Kotschau's golden goal sends Buffs to second round of NCAA Tournament

Colorado Buffaloes midfielder Raegan Kotschau soared in for a goal that will live in infamy, a winner that put her team over Utah Valley in the NCAA Tournament. (Photo by Aspen Doust/Sko Buffs Sports)

The Colorado Buffaloes (16-3-3, 8-1-2 Big 12) survived an overtime thriller against the Utah Valley Wolverines (14-4-3, 9-0-1 WAC) to advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. It was ultimately midfielder Reagan Kotschau’s 106th-minute golden goal that secured the Buffs the 2-1 victory and a ticket to the next round.

Five minutes into the match, UVU’s Bailey Peterson tapped the ball into the wide-open net to give her team the early lead after a well-placed pass across the face of the goal from Western Athletic Conference’s Offensive Player of the Year Ruby Hladek.

In the early minutes of the game, the Wolverines controlled the pace. Coming into the night, the Utah Valley offensive was tied for second in the nation in goals and assists.

In the 30th minute, it seemed like Big 12 Forward of the Year Hope Leyba had leveled the game, after a goalie clearance shot off her face and rolled into the net, but the goal was disallowed after a phantom handball was called. Despite all 2000 CU fans and Buffs players pleading with the refs for a VAR review, it never came, and UVU stayed in front.

Nine minutes later, freshman midfielder Vivi Zacarias buried the ball into the bottom left bin to level the game.

Heading into halftime, the teams were knotted at one, and although the Buffs felt like they

should have been up one, it was the Wolverines who looked like the better side through the first 45 minutes.

An unlikely source, Colorado Buffaloes midfielder Vivi Zacarias, knotted the Utah Valley contest at one late in the first half. (Aspen Doust/Sko Buffs Sports)

At the beginning of the second half, it was clear that Colorado was in search of the winning goal. CU’s wingers constantly provided dangerous crosses near the penalty area, but none of them ended in the back of the net.

Both teams looked exhausted heading into the dying minutes of regulation, and although each team had its fair share of opportunities to take the lead, the winning goal didn’t come within 90 minutes.

Since it wasn’t enough to separate the teams, the match headed to overtime. Overtime consisted of two 10-minute periods, but the infamous golden goal rule was implemented. If a team scored within the overtime period, the game would be over. If neither team scored, then the game would be decided with penalties.

Colorado’s season nearly ended in the first period of overtime, but defender Faith Leyba made a goal-line clearance to keep the match going.

“What a warrior… She saved the season,” Buffs head coach Danny Sanchez said after the game.

In the final ten seconds of the first period, Zacarias controlled a bouncing ball and blasted the shot towards the goal, but was denied by the woodwork.

Colorado remained on the offensive, and six minutes into the second overtime period, midfielder Ava Priest delivered a ball near the penalty area that was flicked into the net by Kotschau. With the goal, the game was over, and CU advanced to the second round of the tournament.

“It was really good that we grinded out that win,” Kotschau said following the win. “We just really wanted that goal, and we didn’t want to go into PKs… It gave us that drive to score the goal.”

The Buffs will face No. 6 Xavier at a neutral location next weekend.