Quickly: The
University of Colorado women's soccer team begins its season with the second
annual Colorado Cup. The Buffs took home
the trophy last season with decisive wins against Colorado College (5-0) and
Northern Colorado (3-0). This year's tournament begins Friday in Greeley
with a match-up between Denver and Colorado College at 5 p.m. The Buffs take on
Northern Colorado at 7:30 p.m. On Sunday, play moves to Colorado Springs with Denver facing Northern Colorado at 1 p.m. CU vs.
Colorado College will follow.
Colorado vs. Northern Colorado: The Buffs
look to remain undefeated against the Bears. In
their five previous meetings, including last season's 5-0 shutout, Colorado has
never allowed a goal against Northern Colorado.
Scouting the Bears: The
Bears won a share of their first Big Sky championship last season after posting
a school-best 4-1-2 conference record.
Midfeilder JJ Wykstra returns for her senior season after netting five
goals, having one assist and earning
all-conference first team honors in her junior campaign.
Colorado vs.
Colorado College: The Buffs hold a 6-2 record
against the Tigers. CU dropped the teams' first two games, but has won
the last six meetings, five of which have been shutouts, including a 5-0 win
last season.
scouting the Tigers: The Tigers'
strong offensive presence helped them to an
8-2-1 Conference USA record. Leading
scorers Kaeli Vandersluis (five goals, four aassists), Brittney Lyman (five
goals, one assist) and Jessie Ayers (four goals, one assist) all return
for the 2012 season.
Last week: Colorado
took to Prentup Field on August 11 to challenge a group of soccer alumni. The
game ended in a 2-2 tie, with goals coming
from freshman Carly Manso (assisted by senior Amy Barczuk) and sophomore
Carly Bolyard (assisted by senior Shaye Marshall and sophomore Darcy Jerman).
PAC-12 COACHES POLL: Colorado was picked to finish 11th in this year's Pac-12 Coaches Poll.
Stanford, the reigning NCAA Champion, received nine out of 11 possible first-place
votes. UCLA, Cal, Oregon State and Washington rounded out the top five. Arizona
State and USC followed, with Utah and Washington State tied for eighth. Oregon
and Arizona were chosen as 10th and 12th.
WHO'S RETURNING: The Buffs return 14 players, including nine
starters. Five returning players competed in all 19 games in 2011 (Anne
Stuller, Amy Barczuk, Carly Bolyard, Shaye Marshall and Lauren Shaner). Seniors
Barczuk, Marshall, Shaner, Quinn Krier, Erin Bricker and Kayla Millar hope to
end their CU careers on a high note. Four of the team's top five scorers also
return. Stuller, Barczuk, Hayley Hughes and Darcy Jerman contributed 12 of the
team's 21 goals last season.
WHO'S NEW: Colorado welcomes aboard 13 newcomers, 12 of whom are
freshmen. Nikola Machalek and Heather Ward remain in their home state of
Colorado. Madison Krauser, Ashley Love, Amanda Simkins, Taylor Thurmond and
former CU Gold club player Betsy Builder all hail from California. Jenna Glad
and Emily Paxton both come to Colorado via Arizona, while Courtney Dudley and
Elise Romano came from New Mexico and New Jersey, respectively. Former
Chicago-area club teammates Olivia Pappalardo and Carly Manso round out the new
crew.
Head Coach Danny Sanchez: Sanchez begins his journey
with the Colorado Buffaloes this season
after spending the last four with the University of Wyoming. He takes
over the reins from Bill Hempen, and is joined by assistant coaches Jason Green
and Don Trentham, who coached with Sanchez at Wyoming, and volunteer assistant
coach Rebekah Patrick.
In
his 17 years of coaching, Sanchez has built a stellar 267-60-23 record,
including a pair of Division II National
Championships at Metro State.
In
his second year with the Cowgirls, he coached the team to its first winning
season in four years, going 9-8-3. Last year, in what would be his final
season, the Cowgirls posted a 12-6-4 record, its best in school history,
ranking the team third in the Mountain West Conference during regular season play.
In
his six seasons at Metro State, he posted an impressive 128-11-7 record. In
addition to the national titles in 2004 and 2006, he helped the team to the Elite Eight five times, the Final Four in 2002 and
five Midwest Region Championships.
