Buffs Looking To Keep Streak Alive Behind Freshman Kornieck

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BOULDER – It's not often a freshman is the team's leader on any collegiate team, but Colorado's Taylor Kornieck has been just that so far this season. The 17-year-old freshman (she doesn't turn 18 until Nov. 22) leads the Buffaloes (9-3-0, 3-0-0 Pac-12) in goals, points and shot attempts. More impressively, her five game-winning goals rank third in the NCAA, leading the Buffs on a seven-match winning streak.

"I didn't really expect to be a leader out here (right away)," Kornieck said after Sunday's win when she lifted the Buffs to their third consecutive 1-0 win at Arizona State with a 45th-minute goal. "It gives me a really big confidence boost going into the next few games at home and we just need to keep that winning streak."

A team captain for the U-18 United States Women's National Team, her international experience certainly provided her an edge as she came to Boulder this summer.

"With a lot of these younger players, they've had so much experience at a high level of club and youth international [competition] that they're not overwhelmed when they come in as freshmen," head coach Danny Sanchez said. "They come in and they want to compete and they want to help the team right away. Taylor and all of our freshmen came in with that mentality. "

Kornieck is standing out among the nation's best players already. She ranks 29th nationally in goals scored, 34th in shots per game, and most importantly, third in game-winning goals. Set among just freshmen, she is fourth in the nation in goals scored among first-year players. All of that is even more impressive considering she plays in the Conference of Champions. She's the only freshman in the nation from a Power Five conference with eight or more goals.

Colorado has won its past four matches by a 1-0 score. In the past three, she has lifted CU to road wins at Washington State, Arizona and Arizona State with the only goal in each contest. Kornieck is the first CU player—of any age—to score a game-winning goal in three consecutive matches.

"As a freshman, it's really important for me to get acclimated to the team and I think I've done really good job in these past Pac-12 games," Kornieck said. "Scoring the only goal, it's pretty exciting."

Sanchez is impressed with more than just her goal scoring and thinks the is sky is the limit for her over the next four years in Boulder.

"Obviously she's done some really nice things for us, scored some goals," Sanchez said. "But I think the part that gets overlooked sometimes is her defending work, how she helps us on set pieces. We're really pleased with what she's done so far, but I think she has a lot of room for improvement as a player. I think she's only going to get better as she continues to work hard and get stronger, I think she can be even more impactful in the future."

Kornieck and the Buffs will host Oregon on Thursday at 3:30 p.m. at Prentup Field. A win would but CU's eighth in a row overall and fourth consecutive in conference play, matching the longest conference winning streak since joining the Pac-12 in 2011.

"Going forward, we just need to focus on the next game. We don't need to focus on anything [beyond Thursday]."

Buffs Looking To Keep Streak Alive Behind Freshman Kornieck

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Taylor Kornieck

Colorado University Athletics