Senior Nikki Marshall and head coach Bill Hempen must have had some clue they would be enshrined in Colorado soccer history forever. When was the question.
Records were the name of the game Friday at Prentup Field as the CU women’s soccer team stampeded past Big 12 Conference rival Oklahoma 5-1.
Wasting no time at all, Colorado peppered the goal early and often. To start the scoring, Kelly Butler connected on a pass with Marshall who fired off a quick turnaround shot and buried it in the 22nd minute to put the Buffs up 1-0. With her first goal, Marshall tied Fran Munnelly with 84 points as CU’s all-time points leader. She wouldn’t stop there, though.
Oklahoma gave the Buffs a challenge early on. OU junior Whitney Palmer split and danced past the CU defense to bury a shot in the bottom right-hand corner in the 26th minute to tie it up. That, however, would be the extent of the Sooners offense as the rest of the game was dominated by the Buffs.
In the 36th minute, Marshall connected with Butler and she let off a cannon of a shot to put the Buffs up for good. With that assist, history in Buffs land was made. Marshall recorded her 85th point and became CU’s all-time points leader.
“It’s a pretty cool feeling to be on the same platform as Fran Munnelly and Katie Griffin and those big time players at CU,” Marshall said. “It’s a real privilege.”
The Marshall train kept on chugging after that.
In the 62nd minute, Kelly Menachof danced through the Sooners defense and placed a perfectly centered ball to Marshall in the middle of the goal box, where Marshall fired in goal No. 2 of the day.
From there on out, Marshall made the game and the Sooners her own. Blowing past the OU defense, she notched goal No. 3 in the 63rd minute to put the Buffs up 4-1.
Three minutes later, she was back at it again. Splitting past two Sooner defenders, Marshall buried her fourth goal of the day. With that goal, she tied her career high for goals in a game, which she accomplished in 2006 against Clemson.
“She had it today,” said Hempen of Marshall’s effort. “You could see it in her eyes. It was like she could smell she was going to be able to outrun some of these players today.”
It was smooth sailing for the Buffs as they would cruise to 7-5 overall and 4-0 in Big 12 play. With the win, Hempen recorded career win number 100.
Now comes the hard part. The Buffs will play their next five games, all against Big 12 foes, away from home. Despite the great game, Marshall said she remains focused on the team’s long road ahead.
“It’s always tough on the road, especially in the Big 12,” she said. “We just have to carry the momentum from here and play the same way.”
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Richard Londer at Richard.londer@colorado.edu.
