Buffs Embark On First True Road Trip Of The Season

BOULDER - Colorado's soccer team will begin its first true road trip of the season on Friday when the 25th-ranked Buffs take on Texas in Austin. They will also play at UTSA on Sunday. Friday's kickoff is scheduled for 5 p.m. MT and will be televised on the Longhorn Network. Sunday's match begins at 6 p.m. MT and will be streamed online.

CU (4-0-2) enters the weekend as one of just five teams in the nation that has yet to concede a goal and one of just two (Milwaukee the other school) of those teams to have played six matches. The Buffs are coming off a 3-0 win over BYU on Monday when Tatum Barton scored a brace, the first two goals of her career. Taylor Kornieck, who is tied with freshman Marty Puketapu for the team lead in goals and points with three goals and one assist for seven points, also scored against the Cougars. Defensively, obviously the Buffs have been sound all-around and Jalen Tompkins has made nine saves in 425 minutes in goal and Scout Watson has stopped five shots in 166 minutes. Joss Orejel was the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week last week as well.

Texas (5-0-0) won its only match last weekend, defeating Sacramento State 1-0 on the road. The Longhorns were also scheduled to play at California on Friday, but that match was cancelled due to heat and poor air quality in Berkeley. UT has matched its best start in school history, joining the 2008 squad as the only 5-0 Longhorns teams. Four different players have scored game-winning goals for Texas so far, including Katie Glenn, who scored the only goal of Sunday's victory against Sacramento State in the 13th minute. Cyera Hintzen (2016 Big 12 Freshman of the Year) leads UT with six points, scoring two points and two assists on the season. Haley Berg also has two goals. Nicole Curry has conceded just two goals in 450 minutes, posting a 0.40 goals-against average and .833 save percentage. An interesting note, CU Hall of Fame basketball player Chauncey Billups's daughter Cydney Billups is a redshirt freshman and has started three of five matches so far, totaling one assist and two shots.

UTSA (1-4-0) is off to a tough start this season, but has played a difficult schedule to date. The Roadrunners opened the season with a 2-1 win over Abilene Christian, but lost 5-0 at TCU, 2-1 to Stephen F. Austin, 1-0 at Baylor, and 6-0 against No. 19 Oklahoma State. Ellis Patterson has two of the team's three goals and Channing Machen has the other goal. Gabriella Mariello and Michelle Cole have combined for a 3.00 GAA and .706 save percentage.

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Players Mentioned

Tatum Barton

Taylor Kornieck

Joss Orejel

Marty Puketapu

Jalen Tompkins

Scout Watson