Puketapu's Hat Trick Lifts Buffs To 6-0 Win Over UC Riverside

BOULDER - Freshman Marty Puketapu scored three goals in the first 22 minutes to lift Colorado to a 6-0 victory over UC Riverside on Sunday at Prentup Field. The Buffs improved to 3-0-1 this season with their fourth consecutive shutout, while UCR dropped to 1-2-1.

Puketapu's hat trick was the first for a CU freshman since Nikki Marshall in 2006 and her three goals in 21:44 was the earliest hat trick in school history, besting Marshall's effort of three goals in the first 45:59 from that 2006 match against Clemson.

HOW IT HAPPENED: Puketapu broke the scoring open early, scoring at 4:40 after Joss Orejel served a ball up ahead of the defense. Puketapu took the arching pass with her right foot and scored top shelf on her second touch.

Megan Massey scored her first career goal at 12:07. Puketapu pushed the ball up to Massey in the right side of the box between several defenders and Massey finished the shot with her left foot towards the far post.

Puketapu scored her second of the match at 19:24 as Becca Rasmussen drove up the right side of the box and centered a pass to Puketapu who scored with her first touch for a 3-0 lead.

The two players connected again just two minutes and 20 seconds later at 21:44. Rasmussen fed a through ball from the midfield ahead of the UCR defense and Puketapu lifted her shot over a charging goalkeeper to score her third of the day.

Nancy Best got into the scoring column just before halftime in the 43rd minute. Hannah Scheid's corner kick was deflected by the goalkeeper to Best, who headed the ball in for her first career goal.

The Buffs added another score in the 55th minute as the Highlanders scored an own goal. Following a corner kick, Taylor Kornieck headed the ball towards the center of the box and UCR's Kyra Taylor's clear attempt sent the ball into the left corner of the net.

KEY STATISTICS: It was the fourth consecutive shutout for CU this season as Jalen Tompkins and Scout Watson split the match in goal, each making one save. The Buffs held UC Riverside to just three total shot attempts, including those two on goal. CU, on the other hand, had 23 shots in the match.

NOTES: First hat trick for a CU freshman since Nikki Marshall in 2006 ... earliest hat trick in school history (previous was 45:59 by Nikki Marshall, Sept. 1, 2006, vs. Clemson) ... the 4-0 lead at 21:44 was the earliest 4-0 lead in school history ... five first-half goals are the second-most in a half in CU history (record is six vs. St. Mary's, Aug. 30, 2009) ... Puketapu's seven points were tied for the third-most in a match in school history ... Puketapu's seven points in the first half broke Marshall's record of six (vs. Oklahoma, Oct. 2, 2009 in the second half) ... Puketapu, Massey and Best all scored their first career goals and Puketapu, Rasmussen and Scheid each had their first career assists ... CU's current shutout streak of 407:58 dating back to last season is the fifth-longest in school history and the four consecutive clean sheets to start the season is the second-best start ever (CU had five straight shutouts to open the 2013 season) ... the six goals for CU are tied for the third most in school history and the most in a match since an 8-0 win over St. Mary's on Aug. 30, 2009 ... the 15 points (five goals, five assists) in the first half tied the school record for most points in a half.

UP NEXT: Colorado will host Cal State Northridge at 1 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 2, at Prentup Field. The Buffs will also be at home on Labor Day against No. 17 BYU at 1 p.m.

QUOTES:
Danny Sanchez, head coach
On six-goal offensive performance
"This is a good team, they tied Denver on Friday. I think it was important for us to get off to a good start, getting a couple early goals took the wind out of their sales a little bit and we were able to build momentum off of that. I think the key was a good start."

On getting scoring from someone other than Kornieck
"They're working just as hard as everybody else and it was good to find some stuff in the final third for Marty (Puketapu), Megan (Massey), Nancy (Best), and obviously Becca (Rasmussen) with a couple of quality assists. I thought it was a good overall team performance from everybody. Obviously we needed to share the wealth a little bit on goal scoring so it was nice to get some other people on the score sheet."

