Soccer Set for Thursday Night Lights

BOULDER—The 28th season of Colorado soccer is set to kickoff in a big way. The Buffaloes will host Northern Colorado in the program's first game under the lights at the newly renovated Prentup Field Thursday night (7 p.m. MT) .

The Buffs start the 2023 campaign with a heavy dose of home cooking. CU will play its first six matches and seven of its first eight at Prentup. Colorado finished the 2022 season with a strong 8-2-2 record in front of its home crowd.

The Buffaloes have spent the last week and a half getting reacquainted with the home pitch, having started the first week of the preseason training inside Folsom Field. The Buffs unveiled their new locker room before last Saturday's Black & Gold scrimmage, providing a spark going into the final days of preparation.

CU wrapped up training on Tuesday with the announcement of senior Rachel Rosen as the team's captain for the 2023 season. The Hermosa Beach, Calif., native, has played all over the pitch for head coach Danny Sanchez in her previous three seasons.

"We evaluated last year and as we got through the spring and into the summer Rachel stood out as not only a leader holding herself accountable to herself, her teammates and the coaching staff," Sanchez explained. "We got great feedback from the team and it was unanimous with the coaches. We felt that she would do a great job of leading the team. But like I told the team in the locker room, we need a lot more people to step up. We have a lot of great players in that locker room that will step up and accept roles and take some of that burden off Rachel."

The Buffs will train under the lights on Wednesday night to close out the preseason. The session will serve as a final audition for all 28 players positioning for a spot in the starting 11. The roster went through an overhaul from the 2022 season with 14 newcomers joining the 14 returners. Even with the turnover, CU has 275 games started in the Black & Gold returning in 2023.

"[Thursday] we're going to roll 11 starters but odds are those aren't going to be the 11 starters on Sunday or going forward," Sanchez added. "There's a lot of competition. A lot of players are going to get an opportunity. It's a good problem to have. The players are in a great place and they have to be great teammates. On gameday, it's about 'side before self.' It's about the team and they've bought into that. You never know when your chance is going to come."

The Buffs have won all 11 contests against Northern Colorado dating back to 1996. Thursday will be the first time the two teams have met in the regular season since game two of the COVID delayed 2020 season. Only seven players remain on the CU roster from that match, with Shyra James notching her first career goal in the last meeting.

Northern Colorado went 4-11-3 last season. Lauren Woodhull returns as the team's top scorer. She led the Bears last season with 11 points (5 G, 1 A). Goalkeeper Kaya Lindberg started all 17 games last season for UNC, posting a Big Sky Conference-best 5.24 saves per game.

"We know the challenge that Tim Barrera and his UNC Bears will bring down to us," Sanchez commented. "They are well coached and are very athletic. They have had two scrimmages under their belt so they have been able to iron out some things and sort out their player rotation. We might be slow out of the starting blocks [on Thursday] but we feel that we have a lot of players that have shown well in the preseason. We're excited for what they can do this fall."

Thad Anderson will have the season-opening call on the Pac-12 Network.

The first 250 fans in attendance will receive a commemorative ticket. There will also be a scarf giveaway while supplies last and a Happy Hour concessions deal featuring discounts on beer and a package deal for a non-alcoholic beverage and one food item.

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Players Mentioned

Shyra James

Rachel Rosen

Colorado University Athletics