Colorado scored twice in the second half to pull away for a 2-0 win over UTSA on Sunday night in San Antonio.
The No. 25-ranked Buffs improved to 5-1-2 overall, while UTSA fell to 1-6-0.
Freshman Marty Puketapu scored the opener in the 52nd minute, and Taylor Kornieck added an insurance goal in the 86th, as Colorado bounced back from its first loss of the season, a 3-0 defeat at Texas on Friday.
“Credit to UTSA. I thought they played real well. They had a good game plan going into it, kept the ball, and made us chase it a little bit in the back,” CU coach Danny Sanchez said. “Although we put some good pressure on in the first half, we only had one shot on goal. Second half, we came out, created a couple of really good chances and got a great goal from Marty.”
Puketapu connected on a strike from 30 yards out, sending it to the left side of the net. Her shot was set up by Megan Massey, who earned the second assist of her career.
“I knew I had lots of space and the first thing that came to my mind was, ‘it’s time. Just shoot,'” Puketapu said. “So I just took the shot and it lined up well.”
Scout Watson made the biggest save of the match just five minutes after the goal. A UTSA player got well ahead of CU’s defense on a breakaway, but Watson came off her line and made a sliding save off the shot from the center of the box.
Kornieck helped herself for her score. The sophomore sensation worked her way into the center of the box, faked a shot to the left, faked a shot to the right, and then with the defender off her, pushed the shot from the left side of the box to the far post for the score.
Jalen Tompkins and Watson combined on CU’s seventh shutout in eight matches this season. Each goalkeeper made one save, with Watson earning the win as she came off the bench to start the second half before the winning goal was scored. The Buffs outshot the Roadrunners 16-6 and had an 8-2 advantage on corner kicks.
“The goalkeepers were fantastic,” Sanchez said. “They dealt with what they needed to deal with, their communication was good, their distribution was good. A game like this with not a lot of work, their communication and distribution becomes a lot more important and I thought they both did very well.”
CU will finish the nonconference portion of its schedule Saturday when it plays at the University of Denver at 7 p.m. That match will also mark the conclusion of the Buffs’ run in the Colorado Cup.
