Buffs Battle From Behind to Earn Draw

BOULDER—Colorado found itself in a 2-0 hole at the half against No. 13 Stanford but used a second-half surge, led by Shanade Hopcroft, to force the Cardinal into overtime and earning a 2-2 draw at Prentup Field on Sunday.

Colorado's super senior went airborne in the 64th minute, converting an acrobatic bicycle kick from 17-feet out to get the Buffs on the board. Hopcroft wasn't done adding to the scoresheet, assisting on Jade Babcock-Chi's goal in the 66th minute, erasing Stanford's 2-0 lead. 

"We always say to ourselves 'bike it,' and nobody ever does," head coach Danny Sanchez said about the goal. "This is my 27th year as a head coach between men and women. To be able to do that at that moment—and that's a tough bike, sometimes the ball comes across head height. That ball was a good 25 feet in the air and to get clean contact was a special moment for her but really for the team, it gave us energy and a lift to get back in the game."

The Buffs almost pulled off the upset in the closing seconds of the second overtime, again with help from Hopcroft. She served up a perfect corner ball and found Alyssa Duke inside the box. There was contact on the scramble for the ball and Duke was unable to get a clean foot on the ball to get the winner. 

The result marks the first draw between the two schools in 13 matches. The Buffaloes were previously 0-for-12 against the Cardinal and had never scored more than one goal against Stanford. 

Colorado (6-6-2, 1-3-2 Pac-12) got six saves from Dani Hansen, with none bigger than a 1-on-1 stop against Stanford's Samantha Williams in the 104th minute to keep the Buffs alive.  

Stanford (10-3-1, 4-1-1 Pac-12) got its two goals from Maya Doms and Sierra Enge in a span of 10-minutes. Cardinal keeper, Katie Meyer, made four saves on the day

How it Happened
Colorado struggled in the first half to maintain any kind of possession, leading to Stanford getting two goals in the first 17 minutes of play. The Cardinal outshout CU 12-1 in the first half and held a 5-0 advantage in corner kicks to start.

"I was very pleased with how we bounced back," Sanchez added. "It would have been very easy against a team we've never got a result against to hang our heads. I went in at halftime and the team was talking about how can we get back in this game? You get back in the game by shooting and doing something I've never seen in my coaching career [bicycle kick goal]. That gave us momentum. Then I thought after that we were on the front foot. The game could have gone either way, but I'm pleased with how we battled back." 

The Buffs got in the Stanford zone early to start the second half. Tessa Barton worked along the left side of the box in the 49th minutes, firing a shot off Meyer's hands in the Buffs' first push of the half. The Buffs' next shot didn't come until the 64th minute when Hopcroft made everyone's jaw drop in disbelief.  

"I just saw the ball go up in the air," Hopcroft explained. "I think it went off someone, went up in the air and it was kind of behind me. I was like, 'this a perfect opportunity to bike it.' I did and it went in. 

"I didn't know how far out I was. I don't know. I try in training. If the ball goes behind you, you hope that it's perfectly in the air and it was perfectly in the air to bike it. I had to do it, but I had no idea how far out it was."

Her day wasn't over because two minutes later she set up Bacock-Chi for the equalizer in the 66th minute. 

"I was buzz [after my goal]," Hopcroft added. "I think the team was too. Even before that we were just like fire. I saw the opportunity to take the girl on. I saw Jade all alone with another one of our players next to her. I just had to get it to them. I swung my left foot and it got there."

Hansen made two saves for CU after getting back to even, forcing the overtime. Stanford's offense got back on track in the overtime period, outshooting CU 7-1 in the 20 minutes of extra time. Hansen was up for the task, making one save in both overtime frames. 

Senior Gabbi Chapa tallied CU's lone shot in the two overtimes, putting her chance on net in the 95th minute. The scramble at the end was the best chance for either side in the extra frames. 

Up Next
CU looks ahead to its final two home matches of the season next week, hosting Oregon (Oct. 21) and Oregon State (Oct. 24).  

Notes 
Hopcroft now leads the Buffs with 18 points this season and is tops in goals (5) and assists (8)…Sunday was Hopcroft's fourth game this season with at least one goal and one assist (fifth career)…Hopcroft's goal came off a free-kick opportunity, giving CU nine set-piece goals this season…Colorado picked up four yellow cards on the day…Babcock-Chi's goal was her first since scoring against Northern Colorado in the 2019 NCAA Tournament (second career)…Coach Sanchez remains stuck on 110 career wins at CU, four behind former coach Bill Hempen for the most at Colorado…Sunday's match completed a stretch of three consecutive ranked opponents with CU going 0-2-1.