Colorado spoils Kansas' senior night with 2-1 victory

Colorado Buffaloes midfielder Reagan Kotschau pushes upfield on Thursday against the Kansas Jayhawks. (Photo by CUBuffsSoccer/X)

The No. 11 Colorado Buffaloes (14-2-3, 9-1-2 Big 12) ended their 2025 regular season with a 2-1 win against the unranked Kansas Jayhawks (12-5-3, 6-5-1 Big 12) on Thursday. In their last Big 12 game of the regular season, the Buffs were able to break a 1-1 deadlock with a late winner in the 86th minute.

CU struggled to get shots off as they were outshot 22-9, but they made the most of their opportunities, leading in shots on goal 7-5. This makes it the fifth game in a row that CU has been outshot by its opponent. Although CU has been outshot, they are 4-0-1in that stretch of games.

Defense was a strong suit for both teams, with minimal mistakes leading to a tight game at Rock Chalk Park. The Buffs' defenders were responsible for maintaining the early lead that the Buffs held by blocking shots in the box from the Hawks' forwards.

The tight game led to a physical match, with CU recording 10 fouls to KU’s 8. There was also a noticeable frustration between both teams because of the rigid style the game had taken on over the 90 minutes.

Even though it was a hard night for the Buffs' offense, they were able to generate some offensive chances, highlighted by a strong performance from junior midfielder Reagan Kotschau.

Kotschau had a great through ball past three defenders to junior forward Hope Leyba, who potted it for her 19th on the season in the 8th minute. Kotschau played hero for the Buffs in the 86th minute on a free kick just outside the 18 that whistled by the chaos in the box into the bottom left corner.

“Great spot… practice free kicks there all the time…the coaches also said that the keeper was cheating near post, so I just decided to hit it hard, low back post and it worked,” said Kotschau in a postgame interview with ESPN.

The Jayhawks' only goal came from an accurate corner by Caroline Castans right onto the head of sophomore midfielder Jilian Gregorski for her eighth of the season. The corner ball was something that KU was not able to generate or finish chances on for much of the game, as they had eight opportunities and only converted on one.

Now on a six-game undefeated streak, the Buffs will look to carry their momentum with them to the Big 12 tournament in Fort Worth, Texas, on Monday, Nov. 3. 

“It’s super important. I feel like it gives us a lot of momentum… Overall, I think it’s just a huge win and it will really carry us far,” Kotschau said.

The Buffs come into the tournament as the No. 3 seed and will face off against the University of Central Florida at 7 p.m. MT on ESPN+.