Colorado’s Darcy Jerman, senior, looks through the thickening snow during a break in play against BYU in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Buffs post season was ended as they fell to North Carolina in the second round on Friday, Nov. 21, 2014. (Gray Bender/CU Independent)
The ride is over for the University of Colorado women’s soccer team.
After defeating No. 15 Brigham Young University to get into the second round of the NCAA women’s soccer tournament, the Buffaloes fell to the No. 6 University of North Carolina Tar Heels in overtime Friday night. After holding their own against UNC for the first 90 minutes, the Tar Heels finally broke through in OT on a headed goal, courtesy of sophomore midfielder Maya Worth, to take the 1-0 win. Colorado was entrenched in their own third of the field for most of the match, playing tough defense against a stout UNC frontline, who outshot the Buffaloes 22-2. The game probably wouldn’t have gotten to overtime had it not been for junior goalkeeper Kate Scheele, who had six saves on the night. Her backline also played admirably, never giving UNC enough space to get a clear shot on net.
The Tar Heels will advance to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament, while CU returns home after an impressive 14-7-1 season. Here are three takeaways from this game and from the season.
1. The Buffs are going to be good for a long time
If this loss showed anything, it’s that Colorado will be in good hands going forward. Next year the team returns with goalkeeper Kate Scheele, forward Brie Hooks and midfielder Olivia Pappalardo. After learning how to live without their top goal scorer from 2013-2014 (Anne Stuller), the Buffaloes now have a solid attacking group that will be back at Prentup next year. Junior forwards Madison Krauser and Emily Paxton will be back for another year, which will bring even more talent and experience to CU’s frontline. Replacing the backline, as well as captain Darcy Jerman, will be difficult, but head coach Danny Sanchez has done a good job of making this program competitive in the Pac-12. Keep an eye on these Buffs, they should be very good for years to come.
2. There is no shame in losing to North Carolina
Since the NCAA women’s soccer tournament started in 1982, the Tar Heels have won 22 of those titles. Two current starters on the United States women’s national team (Tobin Heath and Heather O’Reilly) are UNC alums, and the most recognizable face in women’s soccer, Mia Hamm, also graduated from Chapel Hill. Frankly put, this team is good. For Colorado to go to North Carolina and bring them into overtime is no small feat. While the Tar Heels pressed CU for much of the 90 minutes, the Buffs held their own, dealing well with UNC’s constant pressure and substitutions. They may be coming home, but the team should walk away from this game with their heads held high, and use it as good motivation for the 2015-2016 season.
3. CU never quits
A tad poetic, but still true. During the middle of the season, the Buffaloes faced a tough stretch where it would’ve been easy to pack in the season. Having to replace most of the backline, Anne Stuller and goalkeeper Annie Brunner, all key components of last years team, it could’ve been easy to justify a rebuilding year. Instead, Sanchez and his team stayed resolute, continuing to work out their issues and made the NCAA tournament after a strong end to the season. They played No.1 UCLA to the final whistle in conference play, and took North Carolina to overtime. At times this year, there were questions about if the team would make it to the dance, but even with the odds against them, they peaked at the right time and reached the round of 32. Now the Buffaloes look towards 2015-2016, and although the team won’t have the same personnel, the never say die mentality will certainly remain.
Contact Sports Editor Andrew Haubner at andrew.haubner@colorado.edu or on twitter @A_G_Haubner
