Colorado University Athletics
Scout Watson
Photo by: Mike Greening
Buffs Wrap Up Spring Season With 4-1-1 Record
April 24, 2018 | Soccer
BOULDER – Colorado's soccer team wrapped up its spring season over the weekend, falling 2-0 at Nebraska and drawing 0-0 with South Dakota. The team capped off the spring with a 4-1-1 record.
The Buffs surrendered an early own goal in the 13th minute vs. the Huskers on Saturday evening and then gave up a late score in the 88th minute in the 2-0 loss. CU had plenty of scoring chances against Nebraska, putting five shots on goal and hitting the crossbar twice.
Against USD on Sunday, the Buffs came out slow, having played a late game the night before. Play picked up in the second half with plenty of shots on goal, but CU settled for a scoreless draw against the Coyotes. Head coach Danny Sanchez thought the team was unlucky to not find a goal late.
"It's a long spring season and Saturday against Nebraska was like a real game," Sanchez said. "We played well for long stretches. We gave up an unfortunate own goal early and we gave a goal late when we were pushing numbers. But we played well in the middle, played with good intensity, created some good chances. It was a very good game, could've gone either way, but it's really what you're looking to get out of a spring match.
"On Sunday, it looked like we had played until 9:30 on Saturday. We didn't come out with a lot energy, not a lot of focus that you're looking for. The second half, we played well. I think we started to press a little and created a lot of chances. Like I told the team, I think that's the type of a Sunday afternoon game that we could've played for four days and I don't know if the ball was ever going to go in. Really the way we look at it, is we look at the spring as a whole and I thought it was a very good spring for the team."
There were plenty of positives for the team against a good spring schedule. CU outscored its opponents 13-4, led by Jorian Baucom with three goals, a senior that is coming off an injury that forced her to miss the 2017 season. Camilla Shymka, Megan Massey and Marty Puketapu each had two goals, while Stephanie Zuniga and Puketapu had four assists apiece. Zuniga also missed the 2017 season with an injury.
Sanchez was pleased with his team's performances and efforts throughout the spring. Most importantly, he was happy the team escaped the spring injury-free.
"First things first—we're healthy," Sanchez said. "We got a couple players back, got Jorian back, got Stephanie back. Cam [Shymka], after not being 100 percent in the fall, she was back as well. And we kept everybody healthy. Everyone that played the first game played the last game. I thought our fitness improved. They really worked hard with our new strength coach Travis Larson and Kari [Kebach] on the rehab, so we're really pleased with where we're at physically."
Looking up and down the roster, Sanchez thought his entire group performed well. He noted each returning starter as playing well again in the spring and was pleased with Zuniga's progression returning from her injury.
"Stephanie Zuniga, coming back from her injury, really showed some good things," Sanchez said. "[She got] her fitness back and got back to where she was a couple years ago [from a technical standpoint], and maybe even a little bit further ahead from that."
Sanchez said Jalen Tompkins and Scout Watson, the team's captains and goalkeepers, were the two players that stood out the most during the spring.
"Both goalkeepers were fantastic," Sanchez. "They were our highest-rated players the whole spring. I thought they showed great leadership as captains and really preformed and brought it every day in training."
As he meets with his players this week to go over goals for the upcoming season, Sanchez said he is challenging them to take their games up even a level higher.
"I think the challenge for them is, what more are they willing to do for us to continue to progress as a program?" Sanchez said. "A big thing that we've been talking about is, what are they willing to sacrifice? Sometimes you have to sacrifice things—as the saying goes, 'if you do the same things the same way every year, you're going to get the same results.' It's easy to say, 'I'm going to do this.' But sometimes to do that, you have to make sacrifices and we've really challenged our players to make sacrifices to be more fit, to be better on the ball, to continue to be a good teammate—there's a lot of different ways to look at it."
The Buffs are coming off their fourth NCAA Tournament appearance in the past five seasons. CU has reached the second or third round of those four years, but the challenge is to get beyond that in 2018 when the games officially count in the fall. Fortunately, the Buffs possess depth and talent at each position on the field, and with just four freshmen joining the team in the fall and 22 returners from 2017, a lot of experience.
"We were really able to get a good look at our players in different areas this spring," Sanchez said. "We feel we have depth everywhere. We established a lot of competition, and as the team knows, there will be a lot of competition going into the preseason and I think they'll rise to the challenge."
Colorado 0 0 - 0
Nebraska 1 1 - 2
Goals: Nebraska (CU own goal) 13', Nebraska 88'
Starters: Tompkins (GK), Aaknes, Cardenas, Vidger, Greening, Phillips, Kinzner, Massey, Kornieck, Zuniga, Baucom
Reserves: Barton, Best, Dalton, Goodwin, Joella, Puketapu, Shymka, Watson, Weiner
Colorado 0 0 - 0
South Dakota 0 0 - 0
Goals: None
Starters: Watson (GK), Goodwin, Vidger, Cardenas, Aaknes, Best, Dalton, Kornieck, Zuniga, Baucom, Puketapu
Reserves: Barton, Greening, Joella, Kaplan, Kinzner, Massey, Shymka, Tompkins, Weiner, Phillips
Final Spring Statistics:
Goals: Baucom 3, Shymka 2, Massey 2, Puketapu 2, Aaknes 1, Zuniga 1, Joella 1, Phillips 1
Assists: Zuniga 4, Puketapu 4, Massey 1, Greening 1, Best 1, Kornieck 1, Kinzner 1
Goal-Against Average: Watson 0.67 (2 GA, 270 min.), Tompkins 0.67 (2 GA, 270 min.)
