Sports
Sports News in Boulder, Colorado Includes CU Buffs, Rockies, Nuggets, Bronkos, Avs, cycling, running, skiingand anything else sports that hits our sports desk. Send sports press releases to sports@BoulderChannel1.com To advertise please call 303-447-8531
Colorado WBB Team Sprints Past South Alabama 94-61
Nov 30th
Buffs face Rice in tournament championship Saturday
BOULDER – Colorado’s offense continued to click as the No. 14/19 ranked Buffaloes sprinted past South Alabama, 94-61 in the first round of the Omni Hotels Classic Friday evening at the Coors Events Center.
Colorado (5-0) will play Rice (4-4) in Saturday’s championship game, set for 7:30 p.m. at the Coors Events Center. Rice squeaked by Samford 57-52 in the opener. South Alabama (0-5) will play Samford (1-4) in Saturday’s consolation at 5 p.m.
Swan scored a career high 16 points in the game.
Colorado had five players score in double-digits for the third straight game and hit at least 80 points for the fourth consecutive contest, and 90 for the second time this year.
Jen Reese and Jamee Swan tied for lead scoring honors with 16 points apiece. Lexy Kresl had 12 points, seven rebounds and a career-high six assists. Rachel Hargis had 11 and Lauren Huggins had 10.
“It was another night with really good balance,” head coach Linda Lappe said. “Offensively, we moved the ball well. We had a lot of different players contribute; we scored on the inside, we scored on the outside. I really like the flow of some of the things we’re doing offensively.”
Colorado’s balanced shined once again as all 10 players that played scored, in fact that was achieved less than 10 minutes into the contest. Kresl scored 11 of her 12 points in the first half and keyed the Buffaloes fast start, drilling a 3-pointer that gave Colorado an early 11-2 lead.
South Alabama stayed close early on the heels of Rachel Cumbo, who hit two early 3-pointers, the second pulling the Jaguars to within six at 22-16 at the 11:10 mark of the first half.
But Kresl countered with a 3-pointer which sparked a 10-0 run. Ashley Wilson scored on a put back of a Brittany Wilson miss to double-up the Jaguars at 32-16.
From there the Buffaloes continued to roll. Colorado hit 57 percent in the first half alone en route to a 53-27 lead at the break, its most halftime points since putting up 53 against Southern Utah in 2009.
The Buffaloes dominated in the paint outscoring the Jaguars 40-14. The trio of Reese, Hargis and Swan were a combined 15-of-24 from the field. They also got it done at the foul line, making 12-of-13 combined, including a career-best 7-of-8 from Hargis.
Swan’s 16 points were a career high and came in a variety of ways, she had put back on offensive rebounds, mid-range jumpers and even a steal and coast-to-coast lay-in. She finished 7-of-10 from the field and grabbed eight boards, leading the Buffaloes in rebounding for the second straight contest.
“It was pretty even, it just came down to who wanted it more,” Swan said. “They were good on the inside and strong, but again, it came down to who wanted it more.”
Colorado as a team was outstanding from the line sinking 83 percent (20-of-24).
”We keep working on that every day,” Hargis said. “It was nice to get some fouls and get to the line.”
Reese was 6-of-8 from the field and pulled down seven rebounds. Ashley Wilson finished with six points, six rebounds and tied a personal best with four assists.
Colorado ended up at 52 percent for the game (34-of-65) and dished out 19 assists. The Buffaloes also enjoyed a 42-28 edge on the boards.
Cumbo had a game-high 19 points for South Alabama while Jennifer Johnson scored 18 off the bench.
[includeme src=”http://c1n.tv/boulder/media/bouldersponsors.html” frameborder=”0″ width=”670″ height=”300″]
CU Frosh soccer phenom gets called to camp
Nov 27th
CARSON, Calif. – University of Colorado freshman phenom Brie Hooks was called into the U.S. Under-20 Women’s National Team training camp, which is running here from November 24 to December 1 at the U.S. Soccer National Training Center at the StubHub Center.
“We are excited that Brie has been called into this U-20 camp,” CU head coach Danny Sanchez said. “This opportunity is a byproduct of her play this fall, but also the team’s success. We know that she will represent herself and Colorado soccer well.”
