Reagan Kotschau can’t say her return to Colorado worked out perfectly, because in a perfect world Kotschau and her Buffaloes teammates would still be playing.
But the season eventually ends for all but one team, and time finally caught up with the Colorado women’s soccer team.
The Buffaloes’ historic season ended in the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16, as CU suffered a 2-1 defeat at Michigan State on Sunday. It was the third Sweet 16 berth in program history, but the Buffs’ season ends one step shy of their first Elite Eight berth.
CU’s season ends having compiled team records for wins (17-4-3), goals (59), assists (66) and points (184). All three of the previous records for goals, assists and points were held by the 2018 team.
Along the way, Hope Leyba set the season goal-scoring record with 22, and Jordan Nytes collected her third Big 12 Conference Goalkeeper of the Year award while breaking CU’s career shutout record with 26.
“It was definitely an ideal situation, transferring back and making it this far in the tournament,” said Kotschau, a former Broomfield High standout who played her first two collegiate seasons at Washington State. “I would’ve loved to get to the Elite Eight and see how far we could’ve gone after that. I would say it’s kind of a bittersweet ending. I’m really proud of this team, and we made a super-far run in the tournament. It’s just disappointing how it ended.”
Kotschau was the hero of CU’s first-round win against Utah Valley, scoring on a header off a long service pass from Ava Priest, and the Buffs scored the second-most goals in team history in an NCAA Tournament game in a 4-1 win against Xavier in the second round.
The Buffs, though, were put on their heels out of the gate, as some sharp passes from Michigan State set up a clear chance that Bella Najera converted to give the Spartans a 1-0 lead just 47 seconds into the match.
CU settled in and drew even in the 33rd minute, when a Priest corner kick led to a left-footed liner from Faith Leyba. The tally originally was credited to Lexi Meyer, who appeared as if she might have deflected Leyba’s strike, but instead Leyba was credited with her career-high fourth goal of the season.
The 1-1 draw held through halftime, but Najera and the Spartans again struck early in the half. Michigan State leading scorer Kennedy Bell drew a foul against CU defender Jordan Whiteaker just inside the penalty box. Najera converted the ensuing penalty kick, giving the Spartans a 2-1 lead that held the rest of the way.
Michigan State, which reached the Elite Eight for the first time, outshot the Buffs 18-12, with a 9-8 advantage in shots on goal.
“I’m really proud of how they responded after giving up that early goal,” CU head coach Danny Sanchez said. “We didn’t hang our heads. We changed things up and we started playing well. A deserved goal to get to 1-1 at halftime. The second half was a match that could’ve gone either way. Unfortunately it didn’t fall for us today, but it doesn’t take away from the season.
“As I told the team after the match, the further you go, the more it hurts. And that’s OK. There’s 350 teams in the country that would love to have the opportunity to play in this match. It didn’t go our way today, but we’re excited for the future of Buffs soccer.”
(2) Michigan State Spartans 2, (3) CU Buffs women’s soccer 1
Colorado 1 0 — 1
Michigan State 1 1 — 2
Goals — Michigan State: Najera (Beerworth), 1st minute; Najera (PK), 56th minute. Colorado: F. Leyba (Priest), 33rd minute.
Goalies (Min.-goals allowed-saves) — Colorado: Nytes (90-2-7). Michigan State: Henning (90-1-7).