No. 1 North Carolina Edges CU Women's Soccer

BOULDER, Colo. - The University of Colorado women's soccer team, playing the first game of only its third season of existence and in front of a school-record crowd of 3,000, displayed a stingy defense and stellar goalkeeping Friday before falling to defending national champion and current No. 1 North Carolina, 2-0.

Consider: Carolina, winners of 15 of the last 17 national championships, has played to an incredible 417-16-11 (.952) record over the last 20 seasons. Colorado, conversely, has only two seasons of Division I competition under its belt. Count Tar Heel head coach Anson Dorrance among those impressed with the Buffalo effort.

"I was really impressed with the game CU played," Dorrance said. "For a developing program, they played very well- it's a tremendous credit to their program. Their goalkeeper was outstanding."

That keeper, Colorado senior and co-captain Sloane Cox, recorded 14 saves against the vaunted Carolina offense, including a diving save of a penalty kick in the game's 30th minute.

"I'm so confident in our team, it adds to the confidence I have in myself," Cox said. "When our team is on, nothing can get by me."

All told, Carolina recorded 23 shots in the game to Colorado's three, but the outstanding play of Cox and a CU defense spearheaded by Lauren Kulmann, Kendall Pata and Sarah Nowfel kept the Buffaloes in the game until the final gun. The Tarheels' tallies came in the game's 13th and 33rd minutes, goals by Cindy Parlow and Jenn Kluegel, respectively, but the suffocating Buffalo defensive effort then tightened, holding one of the most dominating teams in college athletics scoreless for the final 57 minutes of the contest.

"We tried to play low pressure and then counterattack, which is tough, but we couldn't let them open up," Colorado head coach Austin Daniels said. "We tried to pressure them, but they're a good team."

Still, Daniels said, he was pleased with his squad's effort. "We are not ashamed of this loss at all," Daniels said.

Next up for Colorado (0-1-0) will be a game Sunday against George Washington (0-2-0) at the Pleasant View Soccer Complex in North Boulder at 2 p.m. MST, the second half of a double header that begins with a Colorado College (2-0-0)/North Carolina (1-0-0) matchup at 11 a.m. Like all CU home games, admission to both games will be free.

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Team Stats

Shawn Kenyon

Melissa Cartmell

Players Mentioned

Sloane Cox

Lauren Kulmann

Sarah Nowfel

Kendall Pata

Players Mentioned

Sloane Cox

Lauren Kulmann

Sarah Nowfel

Kendall Pata