Hooks was invited to the U.S. U-20 post season training camp
Hooks stood out in her debut season at Colorado. In her first collegiate game, Hooks helped the Buffaloes to a 3-0 shutout of Northern Colorado behind a two-goal performance. Hooks is the first Buff in program history to score multiple goals in her Colorado debut. Hooks was an important part of the Buffs’ 1-0 victory over No. 15 Denver in the first round of the NCAA Women’s Soccer Championship, drawing the foul that set up the game-winning goal – Hooks and the Buffs ended their season with a trip to the Sweet 16, matching the program best finish first recorded in 2006.
In CU’s freshman offensive record books, Hooks concluded the season ranked third with eight goals and fourth with 18 points. Her 42 shots tie for eighth. Her eight goals also tie for eighth most in a single season at CU. Her four game-winning goals tie for fourth best in a single season at CU and tie for fourth best in Pac-12 Conference regular season play.
The training camp will serve as a bridge camp to an event in Florida in December, which will be the final preparation for the team before the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football Women’s U-20 Championship which will run from January 9-19 at the Truman Bodden Sports Complex in George Town, Cayman Islands.
The tournament features eight nations divided into two groups of four teams. The top two finishers in each group will qualify for the semifinals, with the winners of those games along with the winner of the third-place match earning berths to the 2014 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup, to be held in Canada. Players born on or after January 1, 1994 are age-eligible for the World Cup.
The USA is in Group A with Costa Rica, Jamaica and Guatemala, while Group B features the host Cayman Islands, Honduras, Trinidad & Tobago and Mexico.
The USA opens play on Thursday, Jan. 9 against Costa Rica, faces Jamaica on Saturday, Jan. 11 and finishes the group against Guatemala on Monday, Jan. 13. All three of the USA’s group games kick off at 5:30 p.m. MT. The semifinal matches will take place on Friday, Jan. 17 and the Championship and Third-Place matches are on Jan. 19.
Hooks joins the likes of Amy Barczuk and Nikki Marshall – record-breaking players at Colorado who turned their collegiate and national training camp success into professional careers. Barczuk was selected to the 2011 U.S. Women’s National Team Under-23 Training Camp and was a member of the U-23 player pool.
Marshall appeared in numerous training camps and tournaments as a member of the U.S. Women’s National Team U-23 player pool from 2009-11. With the U-20 team, Marshall helped the Americans to the silver medal at the 2007 Pan American Games and to the FIFIA U-20 Women’s World Cup Championship in 2008, where she was named the Sierra Mist Woman of the Match in the 2-1 championship win over North Korea.
—
Marlee Horn Graduate Assistant SID University of Colorado
Historic Run For CU Soccer Ends In Sweet 16 At No. 3 FSU
Nov 24th
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The University of Colorado soccer team’s historic season has come to an end as the Buffaloes fell 4-0 to No. 3 ranked Florida State in Saturday’s Sweet 16 match-up.
The No. 1 seeded Seminoles scored three goals in the first 15 minutes, and the Buffs could never find the footing to respond.
For only the fourth time this season, the Buffs allowed an opponent to take over 20 shots. The Seminoles took 24, while holding the Buffs to a season-low four (marking just the sixth time this year the Buffs have taken fewer than 10 shots in a game). Senior Anne Stuller (who set season records at CU this year with 93 shots and 53 shots on goal) led CU with two shots and one on goal. Senior co-captain Annie Brunner grabbed three saves in the net.
“This whole season has been a dream for me,” Stuller said. “We knew we were coming in today with a big challenge ahead of us and Florida State showed us what a good team they were but I’m not going to hang my head. I have so much to be proud of and how proud I am of my team.”
CU senior soccer player Anne Stuller is proud of her team, which finished the best in CU history
After beginning the year with a program-best five shutouts and six wins, CU concludes its record-breaking season with a 14-7-2 record – marking just the fifth time in program history the Buffs won at least 14 games in a single season. As it did in 2006 – the Buffs’ only other trip to the Sweet 16 – CU’s season is put to an end by a top three ranked Atlantic Coast Conference opponent (the Buffs fell to No. 1 Notre Dame in ’06).
Florida State keeps alive the nation’s longest active streak of trips to the NCAA quarterfinals, reaching the fourth round for the ninth consecutive year. FSU improves to 21-1-3, with its only loss coming to No. 1 Virginia and extends its home unbeaten streak to 34 games (and to 31 games in NCAA play). The Seminoles are the only remaining seeded team in their quadrant of the bracket. They will face the winner of the Boston College-Illinois (who both took down seeded teams in the Round of 32) match-up next Friday in the Elite Eight.
