Saturday, November 15
Boulder, Colo.
1:00 PM
Colorado
14-6-1
2
vs
0
BYU (1st Round)
13-5-3
1
2
F
BYU
0
0
0
Colorado
1
1
2
Photo by: CUBuffs.com
Soccer Advances In NCAA Play, Tops BYU 2-0
November 15, 2014 | Soccer
BOULDER — Goals from two veteran juniors propelled the Colorado Buffaloes to a 2-0 victory over Brigham Young here Saturday, as the schools dueled it out in an NCAA Women's Soccer Championship first round game played in cold and snowy conditions at Prentup Field.
And in the process, they gave their head coach, Danny Sanchez, his 200th career NCAA win as CU improved to 14-6-1 in winning its fourth straight game.
Sanchez was unaware of the milestone and while obviously an impressive accomplishment, it's not what he is about.Â
"Any win you get at this level and at this time of the year is a huge win," Sanchez said. "I'm just real proud of this group. I'm proud of the staff, I'm proud of the players and we're excited to go up against North Carolina."
Colorado advances to the second round, where it will travel Friday to face the No. 6 ranked Tar Heels (13-3-2), a 2-0 winner over South Dakota State Friday night in Chapel Hill. North Carolina was the regular season co-champion in the Atlantic Coast Conference and is the only school that has been invited to the tournament every year since its inception in 1982.Â
Sanchez is his 13th season as a women's head coach in the NCAA ranks (Divisions I and II), and now owns a 200-66-25 record; only two of his teams have had a losing record.
"In our first Pac-12 game, we were getting run over (a 4-2 loss to No. 12 California); we could have rolled up and called it a season and not have the fight," Sanchez said. "But, we went out to USC and got a result (1-0 win over the No. 18 Trojans) and really since then, it's been a great run.
"What I told them in the locker room is don't be surprised with results like this," he continued. "This is where Colorado is on the national scene. We need to win tournament games at home and we need to advance to play really good teams. We need to continue to get results. I'm really pleased today. If we're not peaking then we're heading toward the peaking area. We're playing well – we're playing smart. People are buying into their roles and doing a great job. Defensively, we're doing a great job.
"Going forward, we're dangerous. I think it was a well-deserved win today."
The temperature at kickoff was 16 degrees, with the wind chill at 6; a light snow fell throughout the first half but ceased mostly to sporadic flakes after intermission. It never got any warmer, however, as the temperature dipped to 14 at the start of the second half and remained there until the game's end.
"I've been watching and coaching soccer for a long time," Sanchez noted. "I think that our mentality going into the game was the right one. That mentality is that you play soccer no matter what the conditions are and you play to win.
"We knew how dangerous they were going forward; we knew that they were going to be a handful. Our backs had to be tight. But more importantly, we had to provide cover and I thought that happened for most of the game. I felt that we had to keep the game tight and we couldn't let them get running on us. We couldn't let the game get stretched out and for the most part, we did. The second goal really relaxed us. When you have a 2-0 lead, it puts more pressure on the other team and you can still play with a little bit of composure. I felt that was the key to the game and obviously we defended really well after that."
Colorado struck first when junior Olivia Pappalardo took a pass from sophomore Brie Hooks, dribbled for about seven yards and launched a shot from 20 yards out, high over the right side of BYU goalie Katherine Snyder for a 1-0 Buff lead just 6:17 into the game.Â
"I just got the ball on the side from Brie," Papplardo said. "She's really good switching the ball. I knew that any one of us, if we had an opening to shoot, we needed to shoot because of the conditions. I saw that I had that opening so I just shot it and it went over her head. I saw a defender coming at me hard and so I tried to fake and then went around her again and shot.
"It was really big," she continued. "I definitely think that getting that early goal makes the other team push numbers up which gives us more time on the attack to hold the ball. We just had a lot more space which helped us to slow the game down and take control."
It was the midfielder Pappalardo's second goal of the year and the third of her career, while Hooks recorded her team-leading seventh assist. It was also just Pappalardo's seventh shot this season, but her two on goal have both found the back of the net with her playoff score Saturday.
The single score held up at halftime, though BYU had 12 shots to CU's five; five of the Cougars' shots were on goal while all of CU's were.
The Buffs used a quick goal in the second half – 52:27 into the game – to extend their lead to 2-0. Junior Madison Krauser booted a rocket into the left side of the net off a nice crossfield pass from sophomore Morgan Stanton.  It was Krauser's third goal of the season and the ninth of her career, with Stanton earning her first point as Buffalo after transferring from Santa Clara.
 "I thought it was crucial to get the first goal in order to settle and slow the game down a little bit and find our composure," Krauser said. "Coming out and getting the second goal in the second half really solidified things on the field and helped us to remain calm. We tried to get a third one but it was great."
