Buffs Upended In Overtime For Second Straight Match

BOULDER - For the second straight match, Colorado rallied to tie after falling behind, only to suffer a 2-1 defeat in overtime as the Buffaloes fell to Michigan State on Thursday afternoon at Prentup Field.

WHAT HAPPENED: CU came out strong, outshooting Michigan State 8-1 over the first 20 minutes, including four shots on goal. Alex Vidger had the best scoring chance early when her header off a corner kick was going for the goal, but was headed off the goal line by an MSU defender in the 12th minute.

MSU's best scoring chance was in the 22nd minute when Lexy Warner hit the post on a shot from inside the box after a ball rolled through from left to right.

Despite consistent offensive pressure from the Buffs, Michigan State took advantage of one of its few opportunities early in the second half. MSU was awarded a penalty kick after a foul in the box and Marisa Oleksiak converted the shot at 52:07 to give the Spartans a 1-0 lead.

MSU maintained momentum after the goal until around the 70th minute. CU earned a throw-in from deep in the right corner in the 75th minute. Danica Evans used a flip throw to fire the ball into the box and Taylor Kornieck deflected the ball towards the far left post as Vidger slid into her shot to tie the match 1-1.

The Buffs continued to press with four more shots in the final 10 minutes, but had two of those miss the goal frame by inches.

After a brief push by the Buffs in the first minute of overtime, MSU countered with a run, leading to the first save of the day for Jalen Tompkins, a diving stop that deflected out of bounds. Just 30 seconds later, Warner scored off the ensuing corner kick for the Spartans to end the match.

NOTABLE PERFORMANCES: The CU offense continued to show promise and the ability to push the ball towards the net, out shooting Michigan State 20-9, including 8-3 in shots on goal. Emily Bruder had a match-high four shot attempts and Evans and Kornieck each had three. The midfielders also helped CU maintain possession for much of the day.

UP NEXT: CU looks to end a three-match losing streak at home on Sunday against Drexel at noon. The Dragons enter the weekend 3-1-0.

NOTES: It was the first time since 2000 that CU has lost back-to-back matches in overtime and the first time since 2013 the Buffs have played back-to-back overtime matches … CU was 4-5 in matches decided by one goal last season and is 1-3 this season … it was the first time since the Washington State match last season that CU has lost a match when outshooting its opponent and attempting more corner kicks than its opponent.

Postgame Quotes

Danny Sanchez, head coach

On the penalty kick
"Actually the PK, I didn't have a problem with. Sometimes that's called sometimes that's not. But, at the end of the day we can't put ourselves in the position where people will look just at that piece. The problem is losing the ball here and then fouling before, so it's that piece at the end that really is secondary. It shouldn't get to that point where you put the official in the position to make a tough call.

On how the team can bounce back from the overtime loss
"At the end of the day, like I told the group, we can't make mistakes. And the other teams make mistakes and they don't get punished and we make a little mistake and, at the end of the day, it cost us a result. But, once again, we can't look at that last minute of overtime. I look at the 90 minutes before that where we had ample opportunities to win the game, with a little bit more composure, with a little bit more sharpness. So, it's tough right now. We have got to bounce back tomorrow morning and train and get ready for Sunday."

On the number of scoring chances CU had
"I mean eventually they (shots) just go in, but at the same token we have to look at the players. So, we're five games into the season and some players are producing and some aren't. So, we'll watch the video and we'll reevaluate what we're doing. But at the end of it if we're getting run off the park, then I'm really panicking. I think this is a game where you guys saw that obviously we were taking it to them for the majority of the game, but you don't get points for that. We have to be better in the final third and we have to be clean in the back. It's as simple as it sounds.

On how important Sunday's match against Drexel is
"I think every game for us is a need to get a positive result, but I think we have a strong, resilient group that isn't going to point fingers but look at themselves, as I just saw in their eyes. Once again, like I told them on Sunday, [when] you play a game like this, the good thing with our sport two or three days [later] you've got another game, another opportunity to redeem yourselves. So we've got to look at this, coach speak, but we've got to move on. We've got to get ready for Sunday."

Alex Vidger, sophomore defender
On capitalizing on chances
"We are our own worst enemy right now. We have to stop making so many mistakes and work as a team. We can't dwell on our past games; we just have to focus on the future."

On the last goal by MSU
"The girl got a break away and hit off our keeper for a corner kick. The corner went over the first defenders head. It was a weird position between our last player and our goalie so we didn't really know who to go to. The ball bobbled in the middle then just went in after hitting one of our players."

On the goal to tie the match
"It's hard being a center back to try and score, so the opportunities I do get off corner kicks or Danica's throw-ins, I really try to capitalize on. I'm one of the tallest players besides Taylor so I think that's an asset off corner kicks."

Joss Orejel, junior defender
On capitalizing on opportunities
"We need to be more confident on the ball. I feel like we dwell on the ball a lot. If we pass and move, we need to know that we will be good as far as our position. We need to take more shots. One is bound to go in if you take 100 shots."
On the flow of the game
"After they scored, they definitely got a lot more confident. They were attacking us more, running off the ball more, but that only fired us up. We thought, okay we need a goal now. We need a goal quick to make sure we are still in the game. Both teams raised their intensity"

On Sunday being a must-win
"Who doesn't like to win? We definitely need the win on Sunday and that would really help with our confidence and prove to ourselves that we are good because people tell us we are, but we don't think we are. We need to come together as a team and focus on what we need to do to win more games."

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Team Stats

Alex Vidger

Danica Evans

Taylor Kornieck

Emily Bruder

Players Mentioned

Emily Bruder

Danica Evans

Taylor Kornieck

Joss Orejel

Jalen Tompkins

Alex Vidger

Players Mentioned

Emily Bruder

Danica Evans

Taylor Kornieck

Joss Orejel

Jalen Tompkins

Alex Vidger