“I think that Florida State is very good, I’m just going to state the obvious,” CU head coach Danny Sanchez said. “We have played a lot of good teams this year but just the way that they came out and the way they possessed and created chances; getting that early goal, I think that we needed to get through that first stretch of the game and that didn’t happen. Then after that we were just chasing the game. I am proud of the team and how they continued to battle. I mean we gave up three goals in the first 14 minutes and it could have gotten ugly.”
The first half belonged to the Seminoles, with FSU outshooting CU 14-2. It took just 36 seconds for the Seminoles to take their first shot, with Carson Pickett knocking the left post. Less than one minute later, FSU had grabbed the lead. At 1:19, Michaela Hahn crossed to the far post to Dagny Brynjarsdottir, who headed one in past the keeper.
Two shots and less than six minutes later, FSU was ready to score again. The Noles extended their lead to 2-0 at 6:59 as Brynjarsdottir took little time to record her fourth multiple goal game of the season. Isabella Schmid found Jamia Fields at the right edge, who crossed to Brynjarsdottir near the net. Her header bounced off the left post, and came into the net off Brunner.
The Buffs continued to struggle to make any moves into FSU territory, taking until the 12th minute to take their first of two first half shots – with Madison Krauser breaking away from the pack to shoot wide right. The Noles’ attack continued to perplex the CU defense, scoring again in the 15th minute to increase their lead to 3-0. Megan Campbell took a free kick from just beyond midfield, sending her strike to the net, where Kristin Grubka headed inside the left post.
In the final 30 minutes, the Buffs regained some focus. In a 22 minute span, the Buffs held the surging Seminoles to four shots with all but one off the mark. During that time, the Buffs were able to pick up some offensive momentum, when Brie Hooks came up with a big tackle just behind the FSU box to help Anne Stuller get free and shoot at the keeper.
FSU came back with a vengeance in the closing minutes of the half, taking three more shots. The Buffs defense held strong, blocking one and forcing the other two wide. With under minutes remaining before the break, FSU seemed to push their lead to 4-0 off an own goal when a throw-in reached the net, but the Seminoles were called offsides, keeping their lead at 3-0.
To the favor of the Buffs, the second half started off more slowly than the first, with CU getting the first offensive opportunity. In the 50th minute, Stuller rushed from the center, and crossed to Hooks at the right, setting up a corner kick. The ball got in front of the net, and despite lots of FSU players making contact, Hayley Hughes was able to strike the ball (a shot that would go high) as a Seminole defender went down.
The Buffs began to play more aggressively with an increased pressure (especially from Lizzy Herzl, who had several strong clearances) trying to limit the Seminole attack. In the 56th minute, while Brunner was drawn out of the net, Kassey Kallman gave her shot a bit too much heat, hitting the ball high. With more shots starting to come her way, Brunner picked up back-to-back saves.
In the 64th minute, the Buffs had a chance to bounce back, when Tori Cooper drew a foul just outside the penalty box, setting up great positioning for a free kick. Stuller put her striking skills to the test, but hit her ball high. The shot would be the Buffs’ last of the game.
Following a CU yellow card in the 70th minute, FSU was able to grab some momentum. There was lots of movement at the net following the free kick. Hahn got the ball at distance from Kallman and beat the keeper as Brunner tried to jump on the save, but the ball slid just to her right.
The pace would slow in the final 20 minutes, but the Seminoles would still take four more shots and continue to press the Buffs defensively until the final minute.
“I think that Florida State took their foot off the gas a little bit, but they still had their starting back four in there at the end and they were still pressing us,” Sanchez said. “I was pleased though how we played the second half and kept competing and playing with pride. This doesn’t diminish what this team has accomplished this year and where they came from this preseason getting picked 10th in the Pac 12, tied for last place for last year and then having the opportunity to play in the Sweet 16 against a great team like Florida State who will compete for a national championship, so there is no shame in that so I’m proud of this group.”
—
Marlee Horn Graduate Assistant SID University of Colorado
[includeme src=”http://c1n.tv/boulder/media/bouldersponsors.html” frameborder=”0″ width=”670″ height=”300″]
