University of Colorado sophomore Shyra James scored two goals, including the walk-off overtime winner to cap off a 3-2 victory over Oregon State at Prentup Field on Sunday’s senior day.
Colorado (7-6-3, 2-3-3 Pac-12) needed to go to overtime for the fourth consecutive match to earn its first win in October.
The Buffs opened the scoring with a Shanade Hopcroft blast in the first half, before needing two goals from James to prevail two minutes into the extra frame and send CU’s four departing seniors home with a smile.
“They [the seniors] mean a lot to me,” James said. “A lot of them are really big leaders to a lot of people, especially me. I look up a lot to all of them. Giving them a win is like a big gift that I could give them, especially when it’s their last home game with us.”
The Buffaloes were the better team outside of a four-minute span in the second half. CU outshot Oregon State 19-10 on the day and held an 11-5 advantage in the second half. Colorado attempted seven corner kicks, while not allowing a corner chance to OSU.
“It was a huge win for us,” head coach Danny Sanchez explained. “I thought we played really well today, but you expect that on Senior Day. I thought we had the run of play for the most part. I was a little disappointed to kind of let them back in the game, but I was pleased with the response.”
Oregon State (11-5-0, 3-5-0 Pac-12) got both its goals off the foot of McKenna Martinez. She led OSU with six shots in the contest.
The win for Colorado keeps the Buffs’ NCAA Tournament hopes within reach. CU has three matches remaining in the 2021 season and began the weekend with a 58 RPI.
CU closes out the regular season with three road matches. The team heads off to Arizona next week to battle the Sun Devils (Thursday) and the Wildcats (Sunday).
