Posts tagged Alex Huynh
CU Soccer Matches Record-Setting Start
Aug 31st
BOULDER – The University of Colorado is in familiar territory. Three games into the 2013 season, the Buffaloes have tied last year’s program record of three straight shutouts to begin the season, and Annie Stuller has notched the fifth multiple goal game of her career.
The Buffs took down the Air Force Falcons 2-0 for the second straight year. Colorado has matched its record-setting start to the season to earn a 3-0 record. The Falcons fall to 0-2-1 after facing Big 12 and Pac-12 Conference opponents in back-to-back games.
Defense was the name of the game for 72 minutes, until the Buffs went on an offensive frenzy. At the 72:47 mark, Olivia Pappalardo edged the net, slamming the left post. Just seconds later, Anne Stuller was ready on the attack for her first goal of the season. Less than five minutes later, Stuller was at it again, scoring off an assist from Alex Huynh.
“I think the first half she was pressing a little bit, trying a little bit too much,” CU head coach Danny Sanchez said. “The first goal is the kind of goal we want her scoring. Where she’s inside the box and can shoot from there, instead of having to do stuff from midfield. The second goal was just a great ball from Alex to release her and a quality finish. It’s good for her to open her 2013 account, but obviously we’re just counting on her to score some goals this year … I don’t think it’s any big secret that she’s dangerous. We need to get her on the end of stuff. When she does that, she’s obviously good around the box.”
Stuller is just the fourth Buff to record at least four multiple goal games in her Colorado career. She joins Fran Munnelly (four) and Nikki Marshall and Katie Griffin, who each had seven. In each of the last three seasons, Stuller has had at least one multiple goal game.
“It’s totally a confidence boaster,” Stuller said. “It helps me just feel like, ‘OK, I can play with these girls. I can do this.’ It feels good, but more than anything it feels good to win. I’m just more happy about that than anything else.”
The Buffs shined in the second half, outshooting the Falcons 11-6 during the game, taking nine shots in the second half alone and limiting Air Force to just one second half shot. CU also had three opportunities off corner kicks, while Air Force had none. Both Annie Brunner and Kelly Stambaugh both grabbed three saves in their respective nets.
“I think Air Force has much improved,” Sanchez said of the team the Buffs also defeated 2-0 last season. “You know they’re always going to work hard and be organized. I think they have some quality on the field. I was pleased with how we turned it on at the end, but obviously the first half we didn’t play our best soccer. The second half, especially those last 20 minutes, I felt like we really started connecting and had a little bit more run of the play. A lot of credit to Air Force, they played very well today.”
Colorado’s first shot came in the first 41 seconds off the boot of leading scorer Brie Hooks. The Buffs wouldn’t get another shot off until the 39th minute, when Darcy Jerman got blocked.
Brunner picked up her first save in the seventh minute. Just over two minutes later, Air Force sent off another shot, this time sending the ball wide.
The Buffs got a lot of touches in the first half, but couldn’t seem to keep total control of the ball, with neither team successfully dominating the offense.
With 10 minutes remaining before the half, the Falcons gained momentum, but Ashley Greco’s shot made for an easy save. The Buffs backline held off any more attacks, with Lizzy Heral stopping a ball by the left post to prevent a close call at a shot attempt.
“Hats off to our defense,” Stuller said. “Everyone’s been so solid. Brunner’s controlling the back line so well, Lizzy’s just a great senior leader and she makes it look easy. She’s a good defender. She makes some hard stops that she makes look pretty easy.”
Colorado picked up its intensity on both sides of the ball in the second half, attacking early. Huynh took a long free kick in the 49th minute to set the ball up for several Buffs at the net. Herzl got the first touch, hitting it just wide. Later, Hayley Hughes made contact, but once again the shot was wide.
The Falcons continued to press the Buffs’ net, but the CU defense refused to allow any shots to get past them. Air Force’s only shot of the half came at the 68:08 mark, but Brunner was ready for another save.
