Sunday, August 18
Noon
Colorado
1-1-0, 0-0-0
2
vs
3
North Carolina
2-0-0, 0-0-0
1
2
F
North Carolina
1
2
3
Colorado
0
2
2
Photo by: CUBuffs.com
Buffs Fall to #8 North Carolina
August 18, 2024 | Soccer
Late rally from UNC closes out the weekend
BOULDER — Prentup Field rode a roller coaster of emotions watching Colorado battle No. 8 North Carolina on Sunday. The two sides combined for four second-half goals, with the Tar Heels besting the Buffs, 3-2, thanks to a late rally.
North Carolina (2-0-0) picked up the lone goal of the first half and led 1-0 at the break. The Buffs broke through early into the second half, with Shyra James notching her 41st career goal. Angelina Moschetti put the Buffs in the driver's seat, 2-1, with her first career goal in the final third of the contest.
UNC's Kate Faasse scored two goals in just over two minutes to complete the Tar Heels' comeback.
"First of all, we played very well," head coach Danny Sanchez said after the tough loss. "I don't want to take anything away from North Carolina or our performance. Sometimes, it's tough to look at the big picture. You have to look at the big picture. We played very well in lots of stretches. As for the end of the game, I thought we were defending a little deep. I just think we're getting a little tired and we weren't getting enough pressure higher up the field. We weren't doing a good enough job of keeping when we won it. But that's soccer."
UNC put a barrage of shots toward Jordan Nytes. The Tar Heels fired 22 shots on the day, landing 12 on target. Nytes turned away 10 shots, a career-high for her as a Buff.
Colorado closes the opening weekend with the split, having opened the season with a 3-0 win over Marquette on Thursday.
"I thought we got better," Sanchez said of the team's improvements from Thursday to Sunday. "Anyone that was watching, I think, could see that. I thought there were some really good individual performances today. It was a tough day for both teams but I was pleased with a majority of the game with how we defended. The clock wouldn't go fast enough in the end."
How it Happened
The Tar Heels gradually built up their offense in the first half, outshooting Colorado 11-7. But the Buffs registered the match's first scoring chance with a shot from Hope Leyba in the 16th minute. UNC landed its first shot on target in the 18th minute and broke the stalemate with a goal from Bella Gaetino in the 28th minute.
North Carolina closed the first half with two more scoring chances, but Nytes was able to make saves on both attempts to keep the Buffs within striking distance.
Colorado got the equalizer on its first shot of the second half, a left-footed blast from James in the 53rd minute. Juliauna Hayward forced a UNC turnover in its zone and played the ball to James, who was cutting to the middle of the field. She fired the shot across her body, beating UNC keeper Clare Gagne for her first of the season.
James' goal draws her one goal closer to tying Nikki Marshall (42) for the all-time lead.
Nytes made save-after-save in the second half, keeping the Buffs and Tar Heels even until Colorado broke through again in the 74th minute.
CU earned a free kick in the UNC zone, and Rachel Rosen perfectly served up the ball to H. Leyba. Leyba deflected the ball on the net, forcing a diving save by Gagne. The rebound chance squeaked towards the far post where Moschetti was waiting, ready to fire into the open net, giving Colorado a 2-1 lead with 16 minutes to play.
The Buffs went into defensive mode in the final minutes, trying to preserve the lead. Nytes made three more saves as UNC began to play with more urgency.
The Tar Heels finally broke through again in the 88th minute when Olivia Thomas battled into the box and fired a shot on Nytes, who made the initial save. The rebound went across the goal to the far post, where Faasse slipped in behind the defense for the goal.
Two minutes later, Faasse again was in the right place at the right time, deflecting a ball from Tessa Dellarose into the net for the final blow.
Up Next
The Buffs will close their four-game homestand to start the season with matches against Wyoming (Thurs.) and Michigan (Sun.).
Quotes
Head coach Danny Sanchez
On the final minutes: "You start looking at the clock and you see it ticking down. All you didn't want to do is get rid of it and we needed to do a better job of keeping it. We were under so much pressure late in the game. A great save from Jordi and a tap in, then the last goal it just hit the player. Disheartening from that sense, but I'm already going to choose to look at the positive."
