Font ResizeWhen the snow finally stopped falling and the grounds crew began the seemingly endless search for green grass, Colorado soccer coach Bill Hempen went out to Prentup Field to check on the situation.
And soon after, Nikki Marshall -- the greatest player in the program's history -- showed up unsolicited with hot chocolate for everyone.
Yes, the Buffs' star is as good a person as she is a player.
"I can't look at her," an emotional Hempen said as he tried to get through his "Senior Day" speech on Friday evening at Prentup Field. "Nik, this is it. We love you."
Marshall executed the script for her final home game at CU to perfection.
No. 17 notched her 18th game-winning goal to lead the Buffs to a much-needed 2-0 victory over Texas Tech in the soggy regular-season finale.
“That's unheard of. That's the equivalent of Kobe Bryant saying, ‘Give me the ball, I want to take the last shot,'” Hempen said. “When it really means something, she has taken the shot and scored the goal. I wish she could score 50, but we'll take the ones that she gets, and that was a pretty meaningful goal for her and for us as a team.”
Not surprisingly, the humble Marshall gave all of the credit on her final goal at Prentup Field to freshman Erin Bricker, who assisted on the decisive play in the 53rd minute.
“That goal was all Erin, really. She played a perfect ball,” Marshall said. “I couldn't have asked for a better ball. She waited until two defenders were on her and then fed it right through. I got lucky on that one because I barely nicked it.”
Bricker added an insurance goal five minutes later on an assist from Kate Russell, who helped the Buffs seize control of the game when the coaching staff moved her from center midfielder to outside midfielder.
“Erin was kind of doing it and nothing was really happening out of it,” Hempen said. “Once we got Kate out there and started feeding her the ball, things changed for us. It made us dangerous.”
Senior goalkeeper Kara Linder only had to make two saves to record her sixth shutout of the season.
“I didn't even think about it, but that's really cool to go out on a good note like that,” Linder said. “I couldn't ask for anything more for a better class to go out with.”
Marshall, Linder, Ally Goodman, Kelly Menachof, Mary White and Tobie Rippy were all honored during a ceremony after the match attended by athletic director Mike Bohn and a number of other administrators.
“That was tough,” Marshall said of the tearful goodbye. “I was strong all day until Bill started talking.”
Marshall's 42 goals and 93 points are CU records. Katie Griffin (32 goals from 2003-06) and Fran Munnelly (84 points from 2002-05) are second on those lists.
If the seniors hope to continue the journey into the NCAA Tournament, the Buffs (9-9-0, 6-4-0) will likely have to win the Big 12 Tournament next week in San Antonio.
Third-seeded CU will begin tournament play on Wednesday against No. 6-seed Texas. The Longhorns beat the Buffs 1-0 in double overtime in Austin on Oct. 25.
“This particular group of seniors have been to two Big 12 finals. So they've been there and they know it's a battle of attrition,” Hempen said. “Putting three games together in five days, if you're fortunate enough to survive and advance, they certainly have been through the ringer on that one.”
The Buffs lost 1-0 to Missouri in last year's final and on penalty kicks against Texas in the 2006 final. Marshall plans to write a different script this time.
“We always reach the final and we choke. That in itself is motivation for me,” Marshall said. “The past three years I've been so close, and I'm so sick of being so close. This year is going to be big for us.”
To be continued.
