Buffs Host Arizona, Arizona State
BOULDER – The Colorado soccer team embarks on its final three regular-season matches of the season, starting with Arizona on Friday (2:30 p.m. MT). The Buffaloes will be fortunate enough to play all three matches from the comfort of Prentup Field.
Colorado (7-5-1, 3-4-1 Pac-12) earned a split last weekend, closing out with a much-needed 1-0 win over Oregon. Sophomore Tessa Barton recorded the lone goal, her first of the season.
The win helps keep CU in the hunt for the NCAA Tournament. This season's tournament field has been slimmed from 64 to 48, making every minute count this season.
"We control our destiny," Barton stated. "We just have to take it game-by-game and give it all we have. I think we deserve to be in the tournament and I'm excited to see what we can do."
CU has been good at home this season, boasting a 4-2-0 record. The only blemishes on the season have come in a pair of 1-0 losses to No. 3 UCLA and Washington State in overtime. This weekend's matches against Arizona (8-4-0, 3-4-0 Pac-12) and No. 17 Arizona State (8-2-2, 4-1-2 Pac-12) offer the Buffs a chance to position themselves well for the final week of the season.
"When you look at these last three games and the Pac-12 standings and NCAA implications, it's just all over the place," head coach Danny Sanchez said after the win at Oregon. "All we can do is control what we can control. I think control our destiny. I think we needed to get a result [ at Oregon] and we need to get results when we return home."
CU is 4-1-4 all-time against the Wildcats, including a 2-0-3 record in the last five meetings. Last season the Buffs got a 2-1 double-overtime win in Tucson. The last time the Buffs didn't get a result against Arizona was back in 2013.
The Wildcats are riding a two-match winning streak, coming into the weekend. Arizona scored wins over defending national champion Stanford (2-1) and California (1-0). It was the first time Arizona has beaten both the Cardinal and Golden Bears in the same season.
The No. 17 Sun Devils defeated Stanford 2-0 last Sunday to earn a split, having opened with a 2-1 double-overtime loss to Cal. ASU's win over Stanford was its first since 2013.
Both matches this weekend will be live-streamed online at CUBuffs.com/WatchSoc.