SOCCER FALLS 2-0 TO BYU IN NCAA OPENER

Thursday, November 13

Salt Lake City, Utah

11:00 a.m.

Colorado

15-4-1

BYU (1st Round)

15-6-2

Brigham Young

Colorado

Photo by: CUBuffs.com

November 13, 2003 | Soccer

Box Score

By: CUBuffs.com

SALT LAKE CITY - The greatest season in No. 10 seeded and 14th ranked University of Colorado soccer history came to a close here Thursday when the Buffs christened the 2003 NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Championships, but fell short of winning the tournament's first game when the Buffs were blanked by Brigham Young 2-0 in their first ever appearance in the championships at the Ute Soccer Field.

Colorado closes out the 2003 season with a 15-4-1 overall record and will take with it the Big 12 Conference regular season title, 20 tied or better school individual, team and class records and the program's first NCAA Tournament bid.

"We were emotionally prepared," said Big 12 Coach of the Year Bill Hempen. "Physically, I don't know that we'd seen a team as physical as BYU from the get go. But once we matched that aspect of their game, it became their will against our will.

"Their experience (of being to seven straight NCAA Tournaments and CU making its first) had something to do with it. They knew what was at stake. And as much as we would have liked to play at home, I'm not sure that it would have made a difference."

Early morning rain and temperatures in the 40s gave way to partly sunny skies by game time, but a cloud continued to hover over the Buffs who found it hard to create any offense.

An NCAA veteran BYU squad pressured Colorado hard and early and the effort paid off as BYU's Terra Bigelow put the Cougars on the scoreboard when a throw in even with the 18 to Lydia Ojuka was crossed by Ojuka off the right flank to Bigelow who one timed it from 15 yards into the left corner past a diving Jessica Keller in the 11th minute.

Colorado crossed midfield several times after the score, but couldn't convert any offensive opportunities. The Buffs strongest chance at that point of the game was a Darci Smerchek pass on the left flank to Katie Griffin, whose cross in the 22nd minute trickled over the end line for a goal kick.

The Cougars had chances to run away with the game. In the 23rd minute, a combination play between Krissa Campbell, Jaime Rendich and Ojuka had Ojuka faking CU's Munnelly at the elbow of the 18 and Ojuka's shot from 15 yards sailed just high of the crossbar. Two straight BYU corner kicks followed, but were cleared by the CU defense, but followed in the 28th minute by a shot from Rendich that went just wide of the left post as did a BYU shot in the 30th minute.

BYU came out of the second half the way the ended the first, on the offensive, but not without the Buffs having to say something about it and the CU defense making some stands to make the Cougars work for the win.

In the 46th minute, CU senior Orly Ripmaster tried to make a statement when she followed a pass from 25 yards out into the goal box and pressured BYU keeper Ashley Smith who snatched the ball as Ripmaster was getting a foot on it.

In the 48th minute, a Rendich header was picked up by second-team All-Big 12 selection Laura Munnelly off the post and out of bounds, which set up a BYU corner which was eventually knocked out of play by Jessica Keller who also denied Ojuka on a header on the right post.

A minute later, Fran Munnelly's shot within the 18 was picked off by Smith just under the crossbar as CU's attempt to tie the game fell short.

Keller would reject Ojuka's next two scoring attempts as Ojuka's pass to Rendich, which was picked up Keller off the right post and in the 66th minute a bullet from point blank range from Ojuka was rebounded by Keller for her seventh of eight second half saves. Buff Ashlie Mihalcin picked up her last team save of the season when she took a ball off the goal line as it approached the left post from the other side of the field.

Keller came up big again in the 69th minute as BYU leading scorer Aleisha Rose's header was picked off by Keller just under the crossbar.

A CU restart with a goal kick from Jessica Keller to Alyssa Burgess on the left flank saw the Buffs' strongest second half opportunity to knot the game at a goal apiece begin to unfold. Burgess served Kathryn Grandinetti, who crossed it to Fran Munnelly at 8 yards out and her one-time shot nailed the crossbar and was sent back into play before it was cleared by the BYU defense in the 82nd minute.

"An almost score should have been a certain. It would have been a 1-1 game and it would have been a whole new game," said Big 12 Player of the Year Fran Munnelly. "It's hard to come this far and in 90 minutes have it taken away. It's a good learning experience and until next year we'll have to keep it in the backs of our minds."

BYU deflated the Buffs' hopes for a late game comeback, as with under three minutes to play when a Rose to Annie Zwahlen serve down the right flank who crossed it to Jennifer Fielding, who had just entered the game 10 minutes earlier, one timed it into the right corner of the net in the 87th minute, sending the Buffs back to Boulder after putting the game's last play in the books, a Fran Munnelly corner kick.

"They were in control of situations, and we just didn't control," said co-captain Jen Thais. We needed to settle down because during the times that we did (settle down), we played our game."

BYU's control of the game was evident as the Cougars had outshot the Buffs 17-7 (12-5 in the second half) and forced Keller to make a career high 9 saves off 11 shots on goal to Smith's 1.

"It was unfortunate. Our defense played as hard as we can, but their defense played just as well," said Keller who was named to the Big 12 Conference's All-Newcomer Team earlier this season. "We're greedy. We're not satisfied to be 0-2 in the postseason where seedings and rankings really go away."

With the 2003 season in the books, Hempen, Keller, Munnelly and Thais can look ahead to the 2004 campaign where they return all but Ripmaster from the starting lineup and lose additional seniors Heather Hawkins and Emily Barnes.

"We have to get better," said Hempen. "We were great during the regular season, not so great in the postseason. It will be great to have everyone back with the experienced that they've gained this year. The challenge now is for us to hopefully be sitting here first next year instead of second," he said on being the winning team that enters the interview tent first.