot and past the charging Wardle into the far-side corner to get the Buffs back to even.
From that point, it was a race to see who could get the next goal.
Utah fired two more shots on goal, but Nytes was up to the task and kept the game all square.
Juliauna Hayward and James both had looks at the winner, but it was Priest who would be able to capitalize in the 86th minute with her shot from the corner that sought out the far side of the net.
"I did a flip throw, and it came back out to me," Priest explained of the goal. "I love going to my left foot, so I kind of cut inside, went back out, and honestly, I saw an opening in the goal, but I was trying to just hit it back post. I saw a big space, and the ball just went to the top corner."
Up Next
The Buffs will look to avenge its 6-1 loss to TCU when the two teams meet in the second round on Saturday (1 p.m. MT/ESPN+).
Notes
Wednesday was the Buffs' first Big 12 Tournament win, beating Nebraska 1-0 in the first round on Nov. 5, 2008 (the team drew with Oklahoma State in the next game, 1-1, advancing on penalties…Priest's goal was her third game-winner of the season…Leyba's goal was her sixth of the season, tying her with James for the team lead and giving her a team-high 14 points on the season (6 G, 2 A)…Miranda's assist was her first point of the season…CU's first goal snapped a scoreless streak that reached 449:50, dating back to Priest's last goal against Texas Tech on Oct. 10…Colorado is now 7-9-5 all-time in the Big 12 Tournament…The win was Nytes' 24 as a Buff (5th all-time).
Quotes
Head coach Danny Sanchez
On breaking the scoreless drought – "If we turn around and win this game in penalties and were' still 0-0, I think maybe there's a little less belief. But the fact that we got a couple of goals and Shyra in the first half, normally she buries those. To be fair, she's been out half the year, but we could feel it coming. There's no doubt about it. It was almost like a weight off our shoulders to get that one, and then Ava got the game-winner late. She was fantastic today. We'll build off the momentum from today. We'll be ready to go. We have two full days off, and at this time of the year, there's no being tired."
On the lineup going forward – "I thought our players off the bench were fantastic today. If you look at their [Utah's] sub minutes, they basically sub two players. Emerson [Layne], Claire [Curran], Lola [Stanley], Mal [Allen], Angelina [Moschetti] all gave us big minutes today. Then Greer [Maguire] helped shout the game down at the end. We'll be ready to go [on Saturday]."
On TCU – "They're the winners of the league for a reason. They have the Coach of the Year, Offensive Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, and about 10 all-conference selections. They're deservedly a top team in the league this year. But when you get in these situations, one game knockout match, anything can happen, and we have to believe and continue to fight. But we're going to have to play our best match on Saturday."
Sophomore Ava Priest
On staying positive – "I think it says a lot about our team. I think we've been through a lot of adversity recently. This really showed that we can come together. All of us have fight in us, and all of us are going to fight to the very end in every single game."
On moving forward to Saturday – "I think rest and recovery over the next two days and then get ready for TCU this Saturday. It's a big game. They're obviously a good team, but so are we. I think it'll be a good competition."
On the last game against TCU – "I think we just have to come together as a team and carry this momentum that we got from today. I know we can do better than that [last game]."
Utah led 1-0 after the first 45 minutes in the windy conditions as the Buffs' offensive struggles continued to plague the team in the opening half.
"I'm really proud of the group," head coach Danny Sanchez said after the win. "I know coaches say that, but when you've gone through the stretch we've gone through, you have to keep believing. That's all we said at halftime. At this point, you give up that early goal, but the soccer gods were on our side a little in the second half. Those things even out over time."
Hope Leyba ended CU's four-match scoreless drought and tied the game in the 73rd minute, sparking the Buffs the rest of the way. Priest's shot from an off angle on the near sideline continued to sail and found the far-side netting to propel the Buffs to victory.
"It was a great effort from Hope on the first goal, and then Ava was just fantastic today," Sanchez continued. "Jordi [Nytes] was big time [for us]. Credit Utah. It was a match that could have gone either way, just like Friday, and today was our day."
Colorado (11-3-5) was outshout, 16-12, by Utah in a reversal of Friday's regular-season finale. The Buffs won the battle in the offensive end on the day, out-earning the Utes 8-2 in corner chances.
"If you go through a stretch like we did and you're losing every game 4 or 5-0, that's one thing," Sanchez expressed. "But when you're tying or maybe getting lucky to get a draw, the players have belief because they are a good team and they're talented. It wasn't a tough sell to say that at some point it's going to be our time."
Nytes, the newly minted Big 12 Goalkeeper of the Year, made six saves in the win.
Utah (8-6-5) took the 1-0 lead with a goal from Katie Callaway and had five saves from Kasey Wardle.
