Colorado edges Utah Valley in double OT of NCAA Tournament

BOULDER, Colo. — After falling short in the WAC title game, Utah Valley women's soccer was rewarded with an at-large bid in the NCAA Tournament. The reward was heading to Boulder to take on No. 3 seeded Colorado.

Despite an early lead for Utah Valley, Colorado stayed alive with a goal in double overtime to advance to the second round and end the Wolverines season.

Just four minutes in, Utah Valley's aggressiveness paid off with Bailey Peterson finding nylon to take an early 1-0 lead.

Chaos ensued in the 30th minute when Colorado got a one-on-one opportunity, with Leah Wolf coming out of the box to clear a ball and firing it off the face of the attacking Hope Leyba — the Buffaloes' leading scorer who is second in goals scored nationally, just behind Utah Valley's Faith Webber.

The ball then rolled into the goal for an unusual score. The call on the field, however, was a hand ball and did not go to a VAR review despite the replay not showing a hand ball.

As such, the Wolverines were able to hold onto a 1-0 lead despite the heated appeal from Colorado.

In the 39th minute, a bad clearance by Utah Valley landed at the feet of Vivi Zacarias, who shot it past Wolf to tie the match up.

The second half featured less action but set up an exciting overtime.

In the first overtime period, Colorado fired a shot with three seconds but hit the nearside post to keep the Wolverines' upset hopes alive. But the hope dispelled as Colorado's Reagan Kotschau was left unmarked in the box and sent a header past the attacking Wolf to seal the deal on the Wolverines.

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