CU ratcheted up its defense a notch after BYU had its fifth shot on goal at the 36:28 mark of the first half, holding the Cougars without one until 83:34 – or a span of just over 47 minutes. The Cougars finished with eight overall, managing three in the final seven minutes, but could not get on the scoreboard.  Overall, BYU had 20 shots to CU's 10, but nine of the Buffs' were on goal.
 "I guess in those 47 minutes we defended better," Sanchez said. "At the end of the game, we knew they were going to be bombing people forward. They probably had four or five forwards up there so we knew we were going to give up some chances like that. But, we dealt with them and having that second goal really enabled us to relax and be able to play once we got the ball."
Junior Kate Scheele has been the goalie of record in all 21 Colorado games this season, posting her 11th shutout of the year, one shy of Jessica Keller's school record 12 set back in 2004.
"We want to congratulate Colorado on a great season and wish them the best as they advance in the tournament," BYU head coach Jennifer Rockwood said. "Obviously we're disappointed with the result but we had a great season. Tough conditions to play in and it didn't seem to go our way today so again, we wish Colorado all the best.
"The weather was obviously a key factor and a difficult situation to play in," she added. "That was difficult for us to control the ball and take advantage of a lot of our speed and our combination play. Colorado did an outstanding job of taking advantage of some good opportunities and had some good finishes. It was hard to chase the game a little bit. For us, the girls kept battling but it's hard. They scored a great goal against it. We had a couple chances to get it back and tie it but when that second goal went in, it's just hard to battle back in these conditions."
UNC, a No. 2 region seed in the tournament, leads the all-time series with CU by a 3-0 count, but the two haven't met since 2005. The winner of the CU-North Carolina game, which will start at 5 p.m. mountain time, will face the winner of the South Carolina (13-5-4)-Seattle (15-4-2) game in Sunday's third round, also in Chapel Hill.
"I think we're a good team," Sanchez said. "I told the players to not be surprised that we're in this position. One of our goals was to host a NCAA tournament game this year and we had that opportunity, and I think it was a key our success today. Once you get to this next round, there are no easy teams. We'll go into the game with confidence and with the mentality that we want to get a result.Â
"We know the quality of the team and the quality of their conference, but we play in a conference that has nine teams in the NCAA Tournament," he added. "So, I think we played some good teams as well. We're going to have to play really well, we're going to have to be really focused. But, we have a confident group that has a little bit of swagger to them. I think that we'll give it our best effort and if we play well, I think we have a chance for sure."
NOTES: The 14 wins by Colorado are now tied for the third-most in program history; the 2003 and 2004 teams each won 15 … the 28 over the last two seasons are the second in back-to-back years to the 30 in those aforementioned seasons … The weather hurt attendance, but 624 still showed to support both teams in the chilly conditions … BYU players wore leggings for a little shelter from the cold, but every single Buff was out there in shorts, as if the sun was out and the calendar could have read September … It was Colorado's 12th shutout as a team this season, with the Buffaloes allowing just one goal in their last five games … Hooks upped her team-high and season total to 23 points, adding to her record for the most points by a sophomore in a single season … Colorado is now 12-1 when scoring first and 9-0 when leading at halftime … Colorado is now 36-21-7 in its third year under head coach Danny Sanchez, including a 3-1 mark in NCAA postseason play … Colorado finished the year 10-3-1 at home in 2014 (65-29-8 all-time at Prentup Field and 115-57-13 at home in 19 seasons) … Colorado evened its record in the NCAA tournament at 7-7-1 (4-1 home) … BYU now leads the series 3-2-1, but the Buffs are 2-0-1 in the last three … This was just the second game in CU history with snow falling throughout; the other was also an NCAA tournament game on Nov. 12, 2006, when Nikki Marshall's goal gave CU a 2-1 second round win over Denver and propelled the Buffs to their first-ever Sweet 16 birth … CU beat Nebraska for the Big 12 title in 2003 on an icy field, as it snowed the morning of the game but had ceased by kickoff … The officials underinflated the balls on purpose to take a little sting out of them with the temperature nowhere even near freezing … The CU grounds grew did a great job preparing the field in the wintry conditions, and cleaned off the snow during halftime much like a Zamboni smooths the ice between periods in hockey; the field did not appear to affect traction much if at all … The Pac-12 put a record nine teams into this year's NCAA tournament; the conference was 7-2 and outscoring the opponent 23-8 in the first round, the two losses coming in overtime (Washington State to Seattle) and on penalty kicks (USC to Pepperdine).
And in the process, they gave their head coach, Danny Sanchez, his 200th career NCAA win as CU improved to 14-6-1 in winning its fourth straight game.
