Lightning pushed kickoff to 8:33 p.m. The sophomore defender from Cologne settled it in the 77th minute.
BOULDER — Lilian Zamorano scored the first goal of her college career in the 77th minute Wednesday night, and Colorado held on to beat Colorado State 2-1 at Prentup Field in a season opener that didn’t start until 8:33 p.m.
Lightning in the area kept both teams off the field for roughly 90 minutes past the scheduled 7 p.m. kickoff, and rain fell through most of what followed. A crowd of 883 waited it out. “I’m glad we got the match in, and I really appreciate the fans sticking it out an hour-and-a-half wait,” CU coach Danny Sanchez said. He liked the first half-hour and not much of what came after it. “First games are always like this. I can’t remember a first game that wasn’t a bit of a fistfight.”
Reagan Kotschau opened the scoring in the 16th minute, finishing a combination from Hope Leyba and freshman Sloane Phillips. The senior midfielder put up a career-high 20 points last season, her first in Boulder after transferring from Washington State, and scored the game-winner against Utah Valley in the NCAA Tournament first round. She grew up in Thornton and played at Broomfield High School. Her father, Richard, spent 10 years in MLS with five clubs, among them the Colorado Rapids, and appeared for the U.S. men’s national team.
Colorado State answered in the 67th minute through Ava Wallhead, off an assist from Kaja Dionne, in the first meeting between the schools since a scoreless draw in August 2018. The goal came against Brooke Goerish, a freshman playing her first college match after Jamie Campbell went the first half. “Nothing Brooke can do on that goal,” Sanchez said. Michaela McGowan, who led the Rams in goals last season and transferred to Boulder in May, played the night in black and gold and didn’t score.
Zamorano’s winner came nine minutes later. A sophomore defender from Cologne, Germany, she arrived last year from VfL Wolfsburg II in Germany’s second division and didn’t record a goal as a freshman. Colorado outshot the Rams 21-10 and took eight corners to two. Sanchez said the goalkeeping job is still open among Goerish, Campbell and Texas Tech transfer Madeline Mueller: “This is a three-woman competition. At some point, does someone step ahead? Maybe, maybe not, we’ll see. But we’re going to play our best players.” Colorado hosts Army at noon Sunday.
