Leyba’s Hat Trick Shines in Buffs' Rout of Rams

BOULDER, Colo. – Colorado exploded for its most goals in 21 seasons, taking it to the visiting Fordham Rams Thursday night at Prentup Field. Hope Leyba led the charge with her first-career hat trick in the 7-1 dismantling.

Colorado (2-0-1) started with three forwards, Leyba, Jace Holley and Emerson Layne up top in the formation for the first time this season. All three forwards recorded goals, with Layne putting in two of her own. Holley scored her third goal of the season and handed out a career-high three assists.

"I think it's clicking with the three up top," Holley said after the win. "I think it's a big improvement from when we had two up top, because we're all great players and we really connect well together."

Leyba's career night marked just the eighth hat trick in the Buffs' 30-year history. It is the second in as many seasons, with Shyra James putting up three goals last season against Wyoming. Leyba's three-goal effort on Thursday adds to her hot start to the season, with five goals in the opening three games.

"I feel awesome," Leyba noted. "I feel like in the past, it's been a little rough for me. I just feel like God has never failed me. This is just a great feeling. I'm so happy."

Senior Josie Master accounted the seventh goal of the night with her first career tally in the closing minutes of the contest.

"That was so awesome," Leyba added. "I was so excited. That was the best moment of the game."

How it happened
Leyba got the night started, scoring on CU's first shot of the night in the 10th minute. She took the feed from freshman Lilian Zamorano and cut in the near side of the box, slotting her shot inside the far post for the early lead.

Holley scored similarly to her first goal against Air Force last Sunday, beating the keeper to the near post from distance, notching the eventual game-winner in the 19th minute. Layne followed suit with her two goals, the first a header on rebound off the crossbar in the 22nd minute. She got on the board again in the 30th minute, slamming a shot off the right post as the Buffs took a 4-0 lead into the break.

"It wasn't like we had a million chances," head coach Danny Sanchez explained. "We were very efficient in front of the goal. Everyone got a lot of playing time. There really was no drop off. We're really pleased with the performance tonight."

Leyba completed her hat trick, finishing a long feed in from Holley in the 54th minute, and then scored through traffic with a turnaround shot off a corner kick two minutes later in the 56th minute.

"I think it's just my mindset," Leyba added about her hot start to the season. "Every time I step on the field, I just know I'm going to score. Our defense is doing a great job in the midfield, and it's just all clicking."

Fordham (1-1-0) broke the shutout in the 74th minute, converting on a turnover in CU's zone and Master put a bow on the night with her breakaway goal in the 89th minute.

Up Next
Colorado continues its homestand with UNC Greensboro on Sunday (Noon).

Notes
CU's four goals in the first half tied for the fifth most in program history…the team's 12 individual points in the first half were tied for the seventh most in team history…Colorado's seven goals tied for the second most in program history and were the most since scoring seven against Texas Tech (Oct. 17, 2004)…Holley's three assists are tied for the second most in a game, last done by Taylor Kornieck (Sept. 21, 2018)…Leyba's six points are tied for the fifth most in a match in program history…Layne and Leybe became the first CU duo to score multiple goals in a game since James and Layne each had two goals against Texas A&M Commerce (Sept. 1, 2022)...Freshmen Zamorano and Ruby Hayward each recorded their first career point.

Quotes
Head coach Danny Sanchez
On the switch to the 4-3-3: "Getting a couple [goals] early really put them [Fordham] under pressure. I want to give credit to Fordham for traveling across the country to play a match and then having to turn around and play again on Saturday. They had a great chance when it was 1-0, but we dealt with that. At the end of the day, we were very good going forward. You're not always going to get seven, but if we create this many chances, we're going to get a few."

On Jace Holley: "She's a great player and we know that. She's versatile. She's playing one spot, but she can play another spot. We'll move her around as the season goes along. That assist to Hope was just a quality ball. Great vision, great texture on the ball. Just a great person and teammate, too. That's kind of the standard for us."

For more information on Colorado Soccer, please visit cubuffs.com/soccer. Fans of the Buffs can follow @cubuffssoccer on Instagram, X, TikTok and Facebook.

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Team Stats

Hope Leyba

Jace Holley

Emerson Layne

Josie Master

Players Mentioned

Ruby Hayward

Jace Holley

Shyra James

Emerson Layne

Hope Leyba

Josie Master

Lilian Zamorano

Players Mentioned

Ruby Hayward

Jace Holley

Shyra James

Emerson Layne

Hope Leyba

Josie Master

Lilian Zamorano