2019 Colorado Buffaloes

Yes !! The College Cup knows the way to San Jose.

https://santaclara.prestosports.com/sports/w-soccer/2019-20/releases/20190814rkvgn5

 

That's a nice highlight package.

You can tell, pretty easily, which school's want to celebrate all their athletes and which only care about football/basketball.

Or barring that, that some schools just suck at the little things.

 

I had a choice of watching the stream of the game, or delivering 400 baked potatoes to a barbecue under a huge tent in the middle of Colorado Mesa University, helping serve over 1,000 freshmen, and staying for the early evening dance with a very good band. The barbecue was put on by the various campus ministries, and the church I attend borders the campus. I did not bake the potatoes, and it was a very good barbecue.

Watching the highlight video, I found myself looking for me in the stands, where I've been since 2007. Oops, forgot, I'm 250 miles away. But I'll be there for Kent State and Texas next weekend. The only other game I'll see is the last one, I live 20 miles from Utah and it's an easy drive to Salt Lake City.

Got home in time to watch the final ten minutes of #13 Santa Clara's somewhat domination of #12 Texas A&M. Shots 19-9, corner kicks 13-2. So who won? Silly question, it's soccer ... A&M 3-2.

But I'll watch the Boston game Sunday, immediately followed by Santa Clara & Oregon.

 

Boston tied Denver 0-0 last night. Sounds like the game was played in the middle of the field, shots were 8-7, on goal 4-3, that's not a lot for 110 minutes.

Speaking of future opponents ... Gonzaga outshot Texas 23-15 in Austin. Texas scored late to win 4-3. Baylor lost an exhibition game to Texas A&M - Corpus Christi 1-0, and scored with three minutes left to beat Texas State 2-1, both games at home. Stanford won its exhibition 7-0 over Missouri. Didn't Stanford win a game last year by that score?

 

Buffs 2, Boston University 0 as viewed from a distance ...

It wasn't that close. At all. Started out slowly, Boston took the first shot of the game about ten minutes in. After that, it was pretty much all Buffs. Libby Geraghty passed to Kelsey Aaknes a bit past midfield and Kelsey just kept going, carried the ball down the left sideline a ways, then cut across the field to the right side, drawing the goalkeeper to that side, then Kelsey rolled the ball back to the far left side of the net and the GK couldn't get there in time. Three minutes into the second half, Kelsey (she's a defender) had the ball near the left sideline about at the top of the penalty box and found freshman Roo Yarnell-Williams kind of unmarked inn the box for her first of what I think will be a very large number of goals in her career.

LOTS of chances. The GK flat out stole two goals in the first half and made a diving save off a low rocket from Taylor Kornieck late in the game. One shot from a steep angle got over the GK and hit the crossbar.

Our transfer from Grambling, Haileigh Adams, is a bit banged up so didn't play Thursday, but she got in briefly in both halves today. Oh, yes. Southwest Athletic Conference Player of the Year last year and one can see why.

Shots wound up 19-6, on goal 10-1 and the one came off a corner kick a couple of seconds past 90:00 but it counted. Announced attendance was 1,256, aided by a sizeable contingent of Boston fans. Their roster comes from all over the country (including Lafayette, Colorado, adjacent to Boulder) and quite a few people came to see their daughter or granddaughter or niece or cousin or something play two games in Colorado.

Any thoughts from someone who was there?

 

Elsewhere,

The other team I follow besides the Buffs and Santa Clara is West Virginia, my father was a Mountaineer, Class of 1928. They are ranked #11 and picked to win the Big 12 ahead of Baylor and Texas. Today they hosted Stanford. Ouch, 3-1. WVU didn't get a shot in the first half and were down 3-0. They scored off the second half kickoff and missed a penalty kick late. Shots wound up 13-4, on goal 8-2. Stanford also won at #6 Penn State 2-1.

Closer to home, Denver scored 6:40 into the first half and 6:57 into the second and defeated Drake 2-0. Drake got 4 shots.

Oregon clearly had the run of play at Santa Clara for 44 and a half minutes. Then a Bronco found herself open not that far past midfield and launched a shot into the upper corner of the net, SCU scored a minute into the second half and again a few minutes later for 3-0. Oregon scored off the kickoff. Final was 4-1, stats were even. Oregon's defenders were very physical and I thought they got away with a lot.

No upsets in the Pac-12. Long Beach State at Arizona was canceled due to lightning. This evening at home UCLA scored 12 minutes in against Long Beach and the rout was not on, ended 1-0.

 

Also agree. Not even close.

Unfortunately, we didn't see Boston's keeper that played at Denver. I was at that game. She is the gk that played in NCAA's for Boston and has a string of shut outs which is continuing it seems.

And even though the stats were low in the Denver game, that game wasn't controlled in the middle of the field. That keeper stopped anything that came into the box so many of her stops/saves were not recorded as goals or shots on goal. And she directed which makes for a better defensive game usually.

That was the game I was hoping to see at CU. I think that would have been a very competitive game. But i'll take the easy win any day. .

 

Good point. And if the GK we saw is their #2, I will assume that #1 is REALLY good.

Something I've mentioned previously ... sometimes what certainly looks like a shot on goal and a save is not recorded as such. I realize that if the ball would not have gone in even if aliens snatched the GK just when the shot was taken, that's not a shot on goal. But even when the shot is on target, it sometimes doesn't count as a shot on goal. Perhaps there's more to the definition than I'm aware of.

Watching the game on the stream, I didn't see myself in the stands again. But this week I'll be at both games. A temporary restoration of order in the Universe.

I live four blocks from the soccer field at Colorado Mesa University, so at least I won't starve. And CMU has men's soccer also. They are Division 2 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, which occasionally has a good soccer team or two. Particularly the Colorado School of Mines. And Metro State won a couple of national championships with a coach named Sanchez, name sounds familiar for some reason.

 

Agreed about the recordation of saves. They should change it for the goalies. A lot of their hard work goes unrecognized through stats.

Crosses taken out of the air; not a save. An endline ball hit hard and saved at the near post; not a save. A ball taken off someone's head (scoring opportunity usually); not a save; coming out and snuffing a ball on the ground that is being quickly followed by a player (depending on where it is in the box)/not a save. Windmilling a ball across the top of the cross bar; not a save. But a weak ball sent directly into their breadbasket while they are in or very near the net which looks like a catch, gets recorded as a save.

Enjoy the games. Hopefully not as hot.

 

From what I saw, both very good.
JT and our D really didn't get tested at all.
You hate to look past games but the FSU game should be a thriller.