CU Buff Kate Russell sides to keep the ball away from Cyclone Jordan Bishop on Sunday at Prentup Field. The Buffs defeated the Cyclones 1-3. (CU Independent/Phil McMichael)
The Buffs finally snapped their four-game scoreless run.
Colorado’s women’s soccer team (6-7-1, 2-3-1 Big 12) beat the Iowa State Cyclones (6-8-2, 1-4-0 Big 12) 3-1 Sunday at Prentup Field, breaking a three-game losing streak.
“[The team] came out and banded together and succeeded,” said Colorado Head Coach Bill Hempen. “The team itself was fantastic.”
Colorado fell behind in the 24th minute, when Iowa State junior defender Jessica Stewart slipped a ball in just past the outstretched hands of the Buff’s freshman goalkeeper Annie Brunner.
Colorado leveled the score in the 31st minute. CU sophomore midfielder Shaye Marshall got on the end of junior midfielder Kate Russell’s pass and slotted in the equalizer.
Marshall’s goal was the first goal the Buffs had scored in 425 minutes and was the first opening half goal they have scored since Sept. 24
The goal came as a relief to Colorado, Russel said.
“When you get you get a goal, regardless of how you don’t want it to affect you, it does give you a sense of security,” Russell said. “Once we got that one goal, I think it was just a matter of time before we got the other two.”
Despite heavy pressure from Colorado for the rest of the half, the score remained 1-1 at halftime.
The Buffs came out strong in the second half, pressuring the Iowa State defense, looking to break the tie. Their break came in the 80th minute, when Russell took a laser strike from 25 yards out. The ball sailed over Iowa State freshman goalkeeper Maddie Jobe and into the goal.
Hempen said even he was impressed.
“When you’ve got that kind of a gift in your leg, you might as well let it loose,” Hempen said. “Anything on goal can go in.”
It was not long before Colorado scored again. In the 88th minute, the Buff’s went on a breakaway and junior midfielder Kassidy Fitzpatrick found freshman forward Alex Dohm, who was streaking down the right wing. Dohm then slotted the ball between two defenders to senior defender Kym Lowry, who put the finishing touch into the net.
Lowry’s goal would be the last of the game and gave Colorado the 3-1 win.
The players said they were happy with their performance Sunday, especially since they were coming off a disappointing loss to Missouri on Friday.
“We definitely needed a win like this,” Marshall said. “Not only a one-goal win, we needed more than one goal to get a little more confidence.”
The win marked the first time this season that the Buffs have been down and still found a way to win, something that is not lost on the players.
“Now we know that we can [come back],” Russell said. “Hopefully, in the future, if we go down a goal, we’ll be able to remember this moment and be able to do the same thing.”
Colorado will now look to build on Sunday’s performance as they travel to Oklahoma. The will take on the No. 7 Oklahoma State Cowgirls Oct. 14 in Stillwater and the University of Oklahoma Sooners in Norman on Oct 17. The Oklahoma State game will be nationally televised on Fox Soccer Channel.
The coaches said they hope that the bright lights of TV will ignite something in their players.
“We have to play like there is nothing for us to lose,” Hempen said. “We’re kind of in the playoffs right now; we can’t really afford another loss.”
Contact CU Independent Soccer Reporter Mark McNeillie at Mark.mcneillie@colorado.edu.
