The notably competitive Pac-12 conference previewed what will likely be a heated and intense soccer season on Friday in Pullman.

The WSU Cougars and the University of Colorado Buffaloes came face-to-face on the Lower Soccer Field Friday for both teams’ first conference game of the season. Though the Cougars dominated both possession and shots, the Buffalos barely edged out WSU