Bears come up short against Buffs in Boulder
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BOULDER – The Northern Colorado women's soccer team wrapped up the Colorado Cup on Sunday with a 3-0 loss to the Colorado Buffaloes at Prentup Field.
The Bears (0-2) hung tough in the first half despite coming off a double-overtime match fewer than 48 hours prior. Northern Colorado held the Buffaloes (2-0) scoreless until the 41st minute, when CU's Kate Russell found the back of the net off a Clare Madden assist.
"We knew we had our hands full going into today," Northern Colorado coach Tim Barrera said. "For having played a double-overtime game on Friday, I thought we competed pretty well. We just played a tough team and got caught a couple of times."
Russell's goal came after Bears' goalkeeper Kirstin Salminen made a tremendous save off a shot from Erin Bricker. Unfortunately for Salminen, the ball bounced away and right to Madden, who set up Russell for the finish.
Salminen came up big a number of times for Northern Colorado, though. In the 14th minute, the senior from Lynden, Wash. stopped an Amy Steiner breakaway attempt to keep the score knotted at zero.
The Buffaloes controlled much of the play in the first half, but the Bears defense, especially the work of Laura Wayland and Aundreaha Martinez, was strong.
"I thought the central defending tandem of Wayland and Martinez played well and played hard today," Barrera said. "Kirstin also had a very good game. She kept us in the match with a couple of great saves."
About 15 minutes into the second half, Colorado's Hayley Hughes put the Buffaloes up two scores. Hughes received a pass from Anne Stuller, that had snuck past Salminen, and rammed the ball home.
Perhaps Northern Colorado's best chance at goal came midway through the second half, as Ariel Cook rocketed a shot just high of the target from 12 yards out.
Colorado got its final goal late in the match when Shaye Marshall served a ball into the box that found the head of Darcy Jerman, who flicked it into the back of the net.
The Buffaloes took home the inaugural Colorado Cup after finishing the weekend with two wins and a plus-eight goal differential.
Northern Colorado will look to bounce back Friday, Aug. 26, as it opens up its home schedule against Jacksonville at Jackson Stadium.
"It's always important to get off to a good start at home," Barrera said. "Hopefully, the free admission will help get more people there and we can get a lot of students out to support us. I think we're ready to go."