Soccer recap: Rams, Buffs draw 1-1 in season opener

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Aug. 21, 2015

FORT COLLINS, Colo.— The Colorado State women’s soccer team opened up the program’s third season with a 1-1 draw against in-state rival Colorado on Friday evening in front of a program-record crowd of 2,317 at “The Lagoon.” The Rams capitalized on an early scoring opportunity and held off the Buffs’ equalizer until the 82nd minute, before playing two scoreless overtime periods to kick off the 2015 season and the annual Colorado Cup.

The Rams were sharp from the outset of the match and capitalized early in the contest when senior midfielder Erika Bratschun scored on a beautiful shot to the lower-left corner of the goal that just kissed off the post before finding the back of the net. Bratschun’s goal came on an assist from senior forward Gianna Bertana.  

The Rams’ played strong defense throughout the match, and only relented the game-tying goal from CU’s Brie Hooks in the 82nd minute after the shot ricocheted off a Rams’ defender in a crowd in front of CSU’s net.

Colorado State’s junior goal keeper Jesse McGinley posted eight saves in net, matching her career-high total set last season at Utah State.

IN THEIR WORDS…
“I credit the kids. You could see they were really tired. They were doing a lot of defending and they were playing for each other, and playing really hard. As a coach, that’s really all that you can expect.” --CSU head coach Bill Hempen

“It’s definitely a step forward. It took a lot of people to put everything into this game. I think we’ve come a long way from last season, and I’m so excited to see where this takes us this year.” --CSU junior goalkeeper Jesse McGinley

“I got set up perfectly. It wasn’t my work, it was everyone else’s, and I just happened to finish on it. It was definitely rewarding. I think that as a hard-working team, we deserved it.” --CSU senior midfielder Erika Bratschun

STAT OF THE GAME…
Junior goal keeper Jesse McGinley tied her career high with eight saves in Friday’s 1-1 draw against Colorado. McGinley had previously recorded eight saves in the Rams’ match at Utah State (L, 1-0) on Oct. 5, 2014. The eight saves by McGinley is also one shy of the program record set by Maggie Sherman twice – vs. SIU-Edwardsville and at UNLV – in the Rams’ inaugural 2013 campaign.

NOTES…
• Senior midfielder Erika Bratschun’s goal in the 8th minute was her first of the season, the third of her CSU career, and her first since 2013, when she netted a pair of scores for the Rams.
• Senior Gianna Bertana's assist marked the 10th point of her Colorado State career, extending her program-record total into double digits.
• Sophomore forward Janelle Stone recorded four shots vs. the Buffs, marking a career-high total for the second-year player, and tying for fourth in the Rams’ record book.
• The Rams held a 1-0 advantage for more than 74 minutes, despite Colorado posting a 24-8 shot advantage throughout the match, making the effort in net from McGinley even more impressive for Colorado State.
• Four Rams – senior goalkeeper Jesse McGinley, senior forward Gianna Bertana, senior defender Megan Speed and junior midfielder Amy Eckert - played all 110 minutes of Friday’s draw vs. CU.
• Friday’s crowd of 2,317 marked the largest in program history for any game (home or away). The previous high for a game in Fort Collins was listed as 1,000 against Grand Canyon in 2013 when the Rams played at Fort Collins Soccer Complex, and the largest overall prior to Friday was 1,584 in the team’s second game of that season, a 6-0 loss at No. 24-ranked Texas Tech.

NEXT UP:
Colorado State returns to the pitch Sunday afternoon in a neutral-site showdown against in-state rival Denver at Prentup Field in Boulder, Colo. The match will mark the Rams’ second of the 2015 Colorado Cup, an annual challenge played among the state’s six NCAA Division programs. The match is slated to begin at 1:15 p.m. MT.

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