With 20 minutes remaining, Stuller was on the offensive, rushing from the backfield to the net, but she couldn’t control the ball. The Buffs quickly reassembled, with Bianca Jones sending one to the keeper from deep right. One minute later, Stuller, at the left corner of the field, found Emily Paxton at the net, who hit the ball high.
The Buffs’ drive couldn’t be stopped, keeping possession to set up their first goal. After an Air Force foul, the Buffs took charge. In the 73rd minute, Pappalardo hit a close one to the left post. Stuller was ready for the rebound, scoring just six seconds later.
“They felt really good to get,” Stuller said of her two goals. “As a forward, you want to score. There were two easy goals thanks to my teammates. Brie took the ball down on the first one, beat a girl, it was a good beat, and drove it across. It was a jumbled mess in there and I think Olivia got on it and got a touch and it came right to me. I just had to hit it far post, pretty easy goal because of my teammates.”
In the 78th minute, Stuller was ready again, taking an open shot from Huynh behind the right side of the box to give the Buffs a 2-0 lead that would hold for the remainder of the game.
Come cheer on your CU Buffs soccer team as they take on the St. Mary’s Gaels on Sunday, Sept. 1 at 1 p.m. Remember to support the Buffaloes from the Buff Brigade cheering section located on the north end of Prentup Field.
“They’re a very good team, very athletic,” Sanchez said of the Gales. “West Coast Conference is a very good conference. They’re very tough. They play top end teams week in and week out. I expect a very end-to-end game. Their team likes to attack like we do, so I expect a very entertaining game on Sunday.”
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Marlee Horn Graduate Assistant SID University of Colorado [includeme src="http://c1n.tv/boulder/media/bouldersponsors.html" frameborder="0" width="670" height="300"]
CU Women’s Soccer Opens Season, Remain Undefeated Against Northern Colorado
Aug 24th
Two weather delays in the Cup’s opening game at CIBER Field at the University of Denver Stadium couldn’t damper the Buffaloes’ play. The Buffs outshot the Bears 16-5, including a 7-2 advantage in the second half. Colorado extends its perfect record against Northern Colorado, never losing a game or allowing a goal in seven meetings.
It took just over 33 minutes for freshman Brie Hooks to score her first goal as a Buff, and then just another 45 to score again. She is the first Buff in program history to score two goals in her Colorado debut.
“Scoring a couple goals is always a good debut,” CU head coach Danny Sanchez said. “Obviously she’s dynamic, she’s good with the ball and she had a couple nice finishes. I think it was the product of pressure on the second one. The first one was a great ball from Darcy. It was a good debut for sure.”
Other CU newcomers also made their presence felt, with Santa Clara transfer Brooke Rice and freshman Alex Huynh both making starts in their Colorado debuts.
“It was good to get in all six field player freshmen,” Sanchez said. “They got some time and did well and showed some good things. Obviously Alex (Huynh) did well in the midfield and obviously Brie (Hooks) with a couple of goals, but the other ones – we put Hannah (Dearborn) in the back and she did well. Big picture, it was good to get them some minutes so that when they go in again, there’s not that jittery first game.”
For the third time in as many games at CIBER Field, the Buffs scored off an own goal, getting on the board in the 21st minute.
In the first six minutes, Colorado took two corner kicks, but couldn’t get a shot off until the 14th minute, when co-captain Hayley Hughes booted one high. Northern Colorado responded, with a corner kick by Makayla McBride that led to a high shot by Tassie Forst at the 20:09 mark.
CU picked up the pace on offense, pressing the DU goal. With just less than 25 minutes remaining, the Buffs caused a commotion in front of the net. With 2012 Big Sky Goalkeeper of the Year Natalie D’Adamio out of the net, a UNC defender scrambled from the right of the box to keep the ball alive, but tapped the ball into the goal zone.