How it happened
The Buffs trailed 1-0 as they went into the break, but it was not for a lack of effort. Shyra James had two shots on goal from inside the 18, and Jace Holley had two more shots on target. Colorado had five corner chances in the first 45 minutes, but the ball couldn't find the net.
"I thought we actually played really well in the first half," Sanchez added. "Maybe the score wasn't reflective of the performance."
The Buffs were outshot 6-1 to start the second half before they broke through in the 73rd minute.
Phoenix Dawn Miranda floated a ball into the box from just inside midfield, and H. Leyba won the race to get the ball in the box. She stabbed it out of midair with her right foot and past the charging Wardle into the far-side corner to get the Buffs back to even.
From that point, it was a race to see who could get the next goal.
Utah fired two more shots on goal, but Nytes was up to the task and kept the game all square.
Juliauna Hayward and James both had looks at the winner, but it was Priest who would be able to capitalize in the 86th minute with her shot from the corner that sought out the far side of the net.
"I did a flip throw, and it came back out to me," Priest explained of the goal. "I love going to my left foot, so I kind of cut inside, went back out, and honestly, I saw an opening in the goal, but I was trying to just hit it back post. I saw a big space, and the ball just went to the top corner."
Up Next
The Buffs will look to avenge its 6-1 loss to TCU when the two teams meet in the second round on Saturday (1 p.m. MT/ESPN+).
Notes
Wednesday was the Buffs' first Big 12 Tournament win, beating Nebraska 1-0 in the first round on Nov. 5, 2008 (the team drew with Oklahoma State in the next game, 1-1, advancing on penalties…Priest's goal was her third game-winner of the season…Leyba's goal was her sixth of the season, tying her with James for the team lead and giving her a team-high 14 points on the season (6 G, 2 A)…Miranda's assist was her first point of the season…CU's first goal snapped a scoreless streak that reached 449:50, dating back to Priest's last goal against Texas Tech on Oct. 10…Colorado is now 7-9-5 all-time in the Big 12 Tournament…The win was Nytes' 24 as a Buff (5th all-time).
Quotes
Head coach Danny Sanchez
On breaking the scoreless drought – "If we turn around and win this game in penalties and were' still 0-0, I think maybe there's a little less belief. But the fact that we got a couple of goals and Shyra in the first half, normally she buries those. To be fair, she's been out half the year, but we could feel it coming. There's no doubt about it. It was almost like a weight off our shoulders to get that one, and then Ava got the game-winner late. She was fantastic today. We'll build off the momentum from today. We'll be ready to go. We have two full days off, and at this time of the year, there's no being tired."
On the lineup going forward – "I thought our players off the bench were fantastic today. If you look at their [Utah's] sub minutes, they basically sub two players. Emerson [Layne], Claire [Curran], Lola [Stanley], Mal [Allen], Angelina [Moschetti] all gave us big minutes today. Then Greer [Maguire] helped shout the game down at the end. We'll be ready to go [on Saturday]."
On TCU – "They're the winners of the league for a reason. They have the Coach of the Year, Offensive Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, and about 10 all-conference selections. They're deservedly a top team in the league this year. But when you get in these situations, one game knockout match, anything can happen, and we have to believe and continue to fight. But we're going to have to play our best match on Saturday."
Sophomore Ava Priest
On staying positive – "I think it says a lot about our team. I think we've been through a lot of adversity recently. This really showed that we can come together. All of us have fight in us, and all of us are going to fight to the very end in every single game."
On moving forward to Saturday – "I think rest and recovery over the next two days and then get ready for TCU this Saturday. It's a big game. They're obviously a good team, but so are we. I think it'll be a good competition."
On the last game against TCU – "I think we just have to come together as a team and carry this momentum that we got from today. I know we can do better than that [last game]."
Team Stats
COL
UTA
Goals
2
1
Shots
12
16
Shots on Goal
7
7
Saves
6
5
Corners
8
2
Fouls
9
10
Scoring Plays
Katie Callaway (3)
Assisted By: Katie O'Kane
GOAL by UTA Callaway, Katie Assist by O'Kane, Katie.
23:46
Hope Leyba (6)
Assisted By: Mallory Allen , Phoenix Dawn Miranda
GOAL by COL Leyba, Hope Assist by Allen, Mallory and Miranda, Phoenix Dawn.
72:28
Ava Priest (4)
GOAL by COL Priest, Ava.
85:20
Game Leaders
Players
def
Shots
2
SOG
1
Goals
1
Assists
0
fwd
Shots
1
SOG
1
Goals
1
Assists
0
Shots
0
SOG
0
Goals
0
Assists
1
Shots
0
SOG
0
Goals
0
Assists
1
Players Mentioned
M
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