Colorado
Austin Peay State
Players Mentioned
Colorado Shakes Off Slow Start to Down Austin Peay
September 05, 2019 | Soccer
Freshman Roo Yarnell-Williams nets the game-winner
BOULDER – The Colorado soccer team improved to 5-0-0 on the season with a 2-0 win over Austin Peay on Thursday. The game was delayed 70 minutes because of lightning in the area before finally getting cleared to play.Â
The match was in danger of not getting played. School officials and both head coaches had serious talks about postponing the contest until Friday. There was a window of opportunity to start the game and the lightning cleared out once play got underway.Â
The pace of play was slow and inconsistent when the teams finally did return to the field. After a rushed second warm-up period play began without any ceremony. Colorado took control late in the half, tilting the field. CU was buzzing in the final minutes of the period but could not break through by the half.  Â
Freshman Roo Yarnell-Williams continued to impress for the Buffaloes. She came off the bench and picked up her second goal of the season. Her play continued to be strong late in the match, sending a dangerous ball into the box that resulted in an own goal and a two-goal lead for the Buffs.Â
How it happened
A different Colorado squad came out for the start of the second half. The Buffaloes looked more energized and controlled the field in demanding fashion.Â
Senior Tatum Barton got involved early in the second half, putting a solid strike on the ball from the top of the goal circle. She was involved in a close call in the 51st minute when Colorado looked to have scored on a rush downfield. Taylor Kornieck played a ball across to Barton and past the challenging Austin Peay keeper. Barton tapped the ball across the goal line for an easy goal, but the play was flagged for offside.Â
Colorado kept the foot on the gas, sensing a breakthrough. That break came in the 64th minute off the right foot of Yarnell-Williams.Â
Hannah Sharts helped get the goal started, throwing the ball into the near post from the CU sideline. The ball deflected off of two Austin Peay defender's heads and right to a waiting Yarnell-Williams on the back post. Yarnell-Williams sent the ball back across the box into the lower right corner to give the Buffs the advantage.Â
It was another strong offensive push by Yarnell-Williams that provided the insurance-goal late for the Buffs. She ran down the right of the goal box and sent a strong center into the middle of the box. A bad clear attempt for Austin Peay ended up directly in the net, sealing the victory. Â
Key Statistics: CU's defense continued to hold strong. Senior Jalen Tompkins was not all that active, making just two saves on her way to her 20th career shutout.Â
BY THE NUMBERS:
Colorado
Goals:Â 2
Shots:Â 16
Fouls:Â 7
Saves:Â 2
Austin Peay
Goals:Â 0
Shots:Â 9
Fouls:Â 7
Saves:Â 3
Up Next:Â Another former Big 12 rival comes to town on Sunday when the Buffs host Baylor (1 p.m.). Baylor (2-0-1) plays at Wyoming on Friday.Â
Notes: Yarnell-Williams now has four points in her first six games…Kornieck entered the match leading the NCAA with 6.75 shots per game (five tonight)…the shutout win for Tompkins breaks a tie with Kirstin Radlinski for third all-time in CU history…Colorado has scored two goals in every game this season (5-0-0). Â
Quotes
Head coach Danny Sanchez
Overall thoughts
"It's a dangerous game you know with the [70-minute] delay. You'd like to come out well but we didn't. Give credit to Austin Peay. I have a lot of respect for their coach. I knew they'd be ready to play. They are a good team. They got one of their better players back last game and she did well today. The first half was sloppy and slow. I thought that second half was much better. We created a lot more chances. We are still missing that cutting edge in front of goal. That extra clean touch. At the end of the day, it's a 2-0 win at home. I'm glad we got the game in before it got dark. It gives us a little more rest for Baylor on Sunday."
On what he said to the team at half
"We have to score a goal. We have to score and we don't care how they come. That was a great finish by Roo [Yarnell-Williams], but two fortunate goals for us."Â
On Roo Yarnell-Williams
"We didn't start her today. We are kind of rotating players in. When she did get in she stayed positive and it was a goal-scorers finish, kind of bouncing on the loose ball in the box. On the second one, you put the ball in a dangerous spot good things are going to happen. I thought she did well today. Hopefully, she will continue to develop along with the other attacking players."Â
Freshman Roo Yarnell-Williams
On what changed between the first and second half
 "I just think that we wanted to win and knew that we had to win today. There was the delay today, so we were a little bit more hesitant coming out. We just wanted to win, this was a big game, this affects us getting into the NCAA Tournament."
On how it feels to be 5-0
 "Amazing. You always are playing hard teams, but it's not over. We play Baylor on Sunday so that is going to be difficult. They made it to the Elite Eight last year. We just have to come out with the mentality that not everything is going to be easy, and I think we know that."
On affect delay and limited practice had
"The warmup was a little bit hard because we didn't get a lot of touches on the ball, but I think that having the delay was good to just connect. If you were in the locker room you could see everybody listening to music, dancing, and vibing together. That was the first time that I've really seen that, where we all connected. I thought it was beneficial. There are negative sides to it but it was good to help us bond."
Sophomore Hannah Cardenas
 On Roo Yarnell-Williams
"I'm very impressed. I'm very happy to have her on this field and being on one of our forwards. As a freshman, we will have her for the next four years. My next couple of years here, at least I'll have a forward like her where she'll continue to grow, get better and just be a dominating force in the Pac-12."Â
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