Colorado soccer coach Bill Hempen's ideal roster would have 18 players that stay healthy all the time.

Since he knows that's wishful thinking, the coach prefers not to put a limit on how many players he'll carry each year.

As he puts it, "I'll have 50 kids if it's the right 50."

He's hoping the current 31 are the right 31.

The Buffs' roster hit that number this fall after steadily climbing from 18 just three seasons ago. The last two freshman classes have included 14 players, with eight sophomores remaining this year from last year's class.

Thirty-one is the most players Hempen's Buffs have had since his second season on the job in 2002 when they had 32 in an attempt to immediately bolster a shallow talent pool in the program. Many of those players washed out by the next fall, knocking the number back down to 19.

The recent increase is partly a function of more players wanting to play for Hempen as the Buffs improve and partly a function of Hempen trying to keep adding more and more talent as the team strives to reach the next level.

"As we get better, more and more kids are going to be interested," Hempen said Wednesday. "I don't want to turn kids away because you never know where the best kids are going to come from."

The increase in numbers, however, has come with a mixture of benefits and challenges.

The obvious hardship is managing the emotions of some of the players as some are certain to see no playing time. Division I soccer teams are allowed 14 full scholarships that may be broken up, and the Buffs have 22 players on some form of aid. Coincidentally, 22 have played in the first four games this season. But that number is sure to shrink as the season wears on and some players emerge over others.

Hempen said the other disadvantage is that only 18 players get to go on road trips like the one this weekend to Charlottesville, Va., where the No. 18 Buffs (2-0-2) will face No. 10 Virginia and New Mexico.

Junior midfielder Nikki Keller said the team just found out Wednesday who would travel.

"The competition is way higher," Keller said. "People step it up every day of practice and positions change. It definitely pushes everybody."

Which of course is one of the advantages.

Despite battling injuries, senior Allison Kidd has started matches in each of her seasons at CU. But though she said she was never scared of her status on the team diminishing, the increased numbers do help combat complacency.

"It's healthy for the team," she said. "It keeps the starters on their toes and gives the younger girls something to work for."

Having 31 players also means that, even with injuries, the Buffs can go 11 on 11 in practice without equipment managers and trainers having to fill scout team spots. The Buffs have gone through the past two springs with just 12 or 13 healthy players.

Hempen pointed to his days as a men's assistant at Duke when the Blue Devils had "one of the best reserve teams in the country" as to why that's such a luxury.

"They took pride in stretching the starters to the limit every day in training, and that's what you strive for," Hempen said.

"The reward is limited," the coach said of the reserves. "But you want to make them understand that they are a viable part of this program."

Big opportunities

Much like college football, basketball and most other sports, Hempen said soccer has its traditional powers who have a little more leeway among pollsters when they lose.

The Buffs, he said, have yet to reach that status.

But CU gets its first chance of the season to state its case when the Buffs face Virginia on Friday. Next week, top-ranked Stanford comes to Boulder.

"We're still trying to prove ourselves," Hempen said. "So you go into these games knowing that here's another chance to prove that Colorado is a program to be reckoned with."

On tap

The CU men's golf team plays Friday and Saturday at the New Mexico Tucker Invitational. ... The cross country team will run at the CSU Invitational in Fort Collins on Sunday. ... The women's golf team is back in action Monday and Tuesday at the Ron Moore Denver Invitational. ... The volleyball team will host Baylor on Sept. 19 in its first home Big 12 match of the season.