No. 7 TCU Suffers First Conference Loss of the Season to Colorado

The Frogs had won 14 straight Big 12 games going into Thursday night's showdown against the Buffaloes.

AJ Hennessey (3) surges downfield as No. 7 TCU looks for a spark against Colorado at Garvey-Rosenthal Soccer Stadium. | TCU Athletics

No. 7 TCU (9-2-0, 3-1-0 Big 12) suffered its first Big 12 loss of the season after the Colorado Buffaloes (9-1-2, 3-0-1 Big 12) took all three points in a 3-1 win at Garvey-Rosenthal Soccer Stadium Thursday night.

The Frogs started the match on the front foot, generating several attacks and peppering the Buffaloes' penalty area with crosses and opportunities. TCU found the breakthrough 16 minutes in when Grace Coppinger picked out Sydney Becerra just past the halfway line. Becerra surged forward before playing a through ball out wide to Emma Yolinsky, who fired a near-post shot past Jordan Nytes in goal.

For Yolinsky, it is her third goal of the season. The redshirt freshman and transfer from Texas A&M has now had two goal involvements in the last two matches. Becerra earns her second assist while Coppinger tallies her first of the season.

Despite a positive start, Colorado found its way back into the match. The Buffaloes equalized in the 35th minute when Jace Holley cleaned up the pieces in the TCU penalty area. Hope Leyba surged into the box before touching onto Holley to put away.

Colorado continued its momentum into the second half when Emerson Layne blasted the Buffaloes into the lead in the 58th minute. Colorado extended their lead to 3-1 after Leyba tallied her 14th goal of the season in the 65th minute.

Despite the 3-1 loss, the Frogs outshot the Buffaloes by a large margin, including 26 shots to nine and 10 shots on target to three. But Nytes’ nine save performance in the net for the Buffaloes made life hard for the Frogs.

It is a disappointing loss for the program, which suffers its first conference loss of the season, and it is to an unranked opponent. The loss brings an end to the Frogs’ Big 12 winning streak of 14 matches. It is just the Frogs’ second loss of the season, both of which have come at home in Fort Worth.

What’s Next?

The Horned Frogs will look to turn the page this weekend when they play host to the Iowa State Cyclones (4-4-2, 1-3-0 Big 12) on Sunday. It will provide a tremendous opportunity to bounce back against a Cyclones team that has lost three straight and is fresh off a 3-0 loss to No. 20 Baylor in Waco. Sunday’s match is scheduled for a 1:00 p.m. kickoff and is available for streaming on ESPN+.