Soccer Blanks Huskers 1-0

Friday, September 25

Boulder, Colo.

4 p.m.

Colorado

5-5-0, 2-0-0Big 12

Nebraska

5-2-2, 0-1-0Big 12

Nebraska

Colorado

Photo by: CUBuffs.com

September 25, 2009 | Soccer

Box Score

By: Aaron Lopez, Denver Nuggets

BOULDER - The University of Colorado women's soccer team recorded its third shutout victory of the season after a 1-0 win over the University of Nebraska here Friday.

Colorado still holds down the top spot in the Big 12 with a 2-0 record and improves to 5-5 overall, while Nebraska falls to 5-5-2 and 0-1 in Conference play.

"It was a very tough and physical game, but everybody stepped it up and played as hard as they could," said head coach Bill Hempen. "It helped us re-establish some of our confidence and that should really help us take momentum into our next match on Sunday."

In the 37th minute, Nebraska nearly broke the scoreless tie, when Molly Thomas fired a hard shot from the left side of the box toward the Colorado goal, but the ball hit off the crossbar and bounced back into play.

The Huskers dominated a majority of the offense in the first half as they outshot the Buffaloes 11 to five, putting two of those shots on goal to CU's one. The second half would prove to be a different story for the Buffaloes.

In the 52nd minute, Colorado was awarded its third corner kick of the second half and freshman Quinn Krier stepped up to take the kick. Krier put the ball near the back post and sophomore midfielder Kelly Butler headed the ball towards the goal, but NU goalkeeper Tara Macdonald fully extended to make the diving save, keeping the game scoreless.

Colorado would finally break through and take the 1-0 lead in the 68th minute on a quick counter-attack started by Krier in the backfield. Krier sent a long ball to the top of the Nebraska box and senior Nikki Marshall was able to head it out of the keeper's control and it fell to the feet of junior Amanda Foulk. Foulk was pulled down in the box by a Husker defender before she could get the shot off and flicked the ball on to sophomore Kassidy Fitzpatrick. Fitzpatrick, with just one defender between her and an open goal, blasted a hard left-footed shot into the back of the net, giving Colorado the 1-0 lead with less than 22 minutes left to play.

"Our schedule has really helped us as a team," said Fitzpatrick. "We know we have one of the more difficult schedules out there and getting the win after our last road trip really helped us to get reset and refocused. After the road trip we knew we had to come out and play hard and against a team like Nebraska that is not easy, but it was a full team effort today and fortunately we got the win."

With the goal, Fitzpatrick now has three goals and one assist for seven points, joining Butler as the team's leading scorer this season.

The Buffaloes were outshout by Nebraska, 21 to 13, but CU managed to break its three-game losing streak and stay strong in Big 12 play. Senior goalkeeper Kara Linder, a Lincoln, Neb. native, recorded her fifth win of the season and five saves in the match.

"Our confidence was shaken [after the road trip], but we knew we could come out and play hard and basically have a clean slate," said Hempen. "This is the time of the season that matters the most. We are going to play Big 12 teams and really see how we measure up to the rest of the conference."

Colorado continues its Big 12 weekend on Sunday, Sept. 27 when they face Iowa State at 1 p.m. in Boulder. As always, admission and parking are free at Prentup Field.

Check out the latest news and highlights with head coach Bill Hempen on the Buffalo Stampede: Soccer Edition exclusively on BuffsTV at cubuffs.com/soccer. New shows air every Tuesday. Simply click on the media player on the right hand side of the CU Soccer homepage for free insight into Colorado Soccer.

The University of Colorado Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) is teaming up with "Coats For Colorado," a program to help distribute gently used and new coats to individuals and families in need in Colorado. CU will host drop off points for the program including at the CU vs. Iowa State game on Sunday.