Colorado
Arizona
Players Mentioned
Buffs Open Pac-12 Play on the Road
September 26, 2019 | Soccer
CU takes on Arizona on Friday
TUCSON, Ariz. – The Colorado soccer team heads to Arizona to start the Pac-12 season on Friday. The Buffaloes and Wildcats will kick off at 8 p.m. MT on the Pac-12 Networks.
CU picked up a pair of wins against in-state rivals last week. Colorado started the week with a 4-0 win over Northern Colorado and concluded with a 2-0 win at Denver. Senior Taylor Kornieck recorded six points in the two matches, helping her to Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week honors.
Colorado, the No. 24 ranked team in the United Soccer Coaches ranking, played to an 8-1-0 record in the non-conference season. CU's schedule provided a good measuring stick headed into the Pac-12 season. The Buffs battled to a pair of marquee wins over then No. 24 Texas and Baylor. The Buffs only blemish is a 3-2 overtime loss at defending national champion Florida State.
The Wildcats (6-1-0) were picked to finish seventh in the Pac-12 preseason voting. Arizona advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament last season and return 19 players. Brooke Wilson leads the team with 12 points (5 G, 2 A). The Wildcats have used two goalkeepers this season, splitting the six wins evenly.
"Arizona is a very good team," head coach Danny Sanchez noted. "Their only loss is to Santa Clara, who is a very good team. It will be a battle for us. Fortunately, it's in Tucson so we will have a lot of supporters there. My family, Jason's [Green] family and a lot of other people will be making the trip down to support us."
Colorado saw early success in Pac-12 play last season. The Buffs started 5-0-2 in conference play but finished on an 0-4 slide against a stretch that included the No. 1 (Stanford), No. 2 (USC) and No. 8 (UCLA) teams in the country. Kornieck leads CU with 17 points (6 G, 5 A) this season. The senior captain in the cusp of setting some major school-records. Entering the weekend, she is one assist shy of tying Fran Munnelly for the all-time leader in assists. She is also four points shy of tying Nikki Marshall (93) for CU's all-time career points record.
"It's a single-game weekend," Sanchez added. "Both teams are looking to start Pac-12 play with a result. Arizona has some Colorado kids on the team as well. It will be a tough match for us. We have had some tests, but the 11 Pac-12 games we will play are their own beast."