No. 22 Soccer Upsets No. 10 Texas 1-0

Friday, October 10

Boulder, Colo.

4 p.m.

Colorado

10-2-2, 4-1-1Big 12

Texas

8-2-2, 1-2-1Big 12

Team	1	2	Final F
Texas	0	0	0
Colorado	0	1	1

Photo by: Tony Harman

October 10, 2008 | Soccer

Box Score

By: Aaron Lopez, Denver Nuggets

BOULDER - 10's were wild for the University of Colorado women's soccer team as the Buffaloes notched their 10th win of the season here Friday, Oct. 10, defeating the 10th-ranked University of Texas 1-0.

With the win, Colorado improves to 10-2-2, 4-1-1 Big 12, while Texas drops to 8-2-2, 1-2-1 Big 12.

"Any win this time of the year is a big win," said head coach Bill Hempen. "We just played a really good team and played a solid game. More often than not, the home team usually comes out on top during these types of games. I'm excited about getting a big win against such a good Texas team."

The Buffs almost took the lead in the first half on a Nikki Marshall goal, but the attempt was called back due to an offside violation. Sophomore Kym Lowry carried a ball down the left side of the field and crossed it to Marshall in the Texas box. Marshall, unmarked in the middle, headed the ball into the back of the net but the goal was called back, and both teams were left scoreless going into the half.

The first half proved to be very evenly matched as Colorado and Texas both managed just five shots each. Colorado goalkeeper Kirstin Radlinski was only forced to make one save while Texas keeper Dianna Pfenniger recorded two.

CU came out in the second half determined to take the game from the Longhorns. Senior Gianna DeSaverio almost netted her seventh goal of the year when freshman Kate Russell sent her a through ball in the Longhorn box. DeSaverio took a couple of quick touches and blasted a shot on the ground towards the back post, but missed just wide.

Colorado would finally get on the board as the Buffs turn to their leading scorer in the 74th minute of the game to break the tie. Marshall took a flawless pass down the middle from senior midfielder Nikki Keller. With two defenders pressuring her, Marshall used her speed to split between both of them and kicked a high ball over the Longhorn goalkeeper's head into the upper 90 of the goal for the 1-0 lead with 16 minutes to play.

"It started with Nikki Keller making a pass with the perfect amount of pace," said Marshall. "I don't think I've ever seen a prettier ball than that. It was perfect for me to dummy, so I did that, spun out, and relied on my speed to beat the defense. I got free and the left side of the net was open and I put it in."

With the goal, Marshall now owns 32 career goals and is currently tied with former Buff Katie Griffin as CU's all-time leading goal scorer. Griffin finished her career with 32 goals over the span of four years, but Marshall has the strong potential to break the school record as a junior. The goal also proved to be the eventual game-winner and Marshall is now the all-time leader in the career game-winner category with 14.

"Nikki's a thoroughbred," said Hempen. "When she gets in a gap, she just pulls away. That's a great goal for her to remember tying this record by. She really needed that too, and that was just a great goal."

The Buffs were able to keep Texas from equalizing the game for the remaining 16 minutes as CU's keeper Radlinski notched her second shutout in as many games. Friday also marked the first Colorado win over Texas since Nov. 4, 2005, when CU won 3-2 (2OT) to advance to the championship game of the 2005 Big 12 Tournament.

"The win is huge, and beating Texas is awesome," said Marshall. "It is a good win for us, but anything can happen; Nebraska beat Texas last week. Our conference has so many tough teams, with teams winning and losing all over the place, so we can't take anything for granted as we continue to move through the schedule."

"We wanted to attack as much as we could," said senior defender Michelle Wenino. "We knew we could outmatch their team and we used our wings wisely, one-touched the ball well, and connected passes. It was just a great team effort overall."

Colorado will wrap up the weekend on Sunday, Oct. 12 when they host Baylor at 1 p.m. at Prentup Field. As always, admission and parking are free.