Colorado beat Cal State Fullerton 3-2 on a night Danny Sanchez called a good learning experience.
BOULDER — No. 17 Colorado beat Cal State Fullerton 3-2 on Thursday at Prentup Field for its first 3-0 start since 2022 and its 18th consecutive home match without a loss. The Buffs have scored 11 goals in three games.
Michaela McGowan put them ahead at 7:55, her third goal in three matches. The lead lasted 21 seconds. Cassie Villanueva converted a penalty at 8:16, and the game stayed level until Ruby Hayward scored in the 28th minute off a pass from Emma Thielbahr, with Hope Leyba credited on the second assist. Reagan Kotschau made it 3-1 just before the hour, finishing a Berkley Mensik ball at 52:59 for the winner.
Fullerton didn’t fold. The Titans got a goal back through Mia LaRosa at 79:58 and spent the last 10 minutes chasing an equalizer that never came. Colorado outshot them 22-9 but put only eight on target, and Titans goalkeeper Allison Craycroft made five saves. Brooke Goerish, who took over in the Colorado goal at halftime, made three, one of which Sanchez went out of his way to mention. “Brooke made a huge save in the second half, which at the time maybe didn’t seem so big, but obviously at the end was big,” he said.
Sanchez wasn’t satisfied with much else. “Like I told the team after the game, I think it’s a good learning experience for us,” he said. “We tried to find ways to not get a result tonight, but if you don’t ever put yourself in that situation, you don’t learn from it.” He said the play itself was fine and the game management wasn’t. “How we managed the game was a little disappointing, but like I told the team, at the end of the day, a win over a team that won 14 games last year, we’re going to take it every night.”
Colorado leaves the state for the first time this season next week, playing at Western Michigan on Aug. 27 and at Michigan State on Aug. 30.
