Reinforced Buffaloes Look to Start the Season on The Right Foot
The Colorado Buffaloes Women’s Soccer team is gearing up for another long and hopefully successful season after a very short 98-day off-season.
The Buffs’ 2020/21 campaign ended abruptly after a great season when they suffered a first-round loss coming against South Alabama in the shortened NCAA tournament. They finished 5th in last year’s PAC-12 standings with a solid record of (9-6-2) including some upsets against impressive opponents, beating both 10th ranked California and 14th ranked Southern California.
They will look to return to the NCAA tournament this year and advance further as they recovered everyone but two players, including three super seniors, five freshmen, and two incoming transfers.
With the shortened offseason already over, the Buffaloes kicked off their season with an exhibition match against Air Force that counted toward the Colorado Cup. It didn’t take long for CU to jump into mid-season form after taking just seven minutes to find the back of the net. They ended up winning the match against Air Force two goals to zero.
The Buffaloes will continue with the Colorado Cup before they officially start their regular season on August 29th with an important matchup against last year’s NCAA tournament runner-up, Florida State.
This will be Colorado’s head coach, Danny Sanchez’s 10th year in charge of the program. He earned his 100th career win last year coming in an upset against PAC-12 rival Southern California.
“I think I speak for every college coach in the country in that to get back to training and a normal rhythm, the first-day jitters for new players, being able to get through the fitness tests and play some big field stuff, it’s just exciting,” Sanchez said. “We’re appreciative. We feel fortunate to have this opportunity.”
There is quite a bit of excitement for the upcoming Buffaloes season as they come off one of their best seasons while retaining a majority of their core group. The squad has an excellent dynamic, between hungry underclassmen and veteran upperclassmen who can improve together on and off the pitch, the Buffaloes will be a hard team to beat.
Colorado only lost two squad players to injuries this offseason, while retaining three super seniors in Shanade Hopcroft, Haileigh Adams, and Gabbi Chapa, who will be instrumental to their success.
The squad who finished last season at (9-6-2) are joined by two big transfers and five incoming freshmen. One of the new additions includes Colorado native and Utah transfer, Hailey Stodden who had been selected for every starting eleven since joining Utah two years ago. Her passing vision will play a much needed role in setting up her new Buffalo teammates in front of the net.
The new additions to the team will look to find a role within the already competitive squad. They are led by four captains this year with three returning to the role including Gabbi Chapa, Sofia Weiner, Hannah Sharts, and the new captain Haileigh Adams.
“This year we have a lot of players back, I think we have more options than last year,” Sanchez said about their increased depth.
If you didn't get the news, we have 4️⃣ players wearing the armband this year! pic.twitter.com/RWLvpeMltb
— Colorado Buffaloes Soccer (@CUBuffsSoccer) August 14, 2021
The defense looks to be one of the brightest spots on the team anchored by goalkeeper Dani Hansen who is coming off an excellent 2021 campaign. Hansen played a pivotal role in last year’s success as she had seven shutouts in the 16 matches she appeared in. She took a big step in her game since transferring to the Buffaloes just last year, improving multiple aspects of her game. Sanchez confidently said “Where she started, where she is today, might as well be a different person, physically, mentally, confidence”
Hansen is accompanied on the pitch by an already great backline led by Sofia Weiner, Gabbi Chapa, and Hannah Sharts. Chapa and Weiner both dealt with injuries last year with Weiner missing the final four matches of the year.
On the offensive side, the Buffaloes return with the five-goal scorers who scored 16 out of their 17 goals last year but will still need to improve to hit the pace they want to this year.
They are in solid hands as their leading goal scorer last year Shyra James returns as just a sophomore. Colorado will try to increase their attacking duties as defender Hannah Sharts scored four goals in their first five matches last year and ended up being the second-leading scorer after failing to find the net again that year. With more options and variety in the final third leg this year, Colorado will try and push further into the NCAA tournament than before.
They have been getting ready for the season as fast as they can with the shortened off-season. Captain defender Sofia Weiner spoke on their preseason focuses and the reason behind their training styles.
“I think our energy and attitude is something we have continued to work on and build on from last season. As Danny said, we already have a core group going into it where we are already very close, we went through one of the tougher seasons that I have experienced at CU,” Sofia Weiner said. “I think it made us very close and our freshman and our transfers have melded very well into our group, so I think the energy and attitude is a primary thing we focus on because all of the soccer stuff will come after that.”
The Buffaloes season is already underway with the Colorado Cup in full swing. They have already defeated Air Force and will play rivals Colorado State on August 19th and Colorado College three days later to decide the winner of the cup.
They will then look forward to the tough regular season, hopefully building their resume for another trip to the NCAA tournament.
