Puketapu Nets The Winner To Lift Buffs To 2-0 Road Win

Sunday, September 10

San Antonio, Texas

6:00 PM

Colorado

UTSA

Marty Puketapu

Photo by: Brendan Maloney

Puketapu Nets The Winner To Lift Buffs To 2-0 Road Win

September 10, 2017 | Soccer

Box Score

Kornieck adds a late goal to seal the victory

By: Andy Schlichting, Assistant SID

SAN ANTONIO, Texas - No. 25 Colorado scored twice in the second half to pull away for a 2-0 win at UTSA on Sunday night. The Buffs improved to 5-1-2 overall, while UTSA fell to 1-6-0.

Marty Puketapu scored in the 52nd minute to break tie and Taylor Kornieck added an insurance goal in the 86th minute.

HOW IT HAPPENED: Alex Vidger hit the crossbar with a header off a corner kick in the 22nd minute and Tatum Barton had a shot blocked off the goal line by defender in the 32nd minute, but that was as close as either team came to scoring before halftime.

Puketapu ended the scoring drought early in the second half, connecting on a shot from 30 yards out and burying it to the left side of the net. Her shot was set up by Megan Massey, who earned the second assist of her career.

Scout Watson made the biggest save of the match just five minutes after the goal. A UTSA player got well ahead of CU's defense on a breakaway, but Watson came out off her line and made a sliding save off the shot from the center of the box.

Kornieck added a score in the 86th minute. She worked her way into the center of the box, faked a shot to the left, faked a shot to the right, and then with the defender off her, pushed the shot from the left side of the box to the far post for the score.

KEY STATISTICS: Jalen Tompkins and Watson combined on CU's seventh shutout in eight matches this season. Each goalkeeper made one save, and Watson earned the win as she came off the bench to start the second half before the winning goal was scored. The Buffs outshot the Roadrunners 16-6 and had an 8-2 advantage on corner kicks.

NOTES: It was Puketapu's second game-winning goal of the season ... Puketapu and Kornieck are tied for the team lead in goals (4) and points (9).

UP NEXT: CU will finish up the non-conference portion of the schedule on Saturday when its plays at the University of Denver at 7 p.m. That match will wrap up the Colorado Cup for the Buffs.

POSTGAME QUOTES:
Danny Sanchez, head coach
General comments on the match
"Credit to UTSA. I thought they played real well. They had a good game plan going into it, kept the ball, and made us chase it a little bit in the back. Although we put some good pressure on in the first half, we only had one shot on goal. Second half, we came out, created a couple of really good chances and got a great goal from Marty. It was a nice ball [from Megan Massey] and she just cracked a great shot. So [the goal] took a little bit of pressure off. They got their one chance of the game and Scout came up and snuffed that. Obviously it was nice for Taylor to kind of clinch the game. It's tough to go on the road after a disappointing loss and performance on Friday. So I was pleased with how we bounced back to get the win because we've had games like this this year where we didn't get the result out of it. We're excited for Denver on Saturday."

On the difficulty of winning on the road
"They're a very well-coached team. If you look closer at their results, I think we're the fourth Power Five team they've played, and really all teams with good, winning records. They've played a really tough schedule, which will prepare them for Conference USA play. They weren't intimidated and they played well. It was dangerous match for us so I was pleased with what we did, especially in the second half."

On Puketapu's goal
"When the other team has dropped in so far [on defense], it's tough to break in that final third. We talked at halftime because a couple of our players had opportunities from distance in the first half and didn't put them on frame so we said, 'hey, let's make the keeper make a save.' And Marty just struck it sweet and when you do that, and you put it on frame, it loosens up the defense a little bit. It was a great strike and obviously was key to the match."

On the play of Kornieck in the midfield
"Taylor was very active. She was all over the place; she was on the ball a lot. She had a couple of opportunities with her final ball that didn't quite get there, but she was putting the work in on both ends of the [field] and it was a just reward to get the goal at the end to clinch the victory for her."

On the play of Tompkins and Watson in goal
"The goalkeepers were fantastic. They dealt with what they needed to deal with, their communication was good, their distribution was good. A game like this with not a lot of work, their communication and distribution becomes a lot more important and I thought they both did very well."

Marty Puketapu, freshman
On scoring her goal from long distance
"I knew that in the first half, I personally didn't have any shots myself. And I knew I had lots of space and the first thing that came to my mind was, 'it's time. Just shoot.' So I just took the shot and it lined up well."

On UTSA's defense
"They did come out tough on defense. We were holding it together, but we weren't being creative enough in the final third. But I think once we got the first goal, we found a rhythm."