Colorado Buffaloes Soccer, playing against the University of Arizona on Senior Day at Prenup Field on Sunday, Oct. 26th, 2025. (Aspen Doust/CU Independent)
The University of Colorado Women’s soccer team (15-3-3, Big 12 8-1-2) was handed their first loss in a month at the hands of the University of Kansas Jayhawks (14-4-3, Big 12 6-4-1) in the Big 12 Tournament semifinals, 2-1, on Wednesday.
Things started timidly for the first seven minutes before the game saw its first action with an Ava Priest shot that was saved by Kansas goalkeeper Sophie Dawes.
Dawes made five saves in the last match, on Oct. 30, between the Buffs and Jayhawks, in which Colorado took a 2-1 win on a Reagan Kotschau goal in the final five minutes.
The floodgates began to open in the 25th minute as momentum picked up for the Buffs, who took three consecutive corner kicks in a 90-second span. On the third attempt, Priest left an in-swinging ball short of the goalpost, but senior Emerson Layne positioned herself on the near post to head the ball back into play while drawing in Dawes. The ball found the head of junior defender Faith Leyba, who put the ball in the wide-open net, putting Colorado up 1-0 in the 27th minute.
Both teams stayed quiet for the rest of the first half as the Buffs took the 1-0 lead into halftime. Coming into the game, Kansas was 0-3 when trailing at the half, while Colorado was 11-0-1 when leading at halftime.
The Buffs looked to keep that streak going out of the half. Consecutive corner kicks kept the pressure on, including a loose ball that found the foot of Layne, who put just a bit too much on her shot, pushing it high over the net in the 46th minute.
The Jayhawks’ Lexi Watts got a lucky deflection to fall at her feet in stride, drawing in three Colorado defenders as she soared up the right sideline. She connected with an unmarked Saige Wimes in the box, kicking it past a diving Jordan Nytes to put the Jayhawks on the board and tie the score 1-1.
Colorado looked to respond with a flurry of shots, buzzing in front of the Kansas goal and shooting the ball four times in a three minute span. The Kansas defense, alongside Dawes stood tall, keeping the score tied 1-1.
In the 74th minute, off a corner kick that was cleared back into the corner, Kansas defender Caroline Castans tried to center the ball back into the box but took a deflection off senior Mallory Allen right to Lydia Viets. Viets ripped a shot from where she stood, keeping it along the ground. Faith Leyba stuck out her foot to attempt a block just three feet in front of Nytes, but couldn’t get enough of the ball to clear it, as it skipped past Nytes’ outstretched arms to give Kansas the lead, 2-1.
Colorado frantically searched for a late-game equalizer, throwing numbers and bodies forward in the final ten minutes. The dam almost broke as Kotschau flipped a pass to Layne, who headed the ball forward to Hope Leyba weaving through two Kansas defenders on her way toward the net. Leyba was able to get the crown of her foot on the ball, flipping it over Dawes who vacated her net to make a play on the ball, but took too strong of a shot, putting it on top of the net.
The score settled at 2-1 as the late-game magic the Buffs were afforded in the past week dried up.
“We didn’t play our best soccer tonight. However, we left it all on the field,” head coach Danny Sanchez said. “It just didn’t happen for us tonight.”
Hope Leyba, the nation’s leading goal scorer, was held off the scoresheet for the first time in six matches since Oct. 16 versus Utah. The Kansas defense held her usually high motor to a minimum, as she took only two shots the entire game.
The game-winning goal came off Faith Leyba’s foot attempting to deflect the ball away.
“It’s been a long stretch, and there are fine margins when you start to get to this point,” Sanchez said. “Faith’s blocking it and unfortunately, deflects it and goes in. Those are the margins at this level.”
While Colorado won’t be competing for the Big 12 Tournament title, their postseason hopes still remain alive.
“We’ll get back to working, and like I said, we’ll be ready for the NCAA Tournament,” Sanchez said.
The Buffs have made the NCAA Tournament 14 times in their program’s history, including each of the past two years. Last year, Colorado upset No. 7 University of Georgia in Athens, 3-2, before falling to No. 2 Wake Forest University, 3-1, in the second round.
The NCAA Selection Show will be streamed live on NCAA.com at 2 p.m. MT on Monday, Nov. 10.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Jake Chau at jake.chau@colorado.edu
