The Rams are headed to the land of corn for their two last non-conference matches.
Colorado State’s women’s soccer team (2-4-1) will be in Omaha, Nebraska this weekend to face off against Nebraska-Omaha (2-3-2) and Creighton (5-3).
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Heading into this weekend, CSU is riding high from a 3-1 win over Northern Colorado, its highest scoring output of the year.
The win snapped a four-game losing streak for the Rams, and marked the first time the Rams had scored multiple goals in a match this season. The win also put Colorado State in a tie for first place in the Colorado Cup standing, though Colorado finished first in goal differential. Despite the second place finish, coach Bill Hempen is pleased with the team’s performance in the cup. The Rams drew with the Buffs 1-1, and defeated Denver University 1-0 in addition to the recent 3-1 win over UNC.
“It just says that we are a legitimate player in the state,” Hempen said. “You’ve got Colorado College that’s been around forever, Colorado and Air Force have been around awhile. It’s good for us to be able to compete right away with those kind of programs.”
Junior Taylor Nelson scored two goals for CSU in the 3-1 win over UNC to help secure Colorado State a spot amongst the state’s elite women’s soccer programs. They were also the first two goals of her career.
Conference play is just around the corner for the Rams, but first up is another road trip as they head to Omaha, Nebraska for a pair of games. Nelson and the Rams will look to keep the momentum going in the matches against UNO and Creighton so that they can head into Mountain West play with all pistons running.
“We definitely want to set the tone for conference play this coming weekend,” Nelson said. “We really want to keep the consistency going off this last game.”
With the anticipation of conference play looming, Colorado State has focused its attention on the task at hand.
“We are not at a point where we can look too far ahead to the next opponent,” Hempen said. “You never know what’s going to happen. I mean we beat a Northern Colorado team 3-1, they go to Wyoming and beat one of our conference teams 3-1 that beat us 4-0 last year, so you never know what might happen.”
The Rams have had their fair share of ups and downs on the year, but it seems that they are finding their groove at just the right time. CSU has yet to solidify a consistent rotation of players, but with the midway point of the season approaching, its key players are beginning to stand out a bit more with each game.
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“We are getting closer and closer every game with our team sorting out those core players that are gonna do the business for us this year,” Hempen said.
The Rams will be in Omaha this weekend to take on Nebraska-Omaha Friday at 6 p.m. before facing Creighton Sunday at 11 a.m. The Nebraska-Omaha game can be watched online.
Collegian Sports Reporter Chad Deutschman can be reached by email at sports@collegian.com and on Twitter @ChadDeutschman.
