2019 Colorado Buffaloes

I think Texas on Sunday is going to be a thriller. I knew I would be back in Boulder for it as soon as I heard we were playing them. Add in Kent State and three volleyball games, Friday is the season opener vs Wyoming, who beat us last year in Laramie. Three medical appointments, one dental, lab work, banking, church barbecue, and I'm forgetting something.

Arrived today (Wednesday). It is hot.

If anybody is going to be at the games Thursday or Sunday, stop by and say Hi. Location: looking at the big bleachers, third one from the left (or second one from the right), up the aisle in the middle, just to the left of it and top row or two. The old fat guy with a grey beard wearing some kind of a Colorado Soccer shirt and probably the black cap, the white cap is succumbing to lots of use, that's me. I should be there early both games.

 

Church BBQ so you can than God the medical, dental, and lab appointments are over? Good luck (says he who got a temporary crown yesterday and has a mouth that hurts like hell today).

 

Buffs 2, Kent State 1

Not easy. Come from behind. A tale of two halves. I'll post the score now, then do the details. It might be long-winded (who me?), please bear with me, I only get to do three this year when I'm actually there.

So many chances.

 

Buffs 2, Kent State 1

The day had cooled a bit by game time, it was kind of overcast with a breeze. Warm, but not unpleasant.

Kent State took three corner kicks almost immediately. Taylor fired a low rocket that the GK did well to block, it came out right to Tatum who shot and missed. Roo got open with the ball in the left side of the box and missed. Eleven minutes in, there was a melee in front of our net and the ball pinballed around and went in. The Kent State players were all celebrating, and ours were all signaling for a hand ball. The referee conferred with the linesman and disallowed the goal. The Kent State website said it was offside, but the linesman would have signaled that. We sent the ball into the box and the GK got to it maybe a half second before Roo did. Two observations at this point, Kent State is fast and we are off sides a lot.

Kent State got a shot off rather close to the goal and missed. Gabby sent a long pass to Roo in the box which connected and the header just missed. At 20 minutes, Kent State took a long shot from outside the right side of the box, it barely got over a leaping JJ and bounced off the goal post and in. A long pass found Taylor and her header was wide. Gabby ran with the ball to the end line (she's a defender) but the goalkeeper snatched her crossing pass. Gabby launched a long pass to Taylor in the box, her header went high. AT this point, Kent State feet had been disrupting a lot of our passes, which might be why we were doing so many long balls.

At 37 minutes we got a corner kick, it went long but Taylor backed up and headed in to the middle, it bounced off Tessa Barton's head and right to Kayleigh, 1-1. LOTS of fouls are being called in a game that didn't appear particularly rough, but I'm always complaining that more should be called so I won't mention it. Cheynee Kingsbury sent a long pass into the box to somebody (one of us) and the shot missed. Kent State fired from dead center a bit outside of the box, JJ had to reach up to snare it. Half over. Did I mentiom that Kent State was fast?. Shots were 6-6. Look out, here comes the second half.

 

In a tale of two halves, this was the good one. Buffs came out smokin'.

Kent's GK fumbled over the end line and the corner kick found Taylor's head and the GK atoned for her fumble with a superb save. We were attacking with five or six or seven people. Stephanie put a long free kick right into the crowded box and the shot missed. LOTS of urgency from the Buffs. Stephanie sent a long cross to Taylor whose shot just missed. Taylor was steamrolled from behind in the box, no call. JJ sprawled and just barely tipped a low hard shot which passed a few inches outside the goalpost. After the early three, this was Kent State's only other corner kick. They were about to take an open shot way too close to the goal and Hannah Sharts came out of nowhere to clear the ball.

Hannah's throw-ins achieve flip throw distance without flipping. She just launches it. She put one right in front of the goal from the right side, there was a melee and the ball went out the left side. So she trotted across the field, put another one right in front of the goal and down went Buffs. He called it. Taylor put the penalty kick in for 2-1 Buffs. A long cross to Tessa connected but the header went wide. Does it sound like the Buffs had completely taken over the game? Pretty much did.

Kayleigh was SO open at the top of the box, but the shot would have been an NFL distance field goal. A player fell down in front of Hannah Sharts, it looked like she slipped, yellow card on Hannah. I want to see a reply of that one. Kent State put a long free kick into the box that passed through everybody. Taylor rocketed a long shot that the GK did well to block, there were Buffs in the box but couldn't get to the rebound. Taylor stepped in front of a feeble clearing attempt and missed a kind of open shot. Taylor got a foul called on her for being tall. I don't know what else it could have been. And Libby Geraghty got a yellow card that was almost as petty as the one on Hannah. And the game ended.