Sanchez was unaware of the milestone and while obviously an impressive accomplishment, it's not what he is about.Â
"Any win you get at this level and at this time of the year is a huge win," Sanchez said. "I'm just real proud of this group. I'm proud of the staff, I'm proud of the players and we're excited to go up against North Carolina."
Colorado advances to the second round, where it will travel Friday to face the No. 6 ranked Tar Heels (13-3-2), a 2-0 winner over South Dakota State Friday night in Chapel Hill. North Carolina was the regular season co-champion in the Atlantic Coast Conference and is the only school that has been invited to the tournament every year since its inception in 1982.Â
Sanchez is his 13th season as a women's head coach in the NCAA ranks (Divisions I and II), and now owns a 200-66-25 record; only two of his teams have had a losing record.
"In our first Pac-12 game, we were getting run over (a 4-2 loss to No. 12 California); we could have rolled up and called it a season and not have the fight," Sanchez said. "But, we went out to USC and got a result (1-0 win over the No. 18 Trojans) and really since then, it's been a great run.
"What I told them in the locker room is don't be surprised with results like this," he continued. "This is where Colorado is on the national scene. We need to win tournament games at home and we need to advance to play really good teams. We need to continue to get results. I'm really pleased today. If we're not peaking then we're heading toward the peaking area. We're playing well – we're playing smart. People are buying into their roles and doing a great job. Defensively, we're doing a great job.
"Going forward, we're dangerous. I think it was a well-deserved win today."
The temperature at kickoff was 16 degrees, with the wind chill at 6; a light snow fell throughout the first half but ceased mostly to sporadic flakes after intermission. It never got any warmer, however, as the temperature dipped to 14 at the start of the second half and remained there until the game's end.
"I've been watching and coaching soccer for a long time," Sanchez noted. "I think that our mentality going into the game was the right one. That mentality is that you play soccer no matter what the conditions are and you play to win.
"We knew how dangerous they were going forward; we knew that they were going to be a handful. Our backs had to be tight. But more importantly, we had to provide cover and I thought that happened for most of the game. I felt that we had to keep the game tight and we couldn't let them get running on us. We couldn't let the game get stretched out and for the most part, we did. The second goal really relaxed us. When you have a 2-0 lead, it puts more pressure on the other team and you can still play with a little bit of composure. I felt that was the key to the game and obviously we defended really well after that."
Colorado struck first when junior Olivia Pappalardo took a pass from sophomore Brie Hooks, dribbled for about seven yards and launched a shot from 20 yards out, high over the right side of BYU goalie Katherine Snyder for a 1-0 Buff lead just 6:17 into the game.Â
"I just got the ball on the side from Brie," Papplardo said. "She's really good switching the ball. I knew that any one of us, if we had an opening to shoot, we needed to shoot because of the conditions. I saw that I had that opening so I just shot it and it went over her head. I saw a defender coming at me hard and so I tried to fake and then went around her again and shot.
"It was really big," she continued. "I definitely think that getting that early goal makes the other team push numbers up which gives us more time on the attack to hold the ball. We just had a lot more space which helped us to slow the game down and take control."
It was the midfielder Pappalardo's second goal of the year and the third of her career, while Hooks recorded her team-leading seventh assist. It was also just Pappalardo's seventh shot this season, but her two on goal have both found the back of the net with her playoff score Saturday.
The single score held up at halftime, though BYU had 12 shots to CU's five; five of the Cougars' shots were on goal while all of CU's were.
The Buffs used a quick goal in the second half – 52:27 into the game – to extend their lead to 2-0. Junior Madison Krauser booted a rocket into the left side of the net off a nice crossfield pass from sophomore Morgan Stanton.  It was Krauser's third goal of the season and the ninth of her career, with Stanton earning her first point as Buffalo after transferring from Santa Clara.
 "I thought it was crucial to get the first goal in order to settle and slow the game down a little bit and find our composure," Krauser said. "Coming out and getting the second goal in the second half really solidified things on the field and helped us to remain calm. We tried to get a third one but it was great."
CU ratcheted up its defense a notch after BYU had its fifth shot on goal at the 36:28 mark of the first half, holding the Cougars without one until 83:34 – or a span of just over 47 minutes. The Cougars finished with eight overall, managing three in the final seven minutes, but could not get on the scoreboard.  Overall, BYU had 20 shots to CU's 10, but nine of the Buffs' were on goal.
 "I guess in those 47 minutes we defended better," Sanchez said. "At the end of the game, we knew they were going to be bombing people forward. They probably had four or five forwards up there so we knew we were going to give up some chances like that. But, we dealt with them and having that second goal really enabled us to relax and be able to play once we got the ball."
