CU earns 3-2 victory over Oregon State
BOULDER – Colorado jumped out to a 3-0 start and held off a charging Oregon State comeback, earning the team's first win since Sept. 17.
The Buffaloes got first-half goals from Civana Kuhlmann and Shyra James to fuel the team's start and Kayleigh Webb notched the game-winner in the second half to secure the team's first Pac-12 win of the season.
"I thought we played really well for long stretches of the match," head coach Danny Sanchez said postgame. "We scored three really good goals from the run of play. It was a little disappointing to let Oregon State back in it, but like I said before the game they are a desperate team that is desperate for results. They were going to keep fighting to the end and this is Pac-12 soccer. We're really pleased to get the win. We needed a win today to build some momentum as we get ready for Oregon on Sunday."
Kuhlmann led the charge from the get-go, recording her ninth goal of the season and assisting on James' Pac-12-leading 11th goal of the year. The Stanford transfer also launched off a season-high eight shots, landing four on target.
"My mindset was definitely to win and to do that I need to be taking shots," Kuhlmann explained. "I need to be putting the ball in the back of the net. I think after I put one away, I was able to gain some confidence and take some more shots. You have to shoot to score, so that's what I was trying to do."
Kuhlmann's three-point afternoon pushed her past James for the team lead in points. She now has a career-high 24 points (9 G, 6 A). James' goal snapped a three-game scoreless streak and builds on her career-high point total (23).
Webb's goal gave the Buffs a 3-0 lead five minutes into the second half, but Oregon State battled back for a pair of tallies to make the game interesting late.
"As I said, we had some really good spurts," Sanchez continued. "I thought we played very well outside the first five minutes in the first half. The first 15 minutes of the second half I thought we did well. They kind of got a goal from not a lot but we needed to kill the game off and we did. I was really pleased with how we played compared to last weekend. We have to play like this at home but on Sunday we're going to need to play better."
How it Happened
The Buffs got three early scoring chances in the first 25 minutes, with Kuhlmann almost slotting home the first goal in the 14th minute. She was unable to gain separation from the OSU defender on her back and keeper Hailey Coll charged off her line to keep the game scoreless early.
Kuhlmann was relentless though and got a second shot on net in the 24th minute, before breaking through in the 26th. Jenny Beyer led Kuhlmann in stride and Kuhlmann rocketed a shot from the top of the box, beating Coll to the far right corner for the 1-0 lead.
"Jenny played a night through ball and I usually might have taken an extra touch," Kuhlmann recalled. "For some reason, I thought I Could hit it one-touch back the net and that's what happened. I was happy to be able to put it away."
Kuhlmann and James combined for CU's next four shots, with James finding paydirt in the 34th minute, beating Coll one-on-one.
"I was super happy to set up Shyra," Kuhlmann added. "I value assists just as much as goals so to get Shyra on the board was awesome."
Webb's goal came on the team's second shot out of the intermission, adding to CU's lead in the 50th minute. Juliauna Hayward sent in a cross from just off the far sideline and James faked out the defender, letting the ball go through her legs and straight onto the left foot of Webb. Webb placed the ball in the upper right corner, recording her sixth goal of the season.
Maddie Tetz got the Beavers on the board in the 57th minute in a scramble in front of Dani Hansen, cutting into the CU lead.
The Beavers got within one, 3-2, when they were awarded a penalty kick on a foul that took place in proximity to the border of the penalty area in the 79th minute.
Kuhlmann almost set up a fourth goal for the Buffs in the 82nd minute. She cut into the box and centered a ball for Emerson Layne. Coll came out to punch the ball away and forced a collision with Layne, causing a whistle instead of a Beyer goal in the wide-open net.
Up Next
Colorado will keep the home-field advantage on Sunday, hosting the Oregon Ducks at 1 p.m. MT.
Colorado's three goals were the most in a Pac-12 game for the Buffs since beating Oregon State 3-2 in overtime last season (Oct. 24)…CU has now won its last two against the Beavers and improved to 7-5 all-time…James' goal was the 25th of her career and is one behind tying Melissa Cartmell for 5th on CU's all-time goals list…Her 11 goals are tied for the fifth most in a single season…James now has 54 career points (25 G, 4 A)…Kuhlmann's nine goals match her career-high set at Stanford in 2017…CU has now scored 38 goals this season tied for the 5th most in program history (also 2003 and 2016)…CU's 111 points are also good for the fifth most in program history.
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