Colorado University Athletics
Friday, October 29
Lincoln, Neb.
6 p.m.
Colorado
13-4-2, 6-3-1Big 12
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at
0
Nebraska
12-7-0, 6-4-0Big 12
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2
F
Colorado
1
1
2
Nebraska
0
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Photo by: CUBuffs.com
SOCCER PICKS UP FIRST WIN IN LINCOLN, 2-0
October 29, 2004 | Soccer
LINCOLN, Neb. - Goals by Maura Gentile and Allie True gave the University of Colorado soccer team a 2-0 win at Nebraska here at the Abbott Sports Complex Friday night handing the Buffs their fifth straight win, fourth shutout, first in Lincoln, and second straight over the Huskers.
The win improves the Buffs to 13-4-2/6-3-1 in Big 12 play and gives the Buffs the No. 3 seed in next week's Big 12 Tournament while Nebraska falls to 12-7/6-4. Colorado's climb to third in the league standings is one that started prior to the Texas A&M/Texas weekend, when the Buffs came into the start of a homestand as the ninth team in the league. The improvement is also a program-long improvement. The Buffs last scored in Lincoln in 1996, so tonight's scores closed the gap on what was a 19-2 Nebraska home scoring spree.
"We came back from Missouri and had to re-evaluate the commitment and effort that goes into demanding excellence from each other and once we got that, things changed," said head coach Bill Hempen.
Motivated by a pregame senior ceremony, Nebraska took the game's opening kickoff and challenged the Buffs early, with the Buffs' defensive stopping several Cornhusker attempts at goal. In the second minute of play Laura Munnelly stopped Brooke Bredenberg's run at goal, in the sixth minute Jessica Keller stopped Sari Raber's shot from the left side of the net and less than a minute later a Nebraska shot was deflected and cleared by Tricia Regan in front of the net.
"We've survived two senior nights on foreign soil and this one was difficult...even for me (on would be Nebraska senior Jenna Cooper's death in April). I had quivers in my throat. But we had to focus and our kids were loose, more so than I would have wanted, and we knew we'd have to play hard and we matched their intensity.
Colorado's Gentile broke the silence, taking an Ashlie Mihalcin serve at a crowded 18 and putting her second career goal into the far low left corner past Nebraska keeper Katie Wright in the 37th minute.
"I'm very excited and this just pumps me out," said Gentile, an Austin, Texas native who returns home for next week's tournament. "It will be nice to play in a familiar place."
The Buffs would go into the halftime break with some motivation of their own with the 1-0 lead, and the 7-4 edge in shots, including the league's leader in shots, goals and assists, Brittany Timko, to just one shot when she averages nearly five a match.
The Buffs came out in the second half the way they went into halftime, and in the 47th minute, Mihalcin took the ball 20 yards through the NU defense and her shot from inside the 18 sent Wright diving to the right post to make the save, but gave up a rebound which was picked up by Jen Thais and her shot for the attempt at the putback went high.
True gave the Buffs some breathing room in the 66th minute when a Kathryn Grandinetti serve from the far left flank to the far post met up with a Katie Griffin header that fell short of scoring when True collected the ball and put it into the left corner of the net giving the Buffs a 2-0 lead, marking the first time in 16 games (Aug. 29 vs. Creighton) that the Huskers were behind by a pair of scores. By the final buzzer it would be their first two-goal loss of the season.
"I knew when I scored, we'd win," said True.
The Buffs would manage to hold the Cornhuskers for the game's final 14 minutes and give Keller her 11th shutout of the season, her own school record that she keeps bettering. Since getting scored on in the first half against Baylor, she has gone 409 minutes without giving up a goal.
Colorado took 16 of the game's 15 shots, forcing each keeper to make five saves, a combined seven in the second stanza.
"They are making things easy on me. It's not just our back four (defenders), it's starting from the top. It's the forwards, the midfield and our defense. Team are having to work through 11 players to get by us which gives us a lot of energy and motivation."
With the regular season in the books, Colorado kicks off postseason play Wednesday, Nov. 3 at the Big 12 Tournament in San Antonio, Texas. The No. 3 seed, the Buffs will play sixth-seeded Missouri at 6:30 p.m. (MT) Wednesday at the Blossom Soccer Stadium. It will be the third straight opening round matchup between the two programs, with the Buffs winning 1-0 in 2001 and then-No. 8 seeded MU upending the regular season Big 12 Champion Colorado a year ago, 2-0.
"You can't pick and choose who you play. There seems to be some kind of destiny between us. We'll see what happens this time," ended Hempen.