The goal was the third own goal in as many games that CU has played at CIBER Field. Of the five own goals in CU’s program history, four have happened at CIBER Field. Last season, CU had two own goals in the Denver Invitational. The own goal was the only point in CU’s 4-1 defeat to Denver and helped CU to a 2-1 victory over Cincinnati just two days later. Previously, CU scored off own goals in an 8-1 victory against St. Mary’s College on CIBER Field in 2009 and in a 2-1 win over Wake Forest in Winston-Salem, N.C. at the Wake Forest/adidas Soccer Classic.
Intensity built as CU keeper and co-captain Annie Brunner came up with a big save off a Juliana Grover header in the 24th minute. In just over a one minute span, CU took three corner kicks, but couldn’t get anything near the net. Both teams fouled, culminating with a yellow card on Darcy Jerman in the 33rd minute. Less than a minute later, Jerman redeemed herself, hitting the ball up the right side to Brie Hooks, who got contact at the right corner of the box, dribbled it in closer and kicked a hard one into the lower left corner of the net.
Hooks called the assist a great set up, allowing her to get a touch and shoot. “I just wanted to go out there and prove myself in the first game, to show what I can do,” Hooks said. And prove herself she did.
The Buffs stayed tough on offense, with Madison Krauser shooting at the keeper, and Anne Stuller hitting one into the left post, but a lightning delay suspended the momentum, putting the game on pause for just under an hour with 9:21 remaining in the first half.
CU remained aggressive in the closing minutes of the half, with Carly Bolyard, Lizzy Herzl and Olivia Pappalardo all taking shots. Bolyard nearly netted one in the 41st minute, taking a near range shot that was saved by the right post.
Another lightning delay made for an extended halftime, but as Sanchez said, the Buffs came out well after, and began the second half unfazed.
In the 47th minute, Stuller was already attacking on both offense and defense, as she blocked the first of UNC’s two second-half shots.
Rain starting falling with 40 minutes remaining in the half, but it couldn’t cool down Stuller’s offensive fire. In just over a five minute span, Stuller took a short range header and a big slammer, but D’Adamio came up with the save both times.
After a lot of back-and-forth movement to begin the half, a Paxton header in the 66th minute helped spur the Buffs’ offense. In the 77th minute, Stuller was at it again, meeting the keeper at the edge of the box, but once again, D’Adamio was prepared for the save. Though the ball got loose, the Buffs weren’t able to keep possession.
Less than a minute later, Hooks grabbed the ball off a defensive deflection, striking from the left for her second goal of the night. She said after the game that for her second goal, she was working against a couple players, saw space and went for the shot.
With just 10 minutes remaining in the game, both teams were still on the attack. In the 81st minute, UNC’s McBride sent one right at Annie Brunner off a free kick. After a lot of ball movement by the Buffs, Jerman shot one from the right, but a defender at the net came in for the block, closing out the game.
“I think defensively we’re very good,” Sanchez said. “UNC’s got some players with a lot of pace. We didn’t give up a lot, and we created. I think we could have finished a little bit better, but having said that, we got a little bit of a fortunate goal in the first one. It usually evens out.”
Hooks says she hopes to take the momentum from the Buffs’ solid start throughout the season.
“It’s definitely a good way to start the season and get us on a good roll and hopefully carry us on the rest of the weekend,” Hooks said.
Stand Shoulder to Shoulder with head coach Danny Sanchez and the CU soccer team as they host Colorado College in the first Buffs athletic event of the year. In honor of the first home game of the season, we will be celebrating Student Appreciation Day, where there will be free Half Fast Subs and prizes for students that attend.
Make sure to sit in the Buff Brigade cheering section and help give CU soccer a real home field advantage. Located at the north end of Prentup Field, the Brigade will be loud and spirited as they cheer the Buffs to victory!
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Marlee Horn Graduate Assistant SID University of Colorado
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