Colorado University Athletics
Friday, October 7
Austin, Texas
6:00 PM
Colorado
6-5-2, 3-2-0Big 12
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Texas
5-6-1, 2-3-0Big 12
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Colorado
2
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2
Texas
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Photo by: CUBuffs.com
Soccer Beats Texas 2-0
October 07, 2005 | Soccer
AUSTIN, Texas - The University of Colorado women's soccer team jumped out to an early lead and never relinquished it, shutting out the University of Texas by a score of 2-0 here Friday night, just the second loss for UT in 19 home contests.
CU head coach Bill Hempen was fired up after his team's performance, particularly about the play of his senior class.
"They played like women tonight...like women in control," said Hempen. "Ashlie (Mihalcin) played 90 minutes for the first time in a long time. Fran was in control. Jessie was on the money, Darci (Smerchek) did a great job. The seniors played like they knew how to win this game and they wanted to win and felt that way when they stepped on the field."
Colorado grabbed the lead right away, thanks to two of its younger players, when sophomore Allison Kidd notched her first goal of the season at the 21:35 mark of the first half. Kidd, a native of Mesquite, Texas, scored on a shot from the top right side of the penalty box off a pass from freshman Nikki Keller. Kidd raced down the right flank of the field, took the ball from Keller, cut it back, and ripped a left footed shot to the upper 90 on the opposite side of goal.
The Buffs would get a quick insurance goal when senior Hermann Trophy candidate Fran Munnelly took a pass from her sister, Laura, and dribbled up the field and fired a shot from 20 yards out that ricocheted off a Texas defender and into the goal, giving the Buffs a 2-0 lead at the 31:20 mark. It was Munnelly's team-high sixth goal of the season, and marks the fifth time in as many games that the senior has registered a point on either a goal or an assist, and it is her second-straight game with a goal.
Texas registered six shots in the first half, two of them on goal, challenging CU senior goalkeeper Jessie Keller to make two saves. CU had three shots, just two of them on the frame and both of them goals.
"Jessie was back to form, full on tonight," said Hempen from the team hotel in Austin. "There was never a question of what was going to happen when she made decisions. She was spot on. Keller made a point blank save off a great cross at a key point in the first half and we took over from there. We knew we had to get one back after the Nebraska loss and that we would have to do it on the road. It was a tough place to try and take it and we did it. It was well-deserved."
As it turned out, the two first half goals were all Colorado would need. Texas finished the game with 14 shots, just three on goal. All three of those shots on goal were saved by Keller, who was tested on several crosses as well on a very cold and rainy night. She characterized it as her most active game in college.
"I had to come out on a lot of crosses and punch out a lot of corners and crosses and shoulder some balls out of the last third of the field," said Keller. "Every time I was out of the net I had six players behind me on the goal line so it was very well organized. Defensively it was an entire team effort and we were very on. It's such a hard place to play. They were so good, and so athletic. They played good balls and had good chances but we just found a way. We outplayed and outhustled them when we really needed to. It was a good win for us. It was an absolute team effort.
"First of all it must be said that (Jessie) Keller is an absolute stud," said Munnelly. "She had a monster of a game. Second, we finished our opportunities, which is something we haven't done. Kidd had a great goal. It's a culmination of what we've been working on this season and I feel like things are finally falling into place."
The finishing from the Buffalo offense was particularly impressive, given that CU has struggled to convert their chances in the last two contests, beating OSU just 1-0 and falling to OU in overtime 2-1 despite getting 20 shots in the game.
This marks CU's second win over Texas in the series. The Buffaloes are unbeaten in their last three contests with UT, winning the last two games in Austin.
Colorado (6-5-2, 3-2 Big 12) will now return home to the state to see if they can carry that momentum on, traveling to Greeley this Sunday, October 9 at 1 p.m. to take on the Northern Colorado Bears. It will be just the third meeting between the two schools, with CU owning a 2-0 lead in the series.
