The University of Colorado Boulder’s women’s soccer team celebrates a goal in the game against Iowa State at Prentup Field on September 25, 2025. (Peter FitzGerald/CU Independent)
Coming off a 0-0 tie against the Kansas State Wildcats to begin Big 12 competition, the Colorado Buffaloes (7-1-2, 1-0-1 Big 12) hosted the Iowa State Cyclones (4-2-2, 1-1-0 Big 12) on Thursday night at Prentup Field, taking a 3-1 win led by Hope Leyba’s hat trick.
Colorado got out to an early attack, including a corner kick that was pushed back the top of the box before it went over top of the net on a freshman midfielder Vivi Zacarias shot.
The set piece on the subsequent corner kick was lofted in by Ava Priest, connecting with Leyba who put a strong header into the back of the net, opening the scoring 1-0 in the 17th minute.
After an Iowa State opportunity was cleared, Ruby Hayward played a strong pass forward to Leyba, who got the shot through the Cyclones’ keeper for her second goal of the night in the 37th minute.
With less than 15 seconds in the half, Colorado earned a corner kick, but put the ball over the net, entering halftime up 2-0 thanks to both of Leyba’s goals.
Coming out of the locker room, the Buffs picked up where they left off.
A cross in the 53rd minute from Caley Swierenga again found the foot of Leyba on the back post who put it into the back of the net for her second hat trick of the season.
The game marks the first time a Colorado player has recorded multiple hat tricks in the same season. Leyba joins Nikki Marshall as the only two players in program history to have two hat tricks in a career.
“I’m just so blessed. It’s really awesome. I just couldn’t be happier,” Leyba said after the game.
For the rest of the game, Colorado’s defense was able to put it on lock, controlling the pace of play. Colorado had five corner kicks in the second half and put 13 shots up.
In the 82nd minute, Morgan Goodman scored for Iowa State on a free kick from just inside the right side of the semicircle, putting the Cyclones on the board.
The Buffs had a swift response on a Mallory Allen rocket from midfield but Iowa State keeper Kasey Cannistraro was able to keep it from crossing the goal line on a leaping save that sandwiched the ball between her gloves and the crossbar.
“A little disappointed to give up their free kick goal at the end, but overall, a great performance from the Buffs tonight,” Colorado head coach Danny Sanchez said.
Junior forward Hope Leyba goes for a header in the game against Iowa State at Prentup Field on September 25, 2025. (Peter FitzGerald/CU Independent)
Leyba had only eight goals in 22 contests last season. In just 10 games this season, Leyba has 12 goals already.
“It’s just, she’s coachable, and she’s buying into the coaching and, you know, she’s getting the end product from it now,” Sanchez said.
While Leyba had a historic night, it was a team effort that brought home the win.
“We only have 23 healthy players, so everybody’s in the mix, and these players work hard every day,” Sanchez said. “But the other players that came in, there wasn’t a drop off.”
“I was really happy with people that came in off the bench, and I think they really made a good impact tonight,” Leyba said. “I think my teammates showed up for me, and that was what was different tonight.”
The defense showed up, holding Iowa State to only four shots on goal and two corner kicks.
“For the second half, we were much more organized defensively and kind of really limited their opportunities,” Sanchez said. “The second half was some of the best soccer we played this year.”
Colorado will host Houston on Sunday, Sept. 28 at Prentup Field. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+ with kickoff set for 1 p.m. MT.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Jake Chau at jake.chau@colorado.edu.
