Soccer Ready for First Conference Road Test

EUGENE, Ore. – The Colorado soccer team continues its farewell tour of the Pac-12, hitting the road for the first time in league play. The Buffaloes will open the week at Oregon and cap off the trip with a visit to Oregon State.

Colorado (8-2-0, 0-1-0) couldn't have more of a contrasting open to the Pac-12 season. The Buffs dropped their opener to No. 5 UCLA last Friday and now draw an Oregon Ducks squad still searching for its first win of the season.

For the Buffs, it is the first extended road trip of the season. CU is 2-0 away from Prentup Field this season with wins at New Mexico and Denver.

"I think whenever you go on the road especially since it's our first big road trip, there's a heightened attention to detail," head coach Danny Sanchez explained. "We're excited to get on the road and compete against Oregon and Oregon State. It doesn't matter what you've done before, it's all about what you do going forward. This is a big opportunity for us to get back on the winning side of things and hopefully build momentum as we get to the meat of the Pac-12 schedule."

CU used a Shyra James goal in the 61st minute to cut into UCLA's 2-0 lead last Friday. If it weren't for an unfortunate bounce against the Buffs late in the second half, the team could have position to fight for a draw or even overtake the lead.

"Even though we were down 2-0, I thought we had some good stretches of play," Sanchez recalled. "We need to build off that momentum with confidence going forward and still being stingy in the back. Two games on the road will be a new challenge for us this year, but we've had a good week of training and we're excited to get out there and compete."

The Buffs have had 11 different goal scorers and 13 different players record a point this season, led by James and her Pac-12 leading 17 points. She has scored a goal in four straight matches and six of CU's last seven contests. Senior captain Rachel Rosen has assisted on the last three James' goals and has climbed to third on the team with five points.

Colorado has been able to rely on James' offense to this point in the season, but it has been 213 minutes since a CU player not named James has scored a non-penalty kick goal.

"I think some players within our squad still have an opportunity to break out this year," Sanchez expressed. "We know what Shyra is capable of doing. But there's been some really good performances that just haven't quite got that final piece. We still have half our season to go and we know that we have players that are capable of supporting the attack."

Thursday's kickoff is a late one, set for 8 p.m. MT, and will be on Pac-12 Insider and CUBuffs.com/WatchSoc.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Shyra James

Rachel Rosen