CU head coach Bill Hempen was fired up after his team's performance, particularly about the play of his senior class.
"They played like women tonight...like women in control," said Hempen. "Ashlie (Mihalcin) played 90 minutes for the first time in a long time. Fran was in control. Jessie was on the money, Darci (Smerchek) did a great job. The seniors played like they knew how to win this game and they wanted to win and felt that way when they stepped on the field."
Colorado grabbed the lead right away, thanks to two of its younger players, when sophomore Allison Kidd notched her first goal of the season at the 21:35 mark of the first half. Kidd, a native of Mesquite, Texas, scored on a shot from the top right side of the penalty box off a pass from freshman Nikki Keller. Kidd raced down the right flank of the field, took the ball from Keller, cut it back, and ripped a left footed shot to the upper 90 on the opposite side of goal.
The Buffs would get a quick insurance goal when senior Hermann Trophy candidate Fran Munnelly took a pass from her sister, Laura, and dribbled up the field and fired a shot from 20 yards out that ricocheted off a Texas defender and into the goal, giving the Buffs a 2-0 lead at the 31:20 mark. It was Munnelly's team-high sixth goal of the season, and marks the fifth time in as many games that the senior has registered a point on either a goal or an assist, and it is her second-straight game with a goal.
Texas registered six shots in the first half, two of them on goal, challenging CU senior goalkeeper Jessie Keller to make two saves. CU had three shots, just two of them on the frame and both of them goals.
"Jessie was back to form, full on tonight," said Hempen from the team hotel in Austin. "There was never a question of what was going to happen when she made decisions. She was spot on. Keller made a point blank save off a great cross at a key point in the first half and we took over from there. We knew we had to get one back after the Nebraska loss and that we would have to do it on the road. It was a tough place to try and take it and we did it. It was well-deserved."
As it turned out, the two first half goals were all Colorado would need. Texas finished the game with 14 shots, just three on goal. All three of those shots on goal were saved by Keller, who was tested on several crosses as well on a very cold and rainy night. She characterized it as her most active game in college.
"I had to come out on a lot of crosses and punch out a lot of corners and crosses and shoulder some balls out of the last third of the field," said Keller. "Every time I was out of the net I had six players behind me on the goal line so it was very well organized. Defensively it was an entire team effort and we were very on. It's such a hard place to play. They were so good, and so athletic. They played good balls and had good chances but we just found a way. We outplayed and outhustled them when we really needed to. It was a good win for us. It was an absolute team effort.
"First of all it must be said that (Jessie) Keller is an absolute stud," said Munnelly. "She had a monster of a game. Second, we finished our opportunities, which is something we haven't done. Kidd had a great goal. It's a culmination of what we've been working on this season and I feel like things are finally falling into place."
The finishing from the Buffalo offense was particularly impressive, given that CU has struggled to convert their chances in the last two contests, beating OSU just 1-0 and falling to OU in overtime 2-1 despite getting 20 shots in the game.
This marks CU's second win over Texas in the series. The Buffaloes are unbeaten in their last three contests with UT, winning the last two games in Austin.
Colorado (6-5-2, 3-2 Big 12) will now return home to the state to see if they can carry that momentum on, traveling to Greeley this Sunday, October 9 at 1 p.m. to take on the Northern Colorado Bears. It will be just the third meeting between the two schools, with CU owning a 2-0 lead in the series.
Team Stats
CU
UT
Goals
2
0
Shots
8
14
Shots on Goal
3
3
Saves
3
1
Corners
3
5
Fouls
9
10
Scoring Plays
Kidd, Allison (4)
Assisted By: Keller, Nikki
from top right of box
21:35
Munnelly, Fran (6)
shot from top of six, deflected off defe
31:20
Game Leaders
Shots
3
SOG
1
Goals
1
Assists
0
Shots
2
SOG
1
Goals
1
Assists
0
Shots
0
SOG
0
Goals
0
Assists
1
Shots
1
SOG
0
Goals
0
Assists
0
Players Mentioned
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