On taking the positives: "This performance vs Thursday was like a different sport. We knew that they [UNC] were going to get tired, and they did. We knew that the second half would be our time. A very nice goal from Shyra and Juliauna doing the work defensively – Shyra doing what she does. The second goal was a great goal, Jelly [Moschetti] getting forward in a nice classy finish. We just didn't do enough at the end to get the result."
On moving forward: "Like I told the team before the game. It's still 17 games after this, and we're going to have some big games coming up starting next Thursday. We can feel sorry for ourselves for a little bit. I've been doing this for a long time and these things tend to even out. These things tend to kind of go the other way. At some point, we'll get a result late, kind of maybe from nothing. We'll bounce back. We'll be fine."
On the Prentup Field crowd: "That was awesome. I just want to thank the community and marketing and everybody who did a great job of getting everybody out for this match. It'd be fun to play in front of this every time. We know that's not necessarily the case, but we hope the fans enjoyed themselves and saw some super-talented young women out there. We hope to see them again on Thursday night."
Notes
The Buffs fall to 0-7-0 all-time against UNC…The two Colorado goals on Sunday were the first two goals the Buffs have recorded in seven matches against North Carolina…Colorado is 0-8-1 against top 10 opponents since its last win over No. 10 California (Mar. 5, 2021)…Faasse's game-winning goal (GWG) at 89:19 is the second-latest GWG allowed in program history (89:57, Eva van Deursen, ASU Sept. 23, 2022)…Sunday's crowd was the eighth-largest crowd in Prentup Field history (1,876).
North Carolina (2-0-0) picked up the lone goal of the first half and led 1-0 at the break. The Buffs broke through early into the second half, with Shyra James notching her 41st career goal. Angelina Moschetti put the Buffs in the driver's seat, 2-1, with her first career goal in the final third of the contest.
UNC's Kate Faasse scored two goals in just over two minutes to complete the Tar Heels' comeback.
"First of all, we played very well," head coach Danny Sanchez said after the tough loss. "I don't want to take anything away from North Carolina or our performance. Sometimes, it's tough to look at the big picture. You have to look at the big picture. We played very well in lots of stretches. As for the end of the game, I thought we were defending a little deep. I just think we're getting a little tired and we weren't getting enough pressure higher up the field. We weren't doing a good enough job of keeping when we won it. But that's soccer."
UNC put a barrage of shots toward Jordan Nytes. The Tar Heels fired 22 shots on the day, landing 12 on target. Nytes turned away 10 shots, a career-high for her as a Buff.
Colorado closes the opening weekend with the split, having opened the season with a 3-0 win over Marquette on Thursday.
"I thought we got better," Sanchez said of the team's improvements from Thursday to Sunday. "Anyone that was watching, I think, could see that. I thought there were some really good individual performances today. It was a tough day for both teams but I was pleased with a majority of the game with how we defended. The clock wouldn't go fast enough in the end."
How it Happened
The Tar Heels gradually built up their offense in the first half, outshooting Colorado 11-7. But the Buffs registered the match's first scoring chance with a shot from Hope Leyba in the 16th minute. UNC landed its first shot on target in the 18th minute and broke the stalemate with a goal from Bella Gaetino in the 28th minute.
North Carolina closed the first half with two more scoring chances, but Nytes was able to make saves on both attempts to keep the Buffs within striking distance.
Colorado got the equalizer on its first shot of the second half, a left-footed blast from James in the 53rd minute. Juliauna Hayward forced a UNC turnover in its zone and played the ball to James, who was cutting to the middle of the field. She fired the shot across her body, beating UNC keeper Clare Gagne for her first of the season.
James' goal draws her one goal closer to tying Nikki Marshall (42) for the all-time lead.
Nytes made save-after-save in the second half, keeping the Buffs and Tar Heels even until Colorado broke through again in the 74th minute.
