Colorado Buffaloes forward, Jacey Holley, celebrating with teammates, after scoring a goal to extend Colorado’s lead against Arizona State University on Friday, Oct. 10th, 2025. (Remi Krupinski/CU Independent)
The No. 12 ranked Colorado women’s soccer team (15-3-3) will make an NCAA Tournament appearance for the third consecutive year. Colorado has earned the No. 3 seed and will host Utah Valley University (14-4-3) on Friday, Nov. 14 at 7 p.m. MT at Prentup Field.
Colorado’s deepest playoff runs came in 2006 and 2013, when the Buffs fell to regional No. 1 seeds Notre Dame (2006) and Florida State (2013) during the third rounds. Both Notre Dame and Florida State were the National Runner-Ups in each of their respective years.
This year’s Colorado team looks a little different than years previous, however. Led by junior attacker Hope Leyba and senior goalkeeper Jordan Nytes, the Buffs are in prime position to make the deepest run in school history.
Leyba broke CU’s single-season goal record earlier this year, surpassing Nikki Marshall’s 19 goals from the 2006 season. Leyba has seven goals in her last six games, including two multi-goal games against tournament-clinching UCF and Texas Tech during that stretch. Leyba also has two hat tricks in her 2025 campaign, coming against Fordham and Iowa State, good enough for 21 total goals on the season – the second-highest tally in the nation.
Nytes has been a backstop for all the goal scoring in the nation’s 15th highest scoring offense. She broke the CU record for career shutouts against Arizona earlier this year. She has been able to keep up the pace as well, recording 12 saves in her last three games since breaking the record. Her 96 total saves on the season are tied for 27th best in the nation.
Both Nytes and Leyba made the Big 12 All-Tournament team for their efforts in the Buffs’ two Big 12 Tournament games.
The goal scoring has come in droves for the Buffs this season. Other contributors for the Buffs include sophomore Jace Holley’s 12 goals and six assists, senior Emerson Layne’s ten assists and 20 points and Regan Kotschau’s four game-winning goals.
Colorado forward Hope Leyba shoots the ball to lift CU to a 1-0 win over Houston at Prentup Field on Sunday, Sept. 28, 2025. (Lila Nuttle/CU Independent)
Colorado’s defense has been excellent as well. While Nytes has seven shutouts this season, the defensive front, typically featuring junior Faith Leyba, sophomore Jordan Whiteaker, senior Greer Maguire and junior Caley Swierenga, have limited opponents to 0.86 goals per game and 5.5 shots on goal per game.
Colorado remains one of the youngest teams in the nation, only boasting five seniors and one graduate. What the players may lack in experience, head coach Danny Sanchez is able to make up for. The 2025 season is Sanchez’s 14th season in Boulder, taking his team to the NCAA Tournament nine times. Prior to being a Buff, Sanchez spent time at Metro State University in Denver, posting a 128-11-7 record in six seasons. His time featured two DII National Championships and only one season didn’t feature a trip to at least the quarterfinals.
The group that Sanchez is fielding on the pitch is encouraging to say the least. On the other side stands the Utah Valley Wolverines.
While Colorado has Hope, the Wolverines have Faith. Hope Leyba’s 21 goals is the nation’s second-most tally – just behind Faith Webber’s 22.
“Utah Valley’s a very good team, very well-coached. We know that Friday is going to be a great game,” Sanchez said.
While Boulder boasts the nation’s 15th best offense, Orem, where Utah Valley plays, hosts the nation’s 3rd best.
Webber has scored 13 goals in her past six matches, including a five goal performance in the Wolverine’s 8-0 win over Southern Utah. Her 22-goal season broke her own single-season goals record set last year with 18. The graduate student has the second-most game-winning goals in the nation (7), has the nation’s most points (48), shot attempts (147) and shots on goal (66).
The offense doesn’t just run through Webber, however, as senior Ruby Hladek is tied for the nation’s fifth-most points, recording 15 goals and nation’s fourth-most 12 assists. Hladek has recorded 27 points in her last 12 games and was named Western Athletic Conference (WAC) offensive player of the year.
The Wolverines as a team are second in the nation this season in goals (69), points (20) and assists (69).
