No. 22 Soccer Tops Baylor 4-0

Sunday, October 12

Boulder, Colo.

1 p.m.

Colorado

11-2-2, 5-1-1Big 12

Baylor

5-7-2, 1-3-1Big 12

Baylor

Colorado

Photo by: Tony Harman

October 12, 2008 | Soccer

Box Score

By: Aaron Lopez, Denver Nuggets

BOULDER - The No. 22 University of Colorado women's soccer team recorded its third shutout win in as many games as the Buffaloes claimed a 4-0 victory over the Baylor Bears here Sunday afternoon.

With the win, Colorado improves to 11-2-2, 5-1-1 in Big 12 play, while Baylor falls to 5-7-2, and 1-3-1 in the Big 12.

The Buffs would take the lead in the fourth minute of the game and never look back as CU's Alex Cousins carried the ball into the goal box and dished it to fellow senior Nikki Keller. Keller, pressured by a pair of Baylor defenders from behind, dropped a pass back to Gianna DeSaverio who put the ball away in the back of the net for the early 1-0 Buffalo lead.

Colorado, despite taking 19 shots in the half, was unable to get on the board again in the remaining 41 minutes of first half play. The CU defense, however, was too much for the Bears as they kept BU from taking a single shot in the first 63 minutes of the game.

"At halftime I told them that they were one mistake from being tied," said Hempen. "They played well in the first half, but they just had to maintain their focus and intensity during the second period and we did."

"In the first half, we were moving the ball around great, but we just couldn't finish," said Keller. "We kept our focus in the second half and things started falling into place."

The second half proved to be a different story than the first for Colorado and CU made its mark on the early side once again. Just six minutes into the half, DeSaverio crossed a ball on the ground that carried across the Baylor goal. Freshman midfielder Kelly Butler was on the back post and took a quick shot, followed up the initial save and took another shot, which was blocked. Keller snuck into the box and immediately converted Butler's deflected shot, burying it in the lower left side of the net, for the 2-0 Colorado lead.

Keller would put pressure on the Baylor defense again as she made a drive toward the goal eight minutes later. Keller was taken down and fouled just inches outside of the goal box, giving Colorado a free kick in the 59th minute of the game. The Buffalo trio of Butler, Kate Russell and Kelly Menachof set up for the play. Butler touched the ball to Russell, who stopped it for Menachof, and Menachof shot a hard ball on the ground past the Baylor goalkeeper for her second goal on the season.

Menachof continued to ride her momentum and put the Buffs on the board again only four minutes after her first goal when she carried a ball through the Baylor defense and took a hard shot toward the goal. The Baylor goalkeeper, Courtney Seelhorst, got a hand on the ball initially and tried to keep it from going in, but the ball slowly rolled over the line for the Buffs' fourth and final goal of the game.

"On my first goal, I was just trying to keep the ball low, trying to give my teammates a chance at it, but it kept on going and found the net," said Menachof. "On the second one, I'm not sure what happened. You can't score unless you shoot, and every now and then you get one like that that just works out. We're not focused on scoring five goals right away anymore. We know that if everyone does their job and we play good soccer, things will fall into place."

The win marked CU's third shutout in as many games and sixth on the season. Colorado held Baylor to just four shots in the game, all of which were in the second half, and none of which were on goal. This is just the sixth time in program history that CU has won at least 11 games in a single season and the Buffs still have a minimum of five games left to play.

"Sometimes the bounce just goes your way, and it's been doing that for us lately," said Hempen. "Our defense is very solid, but sometimes the best defense for us is the way that our offense attacks."

Colorado will hit the road next week as the travel to Nebraska on Friday, Oct. 17 and Iowa State on Sunday, Oct. 19.

"It has definitely been an advantage for us to win both home games this weekend," said Keller. "We've set ourselves up for the ultimate goal of winning the Big 12. The next two games are really important. Nebraska is always such a tough game and we have to play well, if not better, than we did this weekend to take these next two road games."

"Conference games are always tough on the road," added Hempen. "This week we're focusing on a resurgent Nebraska team, and Iowa State won't be any different. We can see the light at the end of the tunnel of what we can accomplish; we just need to maintain our focus throughout the end."