Women's Soccer Makes History with Season-Opening Win.

Friday, August 22

Greeley, Colorado

7 pm

University of Northern Colorado

1-0-0

Colorado College

0-1-0

Team	1	2	Final F
Colorado College	1	1	2
UNCO	3	0	3

8/23/2014 12:00:00 AM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

UNCBears.com

GREELEY, Colo. – For the first time in its 29 year history the Northern Colorado soccer team downed Colorado College, 3-2. Three first half goals and some sound second half defense contributed to the Bears opening the season, 1-0.

This is also the first time since 2010 that head coach Tim Barrera's club has opened up the regular season with a win.

"We really stressed about getting after them right away," said Barrera. "We knew coming in this was going to be a difficult game. They are a very talented team, but we knew there was going to be some space out there. It all started with the momentum from Kassy [Castillo] and we just continued with it."

It only took 14 minutes for the Bears to get things going in the first half. Sophomore midfielder, Sydney Schroeder showed off some of her footwork with nice cut to the goal from the side of the 18-yard box. Schroeder took space and then found a wide open Kassy Castillo for the goal, and the early, 1-0 lead.

Just 10 minutes later a free kick from Junior midfielder, Rebecca Lancia appeared to be blocked by the Tigers' goalkeeper Rowan Frederiksen, but the ball found its way to Castillo off the rebound and she fired it into the back of the net to put UNC on top, 2-0.

"Coming off a knee injury last season, Kassy really stepped up," said Barerra. "It was nice to see her and a lot of our younger players step into their roles and compete at a high level."

Still feeling the momentum of a two goal lead, the half was far from done for the Bears and Castillo. Three minutes after her second goal, Castillo found herself with the ball again in scoring position. A few nice touches and she paved her way closer to the keeper. This time however, she crossed the ball to Freshman forward, Brooke Braden who closed the deal and gave UNC a commanding, 3-0 lead.

"It was easier to focus more on our defending with that type of a lead," Castillo quoted. "We definitely were carrying a lot of energy after that goal, but we knew there was no relaxing against CC."

With the Bears pulling away, the Tigers rallied late. Colorado College maintained possession on UNC's side of the pitch for the next seven minutes, producing four corner kicks. After back-to-back corner's by CC, a defensive deflection left the ball at the feet of Junior midfielder, Sarah Schweiss who fired a shot into the net, putting Colorado College on the board, 3-1.

"Being up 3-1 on them we knew was going to make for a long rest of the game, but I think our defense really stepped up to the challenge in the second half and responded," Barrera said.

The second half was the exact opposite of the first for UNC. The Bears got off just two shots, compared to Colorado College's 11 shots.

Bear's keeper Kaitlin Ruff solidified her starting job in the second half, with two huge game-saving stops.

"Katie saw a lot of time in the spring and really trained hard in the summer and I think it really paid off," stated Barrera. "You could tell she was sharp right off the bat. She was a little hesitant on some of their shots, but her instinct kicked in and took over."

Despite Ruff's solid goalie play in the half, the Tigers were still able to sneak in a goal to cut the lead down to just one, 3-2. A perfectly timed cross from CC's Rachel Herron found Schweiss for her second goal of the night with 35 minutes remaining in the match.

The Bears did not waiver though and fought off 10 more offensive attacks from Colorado College. With time winding down, the Tigers were able to claim one last free kick. Senior midfielder, Kaeli Vandersluis floated the ball into the box, but Ruff came up big again, jumping up and taking the ball out of the air to solidify the win that has been 29 years in the making.

"I think this win really shows that our team is willing to step up," said Barrera. "We played loose, but hard and now we have to recover and start preparing for CU (Colorado)."

With one Colorado Cup win under their belt, the women's soccer team will now take on another cup opponent, Colorado, on Sunday, August 24 at 3:00 p.m. in Boulder. The game will be broadcasted live on the Pac 12 Network.

For the most up-to-date news on Northern Colorado women's soccer, follow @unc_bears and @UNCBearsSoccer on Twitter.