Shots wound up 19-10, which means 13-4 in the second half. But ... shots on goal were 5-4, which means 14 missed shots. Fouls were 16-15 Buffs

Attendance is shown as 0. It was slightly better than that.

Yes, we won on a penalty kick instead of a goal from the run of play, but that penalty kick was the result of fairly dominant run of play in the second half.

Kelsey Aaknes, a defender, is all over the field, wreaked a lot of havoc on offense. Sofia Weiner is still in a boot but it comes off very soon and her season is most definitely not over.

And it was a MOST enjoyable birthday present.

 

It was offside. So why did the linesman let the Kent State players celebrate a goal for perhaps close to a minute before informing the referee, who had to trot over to the sideline to ask? Isn't he supposed to do something, raise a flag or do a dance or something?

I always begin with the starting lineup, then after that refer to the starters by their first name only. Everybody else, I give their full name the first time, then just their first name. Except we have two Hannahs. Anyway, I neglected the starting lineup which was:

Jalen (JJ) Tompkins in the net, Kelsey Aaknes, Hannah Sharts, Hannah Cardenas and Gabby Chapa defending, Roo Yarnell-Williams, Stephanie Zuniga, Taylor Kornieck and Kayleigh Webb at midfield, and Camilla Shymka and Tatum Barton up front.

How fast was Kent State? .They kept up with Camilla, who is a cheetah disguised as a soccer player.. ..

 

Thursday night ...

Denver 3, Texas 0.

Really. I am not making this up. Please be assured that I do not do drugs.

Shots 10-9, on goal 4-2, corners 3-2 all Denver. Texas made one save.

 

No foul? Whaddaya mean no foul? #20 is so embarrassed by that foul that she's buried her head in shame !!

 

Let's start this one at the very, very end.

At 89:59, Texas put the game tying penalty kick into the crossbar and the rebound shot went wide.

Buffs 2, Texas 1

I know they went 0-for-Colorado this week, but that was one fine soccer team we beat today They played like they could have wrapped it up in the first half, except our defense was AWESOME and wouldn't let them do it. We played like we could have wrapped it up in the second half and I thought we had but Texas had something to say about that in the final several minutes.

The blow-by-blow account will have to wait until tomorrow because I am driving home tonight and that's 250 miles and some big mountains. But I will summarize.

Texas had the run of play in the first half, by quite a bit. They had the ball a lot, in our territory. They would advance it on the ground with five or six players, and our primary escape was long balls which occasionally connected but there were always defenders there. The half ended 0-0 but with a very interesting statistic, while shots were 8-4 Texas, shots on goal were 1-0 Buffs. We never gave them an opening.

For the second game in a row, the Buffs came out on fire in the second half and it didn't take long, Less than two minutes in, Camilla Shymka put on a speed and ball control demonstration and passed to Tatum Barton in the box who was open enough to shoot, 1-0. The Buffs took over, although Texas did still occasionally threaten.

OOPS, I did not mean to post this !!

 

OK, where were we. Oh, yeah, the Buffs had taken over. Speed and ball control demonstrations continued, and at 62 minutes Tatum Barton beat a couple of defenders and found Stephanie Zuniga SO wide open on the other side of the box. Stephanie controlled the ball, waited to see what the GK was going to do and shot where the GK wasn't, 2-0 and it looked like the Buffs had total control. Well, nobody told Texas. At 72 minutes, a Longhorn got the ball at midfield and ran with it right through the herd of Buffaloes and entered the box kind of by herself and it was like a slightly longer penalty kick, 2-1. This fired up the Longhorns but we continued to play well and it became like a couple of heavyweights taking swings at each other. The last couple of minutes were Texas pressure, it looked like we had withstood it when we cleared with less than 15 seconds left, but they sent the ball back into the box and there was a scrum and tweet, penalty kick.

JJ stood her ground, didn't dive, the shot went right over her head and into the bar. A few inches lower and she would have tipped it into the bar.

Shots wound up 19-16 Texas, on goal 6-4 Buffs. It was a physical and cleanly played match, 15 fouls were called and the referee wasn't letting things slide (much). This was the sixth time I've seen the Buffs and Longhorns and every one was really well-played. Two thumbs up to both teams.

