Soccer Moves To First With 1-0 Win over KU

BOULDER - Sophomore Lindsey Ralph led the Buffaloes with her first career goal in the 1-0 win over Kansas to move the Buffs alone into first place in the Big 12 Conference. It was a day of firsts for the Buffs as they celebrated Senior Day in front of a season-high crowd of 1,305 at Prentup Field Sunday afternoon.

"This game was two teams with the exact same record, one trying to get one up on the other," said Colorado head coach Bill Hempen.

A defensive battle for 90 minutes, Colorado improves to 9-5-2 overall, 5-2 in Big 12 play while the Jayhawks drop to 8-6-2 and 4-3-1 in the conference. With the win, Colorado jumps into first place by themselves as Nebraska fell in overtime to Texas and Texas A&M tied Oklahoma State in double overtime.

The game saw lots of physical play, none more so than in the first half. Just six minutes into the game, CU senior goalkeeper Jessica Keller came off the line to challenge KU forward Caroline Smith. Keller successfully cleared the ball out of the box, but she was carried off the field with what was later diagnosed as a broken ankle. Keller was replaced by freshman Kirstin Radlinski, who proved ready to step up to the challenge.

"I was shocked and surprised (to see Keller go down)," said Radlinski. "I felt for her. I obviously look up to her a lot and right then I knew that I needed to step it up and play for the team, play for the seniors, and especially play for Keller."

Radlinski passed the test. She finished with five saves and helped hold down the defense, who kept the Jayhawks to nine shots in the first half, only two of which were on goal. In front of Radlinski, Colorado's offense was able to match Kansas in shots in the first half and placed six shots on goal.

"For a freshman, who's played 20 minutes (in her career before today), I think she handled it pretty well," commended Hempen. "She proved a lot today."

Early in the second half, sophomore Lindsey Ralph had an opportunity to score when she got her foot on a loose ball near the left side of the penalty box, but her shot was denied by the left goal post. However, just three minutes later, Ralph came back strong off the missed opportunity and netted her first career goal, which proved to be the game-winner in the match. Senior Fran Munnelly brought the ball up the field and took a shot on KU keeper Julie Hanley. Hanley saved the shot but was unable to keep control of the ball and Ralph was on the receiving end of the deflection, putting the ball in the net, giving CU the 1-0 lead.

"It was very exciting," said Ralph. "I saw that the goalie had dropped it and I remember running across, watching Fran's shot and I just followed it in."

It was a complete team effort for CU in the exciting 1-0 win over Kansas, as the Buffaloes honored seniors Fran Munnelly, Tricia Regan, Darci Smerchek, Jessica Keller and Kathryn Grandinetti in their final home game this season. The class of 2005 is on track to go down as the first CU class to string together four winning seasons and with a 49-23-7 overall mark, they are the winningest class in CU history. A senior day win that puts them in first place in the Big 12 conference is just another added bonus to today's excitement.

"We went out the best way possible," said Munnelly. "We won and we played really well."

Today marks the first time since Sept. 8, 1996 (three games into the inaugural season and a record of 1-1-1 all time) that the Buffs have been over .500 as a program. Hempen has officially guided this program back from 36-53-5 when he took over to 88-87-14 today.

With Keller out for the rest of the season due to her broken ankle, she wraps up a solid career having made a name for herself all over the CU goalkeeping record books. Keller is tops among all CU keepers all time in goals against average with 0.83, wins with 26 and shutouts with 16.

The Buffaloes will now finish up the regular season with three games on the road in Texas, taking on Texas A&M (4-2-1 Big 12) and Baylor on October 21 and 23, respectively, and will wrap up conference play at Texas Tech on Friday, October 28. Colorado is alone atop the conference standings by virtue of an A&M tie with Oklahoma State and a Nebraska loss at Texas.

Next Event

Team Stats

Lindsey Ralph

Fran Munnelly

Allison Kidd

Ashlie Mihalcin

Players Mentioned

Kathryn Grandinetti

Jessica Keller

Fran Munnelly

Kirstin Radlinski

Lindsey Ralph

Tricia Regan

Darci Smerchek

Players Mentioned

Kathryn Grandinetti

Jessica Keller

Fran Munnelly

Kirstin Radlinski

Lindsey Ralph

Tricia Regan

Darci Smerchek