Final Road Trip Kicks Off at Oregon State

CORVALLIS, Ore. – Colorado soccer embarks on its final road trip of the season, opening the weekend at Oregon State on Friday night (8 p.m. MT). 

The trip to Oregon will be a chance for Colorado to gain much-needed points in the Pac-12. The Buffaloes have seventh in the standings with seven points (2-3-1). OSU is still looking for its first Pac-12 win of the season, holding claim to a 0-6-1 Pac-12 record. Oregon (3-2-1) sits ahead of Colorado with 10 points in the standings. 

"If you look at Oregon State's record you might not be sure where they are at, but they have been in every game this season," head coach Danny Sanchez noted. "They got a great result on the weekend with a scoreless draw against Cal on the road. They probably feel they are due for a result."

Working in CU's favor is the team's RPI. Colorado is one of four Pac-12 teams with a top 14 RPI. The Buffs start the week with a 14 RPI, behind Washington (2), UCLA (9) and Arizona State (13). CU has an 0-2-1 record against UCLA and Washington. The Buffs have yet to play Arizona State, hosting the Sun Devils on Apr. 11. 

"The league is so tight this year," Sanchez continued. "Look at the results up and down. Stanford has three losses. Cal has three losses. UCLA dropped its first match of the season against Arizona State who is having a great season. It's probably the first time in my nine seasons that top-to-bottom there isn't much separation. This year 1-12 is wide open."

The Buffaloes have won three of the last four against Oregon State, but the Beavers got the upper hand in last year's matchup. Before last year's meeting (2-1), CU had scored 10 consecutive goals against OSU. CU produced a 3-0 shutout in 2016 and then followed up with a 1-0 verdict in 2017 and an explosive 6-0 output in CU's last visit to Corvallis in 2018. 

Scoring has been at a premium across the league this year. UCLA and Arizona State lead the conference with 21 and 20 goals this season, respectively, but they are the outliers. The Buffs are tied with Washington State for sixth in the conference with 13 goals this season. There are seven schools with 12-18 goals this season.

"You look at the seven or eight Pac-12 games last weekend and there were only six goals scored," Sanchez broke down. "In our league, it's tough to get those chances. That's just Pac-12 soccer."

Colorado concludes the trip on Sunday (Noon MT) at Oregon. The Buffs have a four-match unbeaten streak against the Ducks, going 3-0-1 over the last four meetings. The Ducks are coming off a successful weekend against the Bay Area schools, beating Cal 1-0 and earning a 0-0 draw against Stanford. 

"Any game on the road is going to be a battle," Sanchez stated. "The weather looks good, which we appreciate. We are excited to get back on the road. It's our last regular-season road trip. Sometimes you get on the road and bond a little bit. Hopefully, we can gut out some results."

Both matches will be live-streamed at CUBuffs.com/WatchSoc.