The win improves the Buffs to 13-4-2/6-3-1 in Big 12 play and gives the Buffs the No. 3 seed in next week's Big 12 Tournament while Nebraska falls to 12-7/6-4. Colorado's climb to third in the league standings is one that started prior to the Texas A&M/Texas weekend, when the Buffs came into the start of a homestand as the ninth team in the league. The improvement is also a program-long improvement. The Buffs last scored in Lincoln in 1996, so tonight's scores closed the gap on what was a 19-2 Nebraska home scoring spree.
"We came back from Missouri and had to re-evaluate the commitment and effort that goes into demanding excellence from each other and once we got that, things changed," said head coach Bill Hempen.
Motivated by a pregame senior ceremony, Nebraska took the game's opening kickoff and challenged the Buffs early, with the Buffs' defensive stopping several Cornhusker attempts at goal. In the second minute of play Laura Munnelly stopped Brooke Bredenberg's run at goal, in the sixth minute Jessica Keller stopped Sari Raber's shot from the left side of the net and less than a minute later a Nebraska shot was deflected and cleared by Tricia Regan in front of the net.
"We've survived two senior nights on foreign soil and this one was difficult...even for me (on would be Nebraska senior Jenna Cooper's death in April). I had quivers in my throat. But we had to focus and our kids were loose, more so than I would have wanted, and we knew we'd have to play hard and we matched their intensity.
Colorado's Gentile broke the silence, taking an Ashlie Mihalcin serve at a crowded 18 and putting her second career goal into the far low left corner past Nebraska keeper Katie Wright in the 37th minute.
"I'm very excited and this just pumps me out," said Gentile, an Austin, Texas native who returns home for next week's tournament. "It will be nice to play in a familiar place."
The Buffs would go into the halftime break with some motivation of their own with the 1-0 lead, and the 7-4 edge in shots, including the league's leader in shots, goals and assists, Brittany Timko, to just one shot when she averages nearly five a match.
The Buffs came out in the second half the way they went into halftime, and in the 47th minute, Mihalcin took the ball 20 yards through the NU defense and her shot from inside the 18 sent Wright diving to the right post to make the save, but gave up a rebound which was picked up by Jen Thais and her shot for the attempt at the putback went high.
True gave the Buffs some breathing room in the 66th minute when a Kathryn Grandinetti serve from the far left flank to the far post met up with a Katie Griffin header that fell short of scoring when True collected the ball and put it into the left corner of the net giving the Buffs a 2-0 lead, marking the first time in 16 games (Aug. 29 vs. Creighton) that the Huskers were behind by a pair of scores. By the final buzzer it would be their first two-goal loss of the season.
"I knew when I scored, we'd win," said True.
The Buffs would manage to hold the Cornhuskers for the game's final 14 minutes and give Keller her 11th shutout of the season, her own school record that she keeps bettering. Since getting scored on in the first half against Baylor, she has gone 409 minutes without giving up a goal.
Colorado took 16 of the game's 15 shots, forcing each keeper to make five saves, a combined seven in the second stanza.
"They are making things easy on me. It's not just our back four (defenders), it's starting from the top. It's the forwards, the midfield and our defense. Team are having to work through 11 players to get by us which gives us a lot of energy and motivation."
With the regular season in the books, Colorado kicks off postseason play Wednesday, Nov. 3 at the Big 12 Tournament in San Antonio, Texas. The No. 3 seed, the Buffs will play sixth-seeded Missouri at 6:30 p.m. (MT) Wednesday at the Blossom Soccer Stadium. It will be the third straight opening round matchup between the two programs, with the Buffs winning 1-0 in 2001 and then-No. 8 seeded MU upending the regular season Big 12 Champion Colorado a year ago, 2-0.
"You can't pick and choose who you play. There seems to be some kind of destiny between us. We'll see what happens this time," ended Hempen.
Team Stats
CU
NU
Goals
2
0
Shots
16
15
Shots on Goal
7
5
Saves
5
5
Corners
3
3
Fouls
2
8
Scoring Plays
Gentile, Maura (2)
Assisted By: Mihalcin, Ashlie
37:25
True, Allie (2)
Assisted By: Griffin, Katie , Grandinetti, Kathryn
66:46
Game Leaders
Shots
5
SOG
3
Goals
1
Assists
0
Shots
1
SOG
1
Goals
1
Assists
0
Shots
2
SOG
1
Goals
0
Assists
1
Shots
2
SOG
1
Goals
0
Assists
1
Players Mentioned
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