CU earned a free kick in the UNC zone, and Rachel Rosen perfectly served up the ball to H. Leyba. Leyba deflected the ball on the net, forcing a diving save by Gagne. The rebound chance squeaked towards the far post where Moschetti was waiting, ready to fire into the open net, giving Colorado a 2-1 lead with 16 minutes to play.
The Buffs went into defensive mode in the final minutes, trying to preserve the lead. Nytes made three more saves as UNC began to play with more urgency.
The Tar Heels finally broke through again in the 88th minute when Olivia Thomas battled into the box and fired a shot on Nytes, who made the initial save. The rebound went across the goal to the far post, where Faasse slipped in behind the defense for the goal.
Two minutes later, Faasse again was in the right place at the right time, deflecting a ball from Tessa Dellarose into the net for the final blow.
Up Next
The Buffs will close their four-game homestand to start the season with matches against Wyoming (Thurs.) and Michigan (Sun.).
Quotes
Head coach Danny Sanchez
On the final minutes: "You start looking at the clock and you see it ticking down. All you didn't want to do is get rid of it and we needed to do a better job of keeping it. We were under so much pressure late in the game. A great save from Jordi and a tap in, then the last goal it just hit the player. Disheartening from that sense, but I'm already going to choose to look at the positive."
On taking the positives: "This performance vs Thursday was like a different sport. We knew that they [UNC] were going to get tired, and they did. We knew that the second half would be our time. A very nice goal from Shyra and Juliauna doing the work defensively – Shyra doing what she does. The second goal was a great goal, Jelly [Moschetti] getting forward in a nice classy finish. We just didn't do enough at the end to get the result."
On moving forward: "Like I told the team before the game. It's still 17 games after this, and we're going to have some big games coming up starting next Thursday. We can feel sorry for ourselves for a little bit. I've been doing this for a long time and these things tend to even out. These things tend to kind of go the other way. At some point, we'll get a result late, kind of maybe from nothing. We'll bounce back. We'll be fine."
On the Prentup Field crowd: "That was awesome. I just want to thank the community and marketing and everybody who did a great job of getting everybody out for this match. It'd be fun to play in front of this every time. We know that's not necessarily the case, but we hope the fans enjoyed themselves and saw some super-talented young women out there. We hope to see them again on Thursday night."
Notes
The Buffs fall to 0-7-0 all-time against UNC…The two Colorado goals on Sunday were the first two goals the Buffs have recorded in seven matches against North Carolina…Colorado is 0-8-1 against top 10 opponents since its last win over No. 10 California (Mar. 5, 2021)…Faasse's game-winning goal (GWG) at 89:19 is the second-latest GWG allowed in program history (89:57, Eva van Deursen, ASU Sept. 23, 2022)…Sunday's crowd was the eighth-largest crowd in Prentup Field history (1,876).
Team Stats
UNC
COLO
Goals
3
2
Shots
23
11
Shots on Goal
13
5
Saves
3
10
Corners
4
2
Fouls
3
8
Scoring Plays
Bella Gaetino (1)
Assisted By: Olivia Thomas
GOAL by UNC Gaetino, Bella Assist by Thomas, Olivia.
27:32
Shyra James (1)
Assisted By: Juliauna Hayward
GOAL by COLO James, Shyra Assist by Hayward, Juliauna.
52:57
Angelina Moschetti (1)
Assisted By: Hope Leyba
GOAL by COLO Moschetti, Angelina Assist by Leyba, Hope.
73:25
Kate Faasse (2)
Assisted By: Olivia Thomas
GOAL by UNC Faasse, Kate Assist by Thomas, Olivia.
87:14
Kate Faasse (2)
Assisted By: Tessa Dellarose
GOAL by UNC Faasse, Kate Assist by Dellarose, Tessa.
89:19
Game Leaders
Players
Shots
1
SOG
1
Goals
1
Assists
0
Shots
1
SOG
1
Goals
1
Assists
0
fwd
Shots
4
SOG
3
Goals
0
Assists
1
Shots
1
SOG
0
Goals
0
Assists
1
Players Mentioned
M
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