Soccer drops another Pac-12 match

The Buffs went through a nightmare Sunday afternoon in Pullman, Washington as they suffered an embarrassing 4-0 loss to the Washington State Cougars. The game was one-sided from the start, and the Buffs showed little composure while committing four yellow cards and one red during the 90 minutes.

“Early on, they had way more energy than us,” Bill Hempen, soccer head coach said.

The Cougars dominated the first 15 minutes of the game, out-shooting the Buffs, and it was in the 16th minute that Washington St. broke the seal with junior forward Brandi Vega’s goal.

Minutes later, freshman midfielder Jocelyn Jeffers tacked another goal on for the Cougars, giving them a solid lead going into halftime.

“[After the two goals] I think we settled down a bit and it rose our level [of play],” Hempen said. “I really thought we’d get one back before the half.”

The Buffs came out playing much better in the second half, adjusting to the speed and energy that Washington State had in the first half. This meant a lot of physical play, but with the physicality came Hayley Hughes’ red card ejection in the 53rd minute along with Colorado’s second team yellow card. After the Cougars put in their third goal, the second by Jeffers, Colorado was deflated and the frustration started to set in.

The Buffs committed two more yellow cards in the 71st and 88th minutes, and they still couldn’t stop the Cougars from getting in the net as senior forward Tiara Pittman put in the game’s final goal in the 72nd minute.

The Buffs record now goes to 3-8-2 on the season, and they have still yet to win their first Pac-12 Conference match.  The next match is back in Boulder against Oregon (6-7-1) on October 16 at 1 p.m. at Prentup Field.

Contact CU Independent Reporter Joseph Wirth at [email protected].