The Colorado Buffaloes (2-1) defeated the Wyoming Cowgirls (1-1-1) in a 5-1 home contest Thursday night.
In a game that the Buffs controlled for the majority of the match, the story of the night was fifth-year forward Shyra James breaking the scoring record.
The first half was promising yet frustrating for Colorado. The black and gold spent most of the half in control and on the attack, and despite an early goal from sophomore forward Hope Leyba, the team had not taken advantage of all of their scoring opportunities. Following its disappointing collapse versus the nationally ranked Tarheels last Sunday, the Buffs needed to dominate the second half.
And that they did.
At the 58-minute mark, Colorado led 1-0. A Wyoming defender was called for a hand-ball violation in the box and the Buffaloes were given a penalty kick, opting to give James, who was just one short of the record, a shot at history.
Expectedly, for a player of her caliber, she netted it and was officially tied as the all-time leader in goals scored, at 42.
James likely would’ve been content with just tying the record on Thursday night, as post-game she expressed her disappointment in not breaking it when her family was in town last weekend. However, she very quickly went past just tying the record.
Just six minutes later, the Buffs were once again on attack. After several shots that were saved and deflected, James pounced on a rebound to kick a point-blank laser into the back of the net to break the record. Prentup Field erupted as the PA announcer exclaimed that James had broken the record previously held by Nikki Marshall.
Marshall, who previously coached James as an assistant in 2022, was in attendance for this game.
“To beat (Marshall’s) record, and me knowing her in that aspect, is exciting as well,” James said after the game. “She texted me good luck. It was exciting to beat the record in front of her, and how I did today.”
Despite breaking the record, James was still not finished putting points on the board.
After a centering pass from the corner, James slotted in a header at the 69-minute mark to cap off the record-breaking hat trick. The goals kept coming and Colorado was up to a 4-0 lead, with three of those goals coming in 11 minutes from the same player.
“I didn’t even know it was (four goals) in 11 minutes,” James said. “It was just coming to me, so it didn’t feel like 11 minutes of time.”
Just a few short minutes later, both teams cleared their benches to get some playing time for their reserves. This did not mark the slow end of a blowout win, however, as Wyoming kept their effort high and managed a goal over substitute goalkeeper Jamie Campbell to put the Cowgirls on the board and make it 4-1 in the 82nd minute.
Despite that, the Buffs did not just let the game end, as junior midfielder Lola Stanley fired a deep shot from far outside right over the top of Wyoming’s goalkeeper to make it 5-1, where the score would rest for the night.
“You know, you can go a couple ways after (the last-minute loss to North Carolina),” head coach Danny Sanchez said after the game. “And we went, ‘We’re going to get really good after.’”
The Buffs look to follow up their dominant win at home with a consecutive home win versus the Michigan Wolverines on Sunday, Aug. 25 at noon MT. You can watch the game in person at Prentup Field or through ESPN+.
Cover photo by Remi Krupinski/Sko Buffs Sports
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