Junior Kate Scheele has been the goalie of record in all 21 Colorado games this season, posting her 11th shutout of the year, one shy of Jessica Keller's school record 12 set back in 2004.
"We want to congratulate Colorado on a great season and wish them the best as they advance in the tournament," BYU head coach Jennifer Rockwood said. "Obviously we're disappointed with the result but we had a great season. Tough conditions to play in and it didn't seem to go our way today so again, we wish Colorado all the best.
"The weather was obviously a key factor and a difficult situation to play in," she added. "That was difficult for us to control the ball and take advantage of a lot of our speed and our combination play. Colorado did an outstanding job of taking advantage of some good opportunities and had some good finishes. It was hard to chase the game a little bit. For us, the girls kept battling but it's hard. They scored a great goal against it. We had a couple chances to get it back and tie it but when that second goal went in, it's just hard to battle back in these conditions."
UNC, a No. 2 region seed in the tournament, leads the all-time series with CU by a 3-0 count, but the two haven't met since 2005. The winner of the CU-North Carolina game, which will start at 5 p.m. mountain time, will face the winner of the South Carolina (13-5-4)-Seattle (15-4-2) game in Sunday's third round, also in Chapel Hill.
"I think we're a good team," Sanchez said. "I told the players to not be surprised that we're in this position. One of our goals was to host a NCAA tournament game this year and we had that opportunity, and I think it was a key our success today. Once you get to this next round, there are no easy teams. We'll go into the game with confidence and with the mentality that we want to get a result.Â
"We know the quality of the team and the quality of their conference, but we play in a conference that has nine teams in the NCAA Tournament," he added. "So, I think we played some good teams as well. We're going to have to play really well, we're going to have to be really focused. But, we have a confident group that has a little bit of swagger to them. I think that we'll give it our best effort and if we play well, I think we have a chance for sure."
NOTES: The 14 wins by Colorado are now tied for the third-most in program history; the 2003 and 2004 teams each won 15 … the 28 over the last two seasons are the second in back-to-back years to the 30 in those aforementioned seasons … The weather hurt attendance, but 624 still showed to support both teams in the chilly conditions … BYU players wore leggings for a little shelter from the cold, but every single Buff was out there in shorts, as if the sun was out and the calendar could have read September … It was Colorado's 12th shutout as a team this season, with the Buffaloes allowing just one goal in their last five games … Hooks upped her team-high and season total to 23 points, adding to her record for the most points by a sophomore in a single season … Colorado is now 12-1 when scoring first and 9-0 when leading at halftime … Colorado is now 36-21-7 in its third year under head coach Danny Sanchez, including a 3-1 mark in NCAA postseason play … Colorado finished the year 10-3-1 at home in 2014 (65-29-8 all-time at Prentup Field and 115-57-13 at home in 19 seasons) … Colorado evened its record in the NCAA tournament at 7-7-1 (4-1 home) … BYU now leads the series 3-2-1, but the Buffs are 2-0-1 in the last three … This was just the second game in CU history with snow falling throughout; the other was also an NCAA tournament game on Nov. 12, 2006, when Nikki Marshall's goal gave CU a 2-1 second round win over Denver and propelled the Buffs to their first-ever Sweet 16 birth … CU beat Nebraska for the Big 12 title in 2003 on an icy field, as it snowed the morning of the game but had ceased by kickoff … The officials underinflated the balls on purpose to take a little sting out of them with the temperature nowhere even near freezing … The CU grounds grew did a great job preparing the field in the wintry conditions, and cleaned off the snow during halftime much like a Zamboni smooths the ice between periods in hockey; the field did not appear to affect traction much if at all … The Pac-12 put a record nine teams into this year's NCAA tournament; the conference was 7-2 and outscoring the opponent 23-8 in the first round, the two losses coming in overtime (Washington State to Seattle) and on penalty kicks (USC to Pepperdine).
Team Stats
BYU
COLO
Goals
0
2
Shots
20
10
Shots on Goal
8
9
Saves
7
8
Corners
4
3
Fouls
6
9
Scoring Plays
Pappalardo, Olivia (2)
Assisted By: Hooks, Brie
Dribble across the center shot from 20 y
6:17
Krauser, Madison (3)
Assisted By: Stanton, Morgan
Cross from the right put in the left sid
52:27
Game Leaders
Players
Shots
4
SOG
3
Goals
1
Assists
0
Shots
1
SOG
1
Goals
1
Assists
0
Shots
2
SOG
2
Goals
0
Assists
1
Shots
0
SOG
0
Goals
0
Assists
1
Players Mentioned
F
/ SoccerF
/ SoccerM
/ Soccer
GK
/ Soccer
M
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