 

I finally got to see the games this week and I must say they seem to be moving the ball a lot better this year than previous years. They look faster too. I think the goal that was scored was by the Barton sister Tessa actually and not Tatum. That was a great move to put her in the starting role. She moves quicker and she is hungry to score as most freshman are. The buffs played better today than Thursday. Kent state was not a very skilled team and the buffs didn't pass as well as they looked like they were constantly trying to figure things out. But today, the field was spread and the passing was quicker and I loved seeing more 1 touch passing from players other than Taylor. The quick passes will definitely help when they enter Pac 12 play. The buffs missed SEVERAL opportunities to score though. Texas was not as good as i thought they were going to be. Very weak defense. Reagan getting hurt didnt help them at all. Frankly this should have been a 5-0 game IMO. Libby with the one on one...should have taken that goalie out of the play with a nice move or two to score and Taylor wide open a few times by the goal and the buffs need to look for her more instead of taking those wild shots. Need to pick their heads up in that final third and start to create more and not panic. If they dont take advantage of having Taylor in Pac 12 play these buffs will have a short season again. But good luck to them as it could be a great year for them as well.

 

Oh yeah and can I say that #2 Webb is a beast out there too! Colorado's midfield is top notch!

 

It was. I wrote Tessa, typed Tatum. Age begets confusion.

 

Buffs 2, Texas 1 in a little more detail.

Yes it was hot. 97 I think, I sort of assumed there would be a water break for the teams but there wasn't. Texas has been practicing in 100+ heat and dripping humidity, so the dry mountain air was probably a blessing, except the mountain air doesn't have as much air in it. It was mercifully cloudy, for a while. As the starters lined up for the introductions, I noticed how much bigger we were than Texas.

Starters were JJ Tompkins in the net, Gabby Chapa, Hannah x 2 (Cardenas and Sharts) and Kelsey Aaknes defending, Stephanie Zuniga, Taylor Kornieck, Roo Yarnell-Williams and Kayleigh Webb at midfield, and Tessa Barton with her first start and Camilla Shymka up front.

Texas showed speed immediately and was attacking with four or five players. Six minutes in they got a breakaway into the box but JJ stuffed it. Then they attacked with seven and had the ball for what seemed like three years but never got a shot off. 12 minutes in Tessa crossed to Taylor outside the box for our first shot of the game. Kelsey took a long shot that the goalkeeper had to leap to catch, we were credited with one shot on goal in the half and that was probably it. Taylor shot from outside the box and missed. A Texas corner kick led to a header that went wide. Taylor stole the ball and passed to Roo who was wide open but the linesman noticed why she was wide open, up went the flag, Texas missed a rare wide open shot. Hannah Sharts sent a very long free kick to Taylor who headed it towards Tessa and the GK got there about a half second sooner. The first quarter ended with no damage done but Texas pretty clearly in control, I would guess that at least 3/4 of the game had been played on our side of the field. Texas was advancing on the ground, we were relying mostly on long balls.

The Barton Sisters were now our forwards. Tessa sprinted into the box with the ball, down she went, no call. Libby took a long run with the ball while defended and her shot was wide. Then she took a long hard shot that just missed. It was looking like we had three number sevens on the field, but it was just one Libby. Texas got a rare WIDE open shot at the top of the box and missed. Somebody's pass connected to a streaking Tatum but her shot missed. 3/4 of the Texas team sprinted the length of the field and missed a shot, got the ball back immediately and missed another one. Cheynee Kingsbury sent a long high flip throw in to Libby in the box, she was leveled as she jumped for the ball, no call. Then Libby got very open on a breakaway that was not offsides, oh I bet she wants that one back, shot probably too soon right at the onrushing goalkeeper. Kayleigh took a long run with the ball and her cross was barely cleared by a defender. The Buffs had come to life, with maybe three minutes left in the half. Cheynee took two more flip throws, the second found Taylor but the header was wide. The scoreboard showed all zeroes at halftime, goals, shots on goal and saves, although statistics showed us credited with one

 

Buffs 2, Texas 1 now the exciting half.

Happened Thursday, happened again Sunday. Second half, the Buffs came out on fire.

A cross from deep on the right side was snatched by the GK. The goal kick was controlled and passed to Camilla who put on the first of several speed and ball control demonstrations. Knocked down in the box and facing two defenders, she regained her feet and ball possession and passed to Tessa who spun her defender and put the ball where the GK wasn't, 1-0. Texas responded with a hard shot but right at JJ. A long pass to Stephanie just missed connecting. Then it was Stephanie's turn for a long pass which just missed connecting with Taylor. We had possession mostly but Texas was still attacking and a low hard shot was handled by JJ. Tessa was brought down a few blades of grass outside the box, yellow card, Taylor went for the goal with her free kick and was a bit high and to the right. The Texas GK saved a long low shot, I don't know who shot it but I assume it was a Buffalo. A long crossing pass missed everybody and died, defender Gabby got to it first a yard or so from the other end line and earned a corner kick that was snatched by the GK. This was one of the few times a defender advanced past midfield, we did it all the time against Kent State but we probably had more respect for Texas' ability to attack quickly. Hannah Sharts gets flip throw distance out of a regular throw-in and found Taylor's head in front of the goal but the GK caught the header. The GK then barely won a race withTatum for a long pass. A long free kick found Taylor's head, the shot was saved, not counted as a shot on goal but it was, says me. All this took fifteen minutes.

