Three Buffs Earn Pac-12 Honors
SAN FRANSICO—Colorado soccer landed three Pac-12 individual postseason accolades with the conference releasing its annual awards on Friday. Hannah Sharts, Shanade Hopcroft and Shyra James all garnered recognition.
Sharts scored her second consecutive First Team All-Conference award. Hopcroft earned Second Team recognition, while James was a Third Team Selection.
Sharts, a Newbury Park, Calif., native, led the Buffaloes in minutes played this season, totaling 1707. The senior defender started all 19 games for the Buffs and played full time in 14 matches. She was third on the team with eight points, totaling two goals and four assists. Defensively Sharts continued to be a clog in the middle of the field, helping the Buffs to four shutout victories this season.
Hopcroft, a senior from Aylesbury, England, is 21st in the NCAA with her Pac-12 leading 10 assists this season, tying Taylor Kornieck (2018) for the most assist in an individual season. She led the Buffs offensively this year, totaling a DI career-high 22 points (8th Pac-12). Her 0.53 assists per game are third in the conference and second-best in CU history. Hopcroft totaled six goals and had three separate three-match point streaks throughout the season. Hopcroft grabbed national attention by scoring on a bicycle kick against Stanford, helping the Buffs erase a 2-0 deficit and earn a draw against the Cardinal for the first time in program history.
James, a La Mesa, Calif., native led the Buffs in goals for the second consecutive season. The sophomore was ninth in the Pac-12 with nine goals this season. She finished the season with a four-game scoring streak, becoming the first Buff to score a goal in four consecutive matches since Nikki Marshall in 2007. James picked up three game-winning goals, scoring two of them in overtimes against Colorado College and Oregon State. Her 20 total points tied Marshall's 2007 effort for second-most by a CU sophomore. The nine goals also matched Marshall for the most in a sophomore season at CU.
Both Sharts and James will be back for the Buffs in 2022. Sharts will use her extra COVID season, while James will look to continue to lead the Buffs offense as a junior.