Photo by: Mike Greening
No. 2 Trojans Hold Off No. 20 Colorado
October 25, 2018 | Soccer
Buffs the post in the final seconds
BOULDER—The No. 2 Southern California Trojans survived a late fury from No. 20 Colorado on Thursday, defeating the Buffaloes 1-0 at Prentup Field.
USC remains unbeaten in conference play, improving to 8-0-1 in the Pac-12 and 15-1-1 overall. The Buffs drop their second straight contest, moving to 5-2-2 in Pac-12 play and 13-2-3 overall.
HOW IT HAPPENED: Colorado's return home got off to a solid start. Senior Megan Massey recorded CU's first scoring chance, sending a shot off the hands of the diving goalkeeper in the 5th minute. The Buffs proved to be the aggressors in the opening 10 minutes, registering three shots and a corner kick.
Colorado caught the game's first break in the 9th minute. USC played the ball back to goalkeeper Kaylie Collins. The ball was misjudged, slipping past her towards the open net. Collins recovered and dove on the ball before it crossed the goal line, drawing a whistle from the official for playing the ball with her hands on a back pass.
The infraction set up an indirect free kick for Colorado from the six. Sarah Kinzner tapped the top of the ball and Taylor Kornieck let loose, sending her shot into the scrum of USC players lined up along the goal line. Kinzner got the rebound but was unable to get her shot through the USC defense.
Southern California broke the stalemate in the 25th minute. USC's Tara McKeown redirected a ball off a Colorado defender into the box. The ball found Penelope Hocking just off the six-yard mark. The initial shot was saved by CU's Jalen Tompkins, but the rebound found the foot of Leah Pruitt who was there for the tap-in goal.
USC tilted the field to start the second half, forcing Tompkins into action early on. She made three early saves, including an acrobatic stop in the 48th minute to keep the Buffs' deficit to one. Tompkins excelled all afternoon, finishing the match with 11 saves.
Colorado pushed but could not hit the back of the net. Jorian Baucom put a ball off the side of the net in the 58th minute. Libby Geraghty had an opportune chance that was put aside by Collins in the 61st minute. Chaynee Kingsbury and Nancy Best got back-to-back chances in the 73rd minute.
The Buffs urgency heightened as the time wound down. CU used long throw in's from Kingsbury, pushing every ball into the box. An offside call against the Trojans in the 90th minute set up CU's final chance.
Colorado rushed the ball down the field, looking for any player in the black and gold. Tatum Barton wound up with the ball at the top of the box. With seconds remaining she dribbled in and shot. The ball beat Collins but rang off the left post, bringing an end to the contest.
KEY STATISTICS: Tompkins stood tall in net for Colorado. Her 11 stops were the second most of the season.
BY THE NUMBERS:
Colorado
Goals: 0
Shots: 13
Fouls: 8
Saves: 11
USC
Goals: 1
Shots: 20
Fouls: 14
Saves: 5
UP NEXT: The Buffs play host to No. 8 UCLA on Sunday at Prentup Field. The game will be broadcast across the Pac-12 Networks.
NOTES: First time Colorado has been shutout in consecutive games since a four-game scoreless drought midway through the 2017 season (Oct. 1-13)…It also marks the first time CU has lost consecutive games since the same stretch…Thursday was the first home loss for Colorado since Oct. 8, 2017, against Stanford.
QUOTABLE:
Head Coach Danny Sanchez
On bouncing back after the loss at Stanford
"I feel like we did. Not just because of the score-line or because we hit the post with 10 seconds to go. We felt that we were going to bounce back. We are at home. We know the quality of USC. We knew it was going to be a bit of an uphill battle. I told the team it is not coach speak. I do not always say that I am super proud. I thought they stayed in the game. Some players laid it all on the line for 90 minutes. It just did not happen for us."
On correcting scoring drought
"I do not think I read too much into that. You do not always get six goals in a game. Like I told the team, over the course of the season you get those big-game moments. Maybe on Sunday the ball hits the post and goes in. I do not want to discredit USC. I thought they were very good on the day. It is tough to come here and play at altitude. We have to regroup, stay focused and take some positives from this."
