Hope Leyba’s hat trick lifts Colorado past in-state rival Denver
The No. 19-ranked Colorado Buffaloes (6-1-1) earned their third consecutive shutout victory with a 6-0 win over front-range foe, the Denver Pioneers, Friday night at Prentup Field.
The Buffs rolled into the night unbeaten in their last 20 outings at home, and improved to 22-8-1 all-time against Denver.
Senior forward Hope Leyba was the story of the night, recording her third career hat trick to lead the rout.
"I thought we played fantastic," head coach Danny Sanchez said, pointing to the crowd and the Wall of Honor ceremony held at halftime.
Colorado controlled the game from the opening whistle, outshooting the Pioneers 13-0 in the first half alone. Michaela McGowan broke the ice in the 9th minute with a low driven finish into the bottom corner.
Then, Leyba added Colorado's second in the 33rd off a scramble set up by Reagan Kotschau. Berkley Mensik made it 3-0 just before the break off a mistake from the Denver defense.
Leyba took over in the second half, striking again in the 53rd minute off another Kotschau feed.
"I knew she was going to beat her player, and we've been working on the extra pass at practice, so I knew she was going to be up for that," Leyba said of the connection.
Six minutes later, Leyba finished her hat trick on a header from McGowan. Freshman Hannah Healy added a penalty in the 75th, after Kaia Santomarco-King drew the foul, to close out the scoring.
Sanchez credited the team's patience and ball movement for the outburst, saying the Buffs made the extra pass all night. When asked about Leyba's composure in big moments, he pointed to her preparation.
"What you do in training is what you do in the game," he said. "You can't just turn it on."
As for her third hat trick at Colorado, Leyba wasn't fazed.
"It doesn't get old," she said. "Scoring never gets old."
The Buffs hit the road next to open Big 12 play against Iowa State (4-2-2) on Thursday, September 17th, at 5 p.m. MT (ESPN+).
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