Texas huddle before the Colorado game.

FORT COLLINS, CO -- The Longhorns took a perfect 5-0 record on the road to face a couple of top ten ranked teams in Colorado for their annual spring break travel tour.

The weekend began with a matchup against the University of Colorado Buffaloes in a reprise of a game decided in sudden death overtime last season in Dallas. This time, things began poorly for the Horns, as Colorado scored the first three goals. Billy Forrest scored a key goal to halt the Buffs' momentum and pull the Horns back within two. Texas remained close, though CU took a 4-2 lead into halftime.

After a frightening moment when a Colorado midfielder was knocked out by a solid hit, the Buffaloes took advantage of several failed Texas clears and transition defense lapses to go on a tear and eventually push their lead to 10-4. From there, it was too little, too late as the Longhorns finally got their offense functioning and managed to tack on two goals down the stretch. Evans Swann and Charlie Fraser both finished with two goals and Alex Kroviak added the sixth. Goalie Towers Wilen made 15 saves, including several point-blank stops to give his team life in both halves.

Senior William Forrest during transition.

Coach Noah Fink had more than a few suggestions for ways his team could reform their play and turn the road trip around. "I'm not questioning our heart right now. We played hard the whole game, even when we were down," Fink said, "What I am questioning is our execution." The coach pointed to a paltry 66% clearing percentage and two key turnovers that lead to fast break goals as costly mistakes in a game in which Texas was simply burdened by fundamental errors.

After a disappointing loss Saturday evening, the Longhorns took a few days to regroup, bond, and play a friendly against a local men’s club team before taking on the No. 2 Colorado State Rams Tuesday afternoon. Things started exceptionally for Texas, with efficient clears and first quarter goals from Tyler Nix and Luke Wade to initially put the Horns up 2-0. By the end of the opening quarter, though, the Rams had knotted up the score and went on to hold Texas scoreless for the remainder of the half, while adding two more goals of their own, gaining a 4-2 advantage at the intermission.

Senior Maxwell Atherton avoiding the CSU ride.

Second half action brought utter dominance from Colorado State, and things ended ugly with the Horns on the losing side of a 13-3 match. Doug Boyer had the only other Texas score. The one bright spot was a multitude of quality saves from Wilen, who finished with 16 total in the losing effort.

Fink commented on the rough loss, "We know we can play with the best teams in the country. We proved that in the first quarter. Our lack of midfield production is killing us, although none of our units played well at all in the second half today." The Longhorns will look to bounce back in three games this week against Chico State and Minnesota at home and Rice at a neutral location.

by Aaron Motsinger

Click Here for Photos from the Colorado Game

Click Here for Photos from the Colorado Men's Game

Click Here for Photos from the Colorado State Game

Click Here for Photos from the Colorado State Game (Album 2)