The Buffs’ have had a great fall season, going 12-5-2 and finishing first in Region V. Colorado will look to continue their winning ways in nationals.
Colorado is the WCB pool along with Cornell and Virginia. The top two teams in the pool will advance to the round of 16.
In last year’s tournament the Buffs’ lost a heartbreaker in the quarterfinals to Texas A&M. Colorado scored a goal late in the game with the game tied 0-0 but the referees called it back. The game eventually went into a penalty kicks and Texas A&M came away with the victory.
“That game will definitely be in the minds of the players that were on this team last year,” said head coach Dorian Barnes.
The Buffaloes’ are excited at the opportunity but are wary of the high level of competition that they will be facing.
“The competition is the best you can get,” said Barnes. “They will need to play with heart and passion, play with composure, play with confidence and they will need to play for each other,” said Barnes on what her team needs to do to win the tournament. “I believe we have them to a point physically, mentally, technically, and tactically as they possibly can be. Now we just have to execute.”
The Buffs’ players are anxious to get to Phoenix and prove themselves.
“They want their tests to be over, they want practices to be over, they just want to get started with game number one vs. Virginia right now and find out what they are really made of,” said Barnes. “That to me shows a confidence that they are ready to go and just want to get to it. I feel we have a very talented team, but as you know you can't win on talent alone, so how we deal with everything else will decide it for us. I feel good about our chances.”
Colorado’s first game will be against Virginia on Thursday Nov. 17 at 8 a.m. For more information about the tournament and women’s club soccer follow the links below.
CU women’s club soccer website: www.cusoccer.net
NCCS Soccer Championships website: www.nirsa.org/Content/NavigationMenu/Sports/Soccer/Soccer2011-Schedule.pdf