During
his tenure, the Roadrunners set Division II history
with a 59-game unbeaten streak (58-0-1) and 61 consecutive home wins. He also won numerous coaching awards at Metro. He
was named the 2004 NCAA Division II National Coach of the Year and the Rocky
Mountain Athletic Conference's All-Time Top Coach.
Prior
to coming to the Centennial State, Sanchez served as the head coach for both
men's and women's teams at Mesa (Ariz.) Community College from 1995-2002. He
led the teams to a combined 199-51-12 record, with the women winning four
National Junior College Athletic Association Region I Championships and five
Arizona Community College Athletic Conference Championships.
PLAYERS
TO WATCH:
Senior
Amy Barczuk: Barczuk's teammates
chose her as their 2012 team captain.
In 2011, the electrifying midfielder started all 19 games, ranking just behind
Kate Russell for most minutes played. She had a career season-high three goals
and seven points. Two of her goals came in back-to-back games against Auburn (2-2)
and CSU Bakersfield (2-1, off a penalty kick). That week's performance earned
her CU Athlete of the Week honors. She also contributed an assist in CU's 5-0
shutout of Colorado College in last season's Colorado Cup. For her superb 2011
outing, Barczuk was an All-Pac-12 honorable mention selection. She was also
chosen for the U.S. U-23 National Team Pool.
Junior
Anne Stuller: Stuller kicked it
up a notch during her sophomore season. She earned a spot as one of CU's top
performers in her 18 starts and 19 total games. She led returning players with
four goals, for nine total points. Her four goals tied her for eighth on CU's
all-time list for sophomores, while her 49 shots landed her at fourth. Her
goals would prove essential for the team, as she became the only Buff in 2011
to score more than once in a game, notching the team's two goals in a 2-2 tie
against Arizona.
Junior
Hayley Hughes: Hughes tied her 2010
season totals of three goals and 26 shots in her sophomore campaign. She opened
the season with two goals in last year's Colorado Cup, earning her CU Athlete
of the Week honors. Her third goal was the decisive one in CU's first
conference win, a 1-0 game against then-ranked No. 15 California. It was
not only the first Pac-12 win for the soccer team, but for all CU Division I
programs as well. Hughes was one of two Buffaloes to become a 2011 Pac-12
All-Academic First Team selection.
THE SEASON: The
University of Colorado women's soccer team will play nine non-conference teams
and all 11 conference opponents in their sophomore season in the Pac-12.
After starting the
season with the Colorado Cup, the Buffs begin play at Prentup with the Omni
Hotels Colorado Women's Soccer Classic. In addition to host CU, the tournament
features LIU Brooklyn, Denver and Wright State. CU takes on the Blackbirds on
Aug. 24 and the Rebels on Aug. 26. It will be the Buffs' first meeting with
both teams.
CU then begins a
four-game road trip against some new faces and some very familiar ones. The
Buffs travel to the Prairie State for their first meeting with Northwestern on
Sept. 2. They return to Colorado for matches against Denver and Cincinnati in
the DU Invitational from Sept. 7-9. The Buffs finish their road trip in Wyoming
on Sept. 14 with a homecoming for Danny Sanchez and his coaching staff.
Colorado completes
non-conference matches with a home game against Air Force on Sept. 16.
September marks the
beginning of conference play for the Buffs, with the team searching for their
first wins against Oregon (Sept. 21) and Washington (Sept. 28). The match-up
with the Huskies begins a five-game homestand for CU. A game against Washington
State concludes the month.
October is packed
with Pac-12 play, with visits from three more conference opponents. The Buffs
hope to strike gold once more against California after defeating the Golden
Bears 1-0 in their first meeting last season. Colorado is hungry for its first
wins against the reigning NCAA Champion Stanford (Oct. 7) and against Oregon
State (Oct. 13).
The Buffs finish the
month on a four-game road trip out West. CU heads to Los Angeles to face UCLA
on Oct. 19 and Southern California on Oct. 21. The Buffs have just one win
against the Bruins in four meetings, and dropped their first meeting against
USC last season. Colorado searches for their first wins in Arizona against
Arizona (Oct. 26) and Arizona State (Oct. 28).
CU once again closes
its season against Utah, with a home match on November 2. Colorado holds a 6-2
lead against the Utes, with its two losses coming in the teams' first and most
recent meetings.
