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…
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