Gabby ran with the ball what seemed like 80 yards but her crossing pass went just over the end line. Katie Joella took a long run with the ball but her shot went high. Then Tatum crossed to Stephanie who was really open, 2-0 Buffs. Still 28 minutes to play, but it sure looked like we were in control, the run of play was very tilted in our direction and we had two goals. Texas took a long shot right at JJ. A long pass just barely missed a streaking wide-open Longhorn. Back came the Buffs, we were now attacking with six players, sure never saw that in the first half. Cheynee's flip throw found Taylor's head but the shot went high. A Longhorn had a long breakaway with the ball but Kelsey closed the gap and contested the shot which went high. Texas then had a 1 on 4 breakaway and still got the shot off but at JJ. A long free kick found Taylor who got steamrolled just outside the box, but her free kick went high.

I haven't mentioned Roo lately, but her speed and ball control were bedeviling Texas defenders. A way too long pass reached the right corner where a Texas defender easily caught up to it but here came Roo, doing a 40-yard dash in about two microseconds, she won a prolonged battle for the ball and her crossing pass (shot?) eluded everybody and rolled towards the left sideline and corner, and rolled, and rolled some more, and stopped. In bounds. Kelsey, up near midfield, noticed this and almost got to it first.

Then a Longhorn got the ball at midfield, went down, recovered and took off towards the goal. She ran, and ran some more, arrived in the box quite open and as good as JJ is, it is possible to score on her with an open shot that close, which they did, 2-1. If the altitude was any problem late in a second game in Colorado, it sure didn't show. Kayleigh was advancing with the ball and got knocked off the ball and down by the defender, there are not a lot of people who can do that, she did not appear pleased when she got up and took off after the defender, caught up with her and the tackle got ball and also a lot of Longhorn, more than the referee deemed appropriate, yellow card. Camilla had a long run with the ball and crossed to Tessa in the box and the defender just got a foot in the way and cleared. Stephanie and Camilla seemed to be playing keep-away with Texas defenders. A defender blocked Taylor's shot in the box. Time was running out on the Longhorns.

They got the ball past midfield but shot probably too soon and right at JJ. Repeat, this time wide. But now they were getting the ball at midfield and defenders were pushing up a bit. A counter-attack got the ball to Tatum in the box but she shot wide. A minute left. A very long panic shot went to JJ, a defender corraled the goal kick because we had nobody at midfield, they went at the penalty box right up the middle and we could have just cleared the ball out of bounds to end it but sent it a ways upfield where Longhorns were and they passed back into the box where a lot of people were and the foul was a correct call.

After the game, JJ said she knew where the PK was going and looking at the replay, she did. A few inches lower and she would have made the save instead of the crossbar.

I drove 250 miles for this game and it would have been worth 25,000 miles.

Attendance was 611, I though it would be WAY more than that. This included very few Texas fans, which also surprised me. Now I won't see the team until November 7 at Utah. This sucks most profoundly. But I'll be watching.

 

I don't know what to make of the Longhorns this year. Somebody had them ranked #17 before the season started, and Top Drawer Soccer had them at #11. They are picked third in the Big-12 conference, behind West Virginia and Baylor. 24 players returned from last year's team. They have had one injury, to an outstanding defender. But so far ...

Their opener at home was a 4-3 win over Gonzaga, not considered a threat to Santa Clara or BYU or Pepperdine in the West Coast Conference. Gonzaga outshot Texas 23-15, and, were awarded a game-tying penalty kick with five seconds left that the Texas goalkeeper blocked. Then four shots total at Denver, two on goal. They had a much better game against us, I expected them to be like a wounded animal and for much of the game, they were. They certainly outplayed us in the first half, and although we returned the favor after halftime, they fought back ferociously at the end.

The better they do, the better it helps our RPI, so I hope they recover.

 

Top Drawer current rankings:

1. UCLA
3. Stanford
6. USC
7. Florida State (just lost at UCLA and USC)
10. Washington State
19. Baylor
23. Thundering herd of large prairie animals (that be us)
24. Texas