On getting to use the bench more than in other matches
"If you put in all the work and training and don't see any action on the weekend, it's tough, I'm not going to try to sugar coat it. It was good for our players to come out fast, and I thought the players that played a lot of minutes today played well. Everybody played a lot of minutes today, which was good for them, but they know we'll get right back into training tomorrow morning and we have a huge weekend next weekend."

On play of the back four and the defenders pushing forward offensively
"We wanted to bring the tempo, especially on Sunday in the second game of the weekend for teams that come in, we like to push the tempo a little bit. I think it obviously helped being able to sub a little bit more. I was really pleased with our outside backs getting forward, and our center backs were solid with all the players we rotated through there. I'm pleased overall with the whole team performance today."

On Stephanie Zuniga's health
"Stephanie will redshirt this year. She got hurt late in the spring, and we pretty much knew (taking a redshirt) would be the case. She'll jump back into training at some point but at that point, there's no sense in burning a year of eligibility. She's a good player, she led the team in assists last year, so we're going to wait until she's 100% and be smart with it."

On play of the goalkeepers
"I think a lot of their success has been about the back four in front of them but the team has the utmost confidence in all of our keepers. Sometimes in a game like this you can get lulled into relaxing and I thought they were both sharp, I thought their communication was very good and I thought their distribution was very good. We're really pleased with what they're doing so far."

On playing BYU on Labor Day
"I mean it's Labor Day, nobody's working, nobody's in school, and it's BYU whose a perennial top-10 or 15 team. Northridge is going to be a challenge for us, they only gave up nine goals last season, they're a very good team. Then we have BYU coming in, on a Monday where there's not much going on, hopefully we'll get a big crowd out for it because that'll be an exciting game for us. It's Labor Day, everybody has the day off, so why not come chill out here and watch a pretty exciting team?"

Becca Rasmussen, senior, forward
On the involvement of other players offensively in today's game
"I think it helps build people's confidence knowing that they can get into the attack and be a part of that. It is good to be able to rely on the full team instead of just one individual. It is good to have everyone involved."

On if this game is a confidence boost for the offense going forward
"I think so. I felt like the timing of people's movement and the pass was really on today. I felt like I was able to connect with Marty really well and it just seems like I can always find her. It is really exciting moving forward."

On allowing many players from the bench to play today
"Yes, I think so especially since it is hot and 1 p.m. It was good just to have a little bit of a breather. Some people are getting some little tweaks and things here and there. It is good to give their bodies a little break."

On using her speed as an advantage in her game
"Yes, definitely. I feel like I am more quick than just full-out speed. So I do try to use that to my advantage because I am a smaller player. I use it to find space away from the defender."

Marty Puketapu, freshman, forward
On overcoming the struggles from the previous game
"We needed this game so badly. We were so hungry for the goals today. We had not gotten to many goals to start the season so we need we had to bring everything and find the back of the net – which is what we did.

On getting other players in the mix today
"It was great because there are some players who haven't had much game time yet they got to see the field. We kept the momentum going as a team – which was great."

On the relief of scoring many goals today after not scoring many to begin the season
"We needed this feeling and we were so positive once we got the couple of goals going. We just knew that we wanted to keep this feeling so hopefully it rolls on to the next games."

On the play time of many players from the bench today
"For the girls who haven't seen much game time, it is great to bring their confidence up to show that the players coming off of the bench can make a big impact and that it is not just the starting eleven. The whole momentum carried throughout the game and it was great."

On the level of conditioning of the team right now
"The conditioning is great. I think from the start of the season from now on, we are just going to get more fit. We have come in really strong and aggressive."

Puketapu's Hat Trick Lifts Buffs To 6-0 Win Over UC Riverside

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Team Stats

Marty Puketapu

Nancy Best

Megan Massey

Becca Rasmussen

Players Mentioned

Nancy Best

Taylor Kornieck

Megan Massey

Joss Orejel

Marty Puketapu

Becca Rasmussen

Hannah Scheid

Jalen Tompkins

Scout Watson

Stephanie Zuniga

Players Mentioned

Nancy Best

Taylor Kornieck

Megan Massey

Joss Orejel

Marty Puketapu

Becca Rasmussen

Hannah Scheid

Jalen Tompkins

Scout Watson

Stephanie Zuniga