The only blemish they have statistically is their defense. The Wolverines let in over a goal per game as senior goalkeeper Leah Wolf has only tallied three shutouts on the year. Her 72 saves puts her in company with Baylor’s goalkeeper, Azul Alvarez who held the Buffs to just one goal earlier this year.
Playing in the WAC is also much different than playing in the Big 12. All eight teams which made the Big 12 Tournament also qualified for the NCAA Tournament, providing a battle-tested field.
“Our league was brutal this year,” Sanchez said. “With the high seeds that everybody got and then getting eight teams in, the league prepared all eight teams to have success.”
The Colorado Buffaloes stood the test this year. The NCAA’s RPI is a measurement of strength of schedule, taking into consideration winning percentage and the strength of opponents. Colorado came in as the RPI’s 8th best team in the nation, but not too far ahead of Utah Valley’s 38th.
Colorado knows how easy the upset can happen after taking down No. 7 Georgia on the road during the first round last year. The 3-2 comeback victory in Athens should provide some ignition to avoid the same fate.
“Hopefully, we can continue the momentum we’ve had in the last couple of NCAA Tournaments,” Sanchez said.
As a three seed in their region, Colorado has earned the right to host the Wolverines on Friday – a place where they’re comfortable.
“We’re so pleased to be in and hosting on Friday against a very good team,” Sanchez said.
CU hasn’t lost a game on Prentup Field since Oct. 5, 2024, where they fell to at-the-time No. 23 TCU, 6-1. The Buffs have remained unbeaten at home this season (10-0-2) and will look to keep the streak alive.
Colorado Buffaloes midfielder, Caley Swierenga, playing against Arizona State University on Friday, Oct. 10th, 2025. (Aspen Doust/CU Independent)
Even with a win, the path remains tumultuous for the Buffs. The winner coming out of Prentup Field will play the winner of the matchup between Dayton and No. 6 Xavier University.
Xavier’s Samantha Erbach is tied as the nation’s point leader with Utah Valley’s Webber, including the nation’s best assist tally (14) and fifth-best goal tally (18). And while UVU has the third-highest scoring offense in the nation, Xavier hosts the second.
Even if Dayton draws the upset, Colorado will have to carve up the nation’s sixth-best defense. Dayton goalkeeper Batoul Reda has the nation’s most shutouts with 14 and has allowed only 10 goals all season.
No. 2 Michigan State and No. 3 Colorado look to be on a collision course, as well. The two teams opened their seasons in Boulder, drawing the 1-1 tie. Past that possible matchup, No. 1 Stanford has the best goal-scoring offense in the nation, should they make it to that point. Of course, so much is left to be decided between now and then, and there are sure to be upsets, but Colorado has one of the tougher paths in the nation to their first semifinal appearance.
Even so, Colorado remains positioned to make a run beyond that. Last year’s national champion, North Carolina, featured a premier goal scorer (Kate Faasse) finding the back of the net 20 times across the season, including the overtime game-winner to send the Tar Heels to the semifinals.
Though nobody outside Faasse eclipsed double-digit goals across 27 games, the secondary goal scoring showed up when it mattered the most. In fact, Faasse only recorded one shot in the national championship. Instead the one to net the title-clinching goal came from Olivia Thomas on just her ninth goal of the season. That was enough to significantly contribute to a national championship-winning team.
Of course, North Carolina’s elite goalkeeping and defense have stood tall, recording 16 shutouts with just a 0.83 goals against average across the season. The Tar Heels only let in one goal in their entire playoff run.
North Carolina proved the tried-and-tested national champion recipe. It calls for the star players to rise to the occasion when their teams count on them and the pressure is the highest. The recipe also calls for secondary goal scoring that can pick up the slack when the primary goal scorer isn’t there and elite goaltending that can rise to the level of their opponents and make the season-defining save when they eventually have to. National champions also often get lucky along their path – a ball unintentionally rising instead of falling or a lucky bounce off a defender. However, they also have to make their own luck.
Colorado faces a challenging path, but the team has the components typical of a national contender. Whether they can deliver in the most critical moments remains to be seen. With all the necessary pieces in place, their ability to execute will determine how far they advance. Only time will tell.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Jake Chau at jake.chau@colorado.edu.
