2017 Colorado Buffaloes

Go Lady Buffs! #OffSeasonTWICS!

 

Buffs 2, Northern Colorado 1

Wasn't that warm, but it sure was windy.

Kenzie Tillitt came out of "retirement" to be the goalkeeper. She had a quiet first 30 minutes, then kept us in the game with several good saves. The run of play strongly favored the Buffs for 30 minutes, but then UNC strung a few passes together and Kenzie had to make a diving save. This seemed to add a spark to the Bears, as the rest of the game was much more evenly played. The Buffs were definitely bigger, and both teams were speedy. The first half ended scoreless.

This didn't last long. Taylor Korniek was brought down in the box less than two minutes into the second half, and her penalty kick put the Buffs ahead. Several CU breakaways were saved by the off-sides flag, while Kenzie saved a few good shots. With ten minutes left, Taylor caught a defender leaning the wrong direction and the off-sides flag stayed down, the goalkeeper came out but didn't have much of a chance, 2-0. Four minutes later, UNC intercepted a clearing pass and took the ball to the end line on the right side, the crossing pass found a teammate near the left goalpost and the Bears were on the board. A well-placed UNC corner kick found the head of a tall Buff, and the win was preserved.

Brooklyn Varnadore is back after missing last season due to injury and appears 100%. If anything surprised me, it was how fast UNC is. They always seem to play well against us, and they certainly did today.

 

Hi Derbarkasmann. Good to see you posting again. I always like your write-up style which I characterize as delightfully partisan but friendly.

Cheers!

 

The team looked good Sunday for this time of year. No question that Marty Puketapu, and the two transfers already here (Becca Rasmussen and Cassie Phillips) are talented and PAC-12 caliber players and starters. I could say something good about every player out there on Sunday but only have a minute so will limit my comments to saying how great it was to see Brooklyn Varnadore back, to see Isobel Dalton looking good in the midfield, Becca Rasmussen's speed, hustle and technical skills, Erin Greening's usual kick-butt take-no-prisoners style of play, Courtney Fedor's heads-up play on the backline, Joss's steady, controlled play and quiet leadership, and Kelsey Aaknes' skills and field awareness/soccer IQ. And great fun to see Kenzie in goal...she looked good...no surprise there...(except the surprise that she WAS there, LOL.)

 

What has happened to JJ??

 

Saturday: Wyoming 2, CU 1. Later that day: Colorado School of Mines 1, Wyoming 0. Buffs led 1-0 at the half. Doesn't mean much/anything. Plenty of subbing and experimenting with combinations by the Buff coaches. And in spite of her good and gutsy effort, CU used a GK from the CU Women's Club team due to the injury rehab status of our two GKs, and she got caught out of position for the Wyoming goals. I guess Kenzie wasn't available this week. But CU's backline play admittedly did contribute to the second WY goal. I'm sure that the GK-backline communication wasn't in top form with a GK who they haven't played with before. But again, a gutsy performance by our stand-in GK, and she did make some saves. We had several good chances to score in the 2nd half but just couldn't finish. Credit to a quick WY backline and some nice saves by their GK. Wyoming is a solid team and are 7-1 in the pre-season, but we obviously have a much more talented squad. "That's soccer, that's pre-season." It was good to see Brittney Stark at Prentup again, albeit representing the WY side. She's as fast as ever.