USC remains unbeaten in conference play, improving to 8-0-1 in the Pac-12 and 15-1-1 overall. The Buffs drop their second straight contest, moving to 5-2-2 in Pac-12 play and 13-2-3 overall.
HOW IT HAPPENED: Colorado's return home got off to a solid start. Senior Megan Massey recorded CU's first scoring chance, sending a shot off the hands of the diving goalkeeper in the 5th minute. The Buffs proved to be the aggressors in the opening 10 minutes, registering three shots and a corner kick.
Colorado caught the game's first break in the 9th minute. USC played the ball back to goalkeeper Kaylie Collins. The ball was misjudged, slipping past her towards the open net. Collins recovered and dove on the ball before it crossed the goal line, drawing a whistle from the official for playing the ball with her hands on a back pass.
The infraction set up an indirect free kick for Colorado from the six. Sarah Kinzner tapped the top of the ball and Taylor Kornieck let loose, sending her shot into the scrum of USC players lined up along the goal line. Kinzner got the rebound but was unable to get her shot through the USC defense.
Southern California broke the stalemate in the 25th minute. USC's Tara McKeown redirected a ball off a Colorado defender into the box. The ball found Penelope Hocking just off the six-yard mark. The initial shot was saved by CU's Jalen Tompkins, but the rebound found the foot of Leah Pruitt who was there for the tap-in goal.
USC tilted the field to start the second half, forcing Tompkins into action early on. She made three early saves, including an acrobatic stop in the 48th minute to keep the Buffs' deficit to one. Tompkins excelled all afternoon, finishing the match with 11 saves.
Colorado pushed but could not hit the back of the net. Jorian Baucom put a ball off the side of the net in the 58th minute. Libby Geraghty had an opportune chance that was put aside by Collins in the 61st minute. Chaynee Kingsbury and Nancy Best got back-to-back chances in the 73rd minute.
The Buffs urgency heightened as the time wound down. CU used long throw in's from Kingsbury, pushing every ball into the box. An offside call against the Trojans in the 90th minute set up CU's final chance.
Colorado rushed the ball down the field, looking for any player in the black and gold. Tatum Barton wound up with the ball at the top of the box. With seconds remaining she dribbled in and shot. The ball beat Collins but rang off the left post, bringing an end to the contest.
KEY STATISTICS: Tompkins stood tall in net for Colorado. Her 11 stops were the second most of the season.
BY THE NUMBERS:
Colorado
Goals: 0
Shots: 13
Fouls: 8
Saves: 11
USC
Goals: 1
Shots: 20
Fouls: 14
Saves: 5
UP NEXT: The Buffs play host to No. 8 UCLA on Sunday at Prentup Field. The game will be broadcast across the Pac-12 Networks.
NOTES: First time Colorado has been shutout in consecutive games since a four-game scoreless drought midway through the 2017 season (Oct. 1-13)…It also marks the first time CU has lost consecutive games since the same stretch…Thursday was the first home loss for Colorado since Oct. 8, 2017, against Stanford.
QUOTABLE:
Head Coach Danny Sanchez
On bouncing back after the loss at Stanford
"I feel like we did. Not just because of the score-line or because we hit the post with 10 seconds to go. We felt that we were going to bounce back. We are at home. We know the quality of USC. We knew it was going to be a bit of an uphill battle. I told the team it is not coach speak. I do not always say that I am super proud. I thought they stayed in the game. Some players laid it all on the line for 90 minutes. It just did not happen for us."
On correcting scoring drought
"I do not think I read too much into that. You do not always get six goals in a game. Like I told the team, over the course of the season you get those big-game moments. Maybe on Sunday the ball hits the post and goes in. I do not want to discredit USC. I thought they were very good on the day. It is tough to come here and play at altitude. We have to regroup, stay focused and take some positives from this."
Team Stats
USC
COLO
Goals
1
0
Shots
20
13
Shots on Goal
12
5
Saves
5
11
Corners
4
4
Fouls
14
8
Scoring Plays

Pruitt, Leah (11)
Assisted By: Hocking, Penelope
rebound off of Thompkins save in the box
24:28
Game Leaders
Players
Players Mentioned
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