Colorado
4-3-1, 1-2-1
UCLA
7-0-0, 4-0-0
Buffs Drop First at Home
March 12, 2021 | Soccer
Early UCLA goal holds up
BOULDER — No. 3 UCLA got on board early and withstood a late rush by Colorado to hold on to the 1-0 decision at Prentup Field on Friday.Â
UCLA (7-0-0, 4-0-0 Pac-12) scored on the match's opening shot and controlled the play for a majority of the first half. The Buffaloes turned things around in the second half and got quality scoring-chances but couldn't find the back of the net.Â
"It was a Pac-12 battle with two very good teams," head coach Danny Sanchez commented after the game. "I thought we started a little slow and it was disappointing to give up that goal. When you look at it from after that, I don't know when their second shot on goal was, but it wasn't until the middle or late in the second half. Although we gave up that early goal, I was pleased with how we responded. I thought in the second half we played much better. We created a lot more chances."
Colorado (4-3-1, 1-2-1 Pac-12) got three saves on the day from Dani Hansen, who made her sixth consecutive start in net for the Buffs. Kayleigh Webb and Shyra James led CU's offensive effort, totaling three shots apiece. Webb accounted for both of Colorado's shots on goal.Â
How it happened: The only goal of the day came early in the 7th minute for the Bruins. Delanie Sheehan tried to feed a cross into the top of the box, but it was deflected by the Colorado defender. Unfortunately for the Buffs, the ball came right back to the feet of Sheehan and she one-timed it into the back of the net. Â
The Bruins kept pushing getting seven more shots in the half. UCLA almost made it a two-goal game in the 30th minute when Mia Fishel put one right off the crossbar.Â
CU's lone shot attempt in the first half came in the 42nd minute. Hannah Sharts served a ball into a crow and Tessa Barton came away with it and tried to get a shot towards net from just off the 18, but had it blocked away.Â
"We went into the locker room after the first half saying we could all play better," Webb said. "We knew if we played through the middle and got it out the other side we had all the space open."
Colorado came out in the second half and outshot the Bruins, 9-8. Jenny Beyer recorded a pair of chances for the Buffs in the early minutes of the period. Webb found some open space in the 56th minute and fired a shot from distance forcing UCLA keeper, Lauren Brzykcy to make her first save of the day.Â
CU's best chances of the afternoon came from James. She drew four defenders with her along the 18 and put a left-footed shot back across her body just missing the upper right corner of the net in the 60th minute. James got back-to-back from looks atop the goal area in the 69th minute, hitting the crossbar and then putting her rebound high.
"It was a little unfortunate with the crossbar and we had some other chances," Sanchez continued. "We probably created more chances this game than we have in any Pac-12 game this year, but UCLA, as we know, is a quality team. The game started and we started to get stretched. We were still defending well and limiting their opportunities. They have world-class attacking players. We did a really good job against them. I'm proud of the effort today."
Webb got another opportunity in the 89th minute, taking two touches to the top of the penalty box before she let her shot rip. Brzycky took two steps to her right and corralled the ball while going to the ground to close out her shutout. Â
"I think if we had five more minutes, we defiantly would have gotten a goal," Webb added. "Defensively, we did great, stepping up on players and not letting them through. Getting forward, I think our outside players served great balls in for our forwards. We just didn't get lucky today, but it's coming."Â Â
BY THE NUMBERS:Â
Colorado
Goals:Â 0
Shots:Â 10
Fouls:Â 13
Saves:Â 3
UCLA
Goals:Â 1
Shots:Â 16
Fouls:Â 10
Saves:Â 2
Up Next: Colorado is net slatted to play No. 14 USC on Sunday. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. MT. The game will be carried on the Pac-12 Network. The impending snowstorm may cause changes, but will not be known until later on Saturday. Â
Notes: UCLA had yellow cards given to Sheehan and head coach Amanda Cromwell…the loss was CU's first at Prentup Field since falling to Stanford 4-0 on Oct. 24, 2019 (505 days)…Hannah Cardenas played her first minutes of the season…CU was without Jade Babcock-Chi due to an undisclosed injury…Hansen now has 45 saves this season…Coach Sanchez remains in search of his 100th career victory at Colorado.Â
Team Stats
Delanie Sheehan (2)
GOAL by UCLA Sheehan, Delanie.
06:27