Results: (4-1-1 record)
3/10 at Colorado College, W 3-1
4/8 Northern Colorado, W 2-1
4/14 Colorado State, W 5-0
4/14 FC Boulder WUPSL, W 3-0
4/21 at Nebraska, L 0-2
4/22 vs. South Dakota, T 0-0
The Buffs surrendered an early own goal in the 13th minute vs. the Huskers on Saturday evening and then gave up a late score in the 88th minute in the 2-0 loss. CU had plenty of scoring chances against Nebraska, putting five shots on goal and hitting the crossbar twice.
Against USD on Sunday, the Buffs came out slow, having played a late game the night before. Play picked up in the second half with plenty of shots on goal, but CU settled for a scoreless draw against the Coyotes. Head coach Danny Sanchez thought the team was unlucky to not find a goal late.
"It's a long spring season and Saturday against Nebraska was like a real game," Sanchez said. "We played well for long stretches. We gave up an unfortunate own goal early and we gave a goal late when we were pushing numbers. But we played well in the middle, played with good intensity, created some good chances. It was a very good game, could've gone either way, but it's really what you're looking to get out of a spring match.
"On Sunday, it looked like we had played until 9:30 on Saturday. We didn't come out with a lot energy, not a lot of focus that you're looking for. The second half, we played well. I think we started to press a little and created a lot of chances. Like I told the team, I think that's the type of a Sunday afternoon game that we could've played for four days and I don't know if the ball was ever going to go in. Really the way we look at it, is we look at the spring as a whole and I thought it was a very good spring for the team."
There were plenty of positives for the team against a good spring schedule. CU outscored its opponents 13-4, led by Jorian Baucom with three goals, a senior that is coming off an injury that forced her to miss the 2017 season. Camilla Shymka, Megan Massey and Marty Puketapu each had two goals, while Stephanie Zuniga and Puketapu had four assists apiece. Zuniga also missed the 2017 season with an injury.
Sanchez was pleased with his team's performances and efforts throughout the spring. Most importantly, he was happy the team escaped the spring injury-free.
"First things first—we're healthy," Sanchez said. "We got a couple players back, got Jorian back, got Stephanie back. Cam [Shymka], after not being 100 percent in the fall, she was back as well. And we kept everybody healthy. Everyone that played the first game played the last game. I thought our fitness improved. They really worked hard with our new strength coach Travis Larson and Kari [Kebach] on the rehab, so we're really pleased with where we're at physically."
Looking up and down the roster, Sanchez thought his entire group performed well. He noted each returning starter as playing well again in the spring and was pleased with Zuniga's progression returning from her injury.
"Stephanie Zuniga, coming back from her injury, really showed some good things," Sanchez said. "[She got] her fitness back and got back to where she was a couple years ago [from a technical standpoint], and maybe even a little bit further ahead from that."
Sanchez said Jalen Tompkins and Scout Watson, the team's captains and goalkeepers, were the two players that stood out the most during the spring.
"Both goalkeepers were fantastic," Sanchez. "They were our highest-rated players the whole spring. I thought they showed great leadership as captains and really preformed and brought it every day in training."
As he meets with his players this week to go over goals for the upcoming season, Sanchez said he is challenging them to take their games up even a level higher.
"I think the challenge for them is, what more are they willing to do for us to continue to progress as a program?" Sanchez said. "A big thing that we've been talking about is, what are they willing to sacrifice? Sometimes you have to sacrifice things—as the saying goes, 'if you do the same things the same way every year, you're going to get the same results.' It's easy to say, 'I'm going to do this.' But sometimes to do that, you have to make sacrifices and we've really challenged our players to make sacrifices to be more fit, to be better on the ball, to continue to be a good teammate—there's a lot of different ways to look at it."
The Buffs are coming off their fourth NCAA Tournament appearance in the past five seasons. CU has reached the second or third round of those four years, but the challenge is to get beyond that in 2018 when the games officially count in the fall. Fortunately, the Buffs possess depth and talent at each position on the field, and with just four freshmen joining the team in the fall and 22 returners from 2017, a lot of experience.
"We were really able to get a good look at our players in different areas this spring," Sanchez said. "We feel we have depth everywhere. We established a lot of competition, and as the team knows, there will be a lot of competition going into the preseason and I think they'll rise to the challenge."
Colorado 0 0 - 0
Nebraska 1 1 - 2
Goals: Nebraska (CU own goal) 13', Nebraska 88'
Starters: Tompkins (GK), Aaknes, Cardenas, Vidger, Greening, Phillips, Kinzner, Massey, Kornieck, Zuniga, Baucom
Reserves: Barton, Best, Dalton, Goodwin, Joella, Puketapu, Shymka, Watson, Weiner
Colorado 0 0 - 0
South Dakota 0 0 - 0
Goals: None
Starters: Watson (GK), Goodwin, Vidger, Cardenas, Aaknes, Best, Dalton, Kornieck, Zuniga, Baucom, Puketapu
Reserves: Barton, Greening, Joella, Kaplan, Kinzner, Massey, Shymka, Tompkins, Weiner, Phillips
Final Spring Statistics:
Goals: Baucom 3, Shymka 2, Massey 2, Puketapu 2, Aaknes 1, Zuniga 1, Joella 1, Phillips 1
Assists: Zuniga 4, Puketapu 4, Massey 1, Greening 1, Best 1, Kornieck 1, Kinzner 1
Goal-Against Average: Watson 0.67 (2 GA, 270 min.), Tompkins 0.67 (2 GA, 270 min.)
Results: (4-1-1 record)
3/10 at Colorado College, W 3-1
4/8 Northern Colorado, W 2-1
4/14 Colorado State, W 5-0
4/14 FC Boulder WUPSL, W 3-0
4/21 at Nebraska, L 0-2
4/22 vs. South Dakota, T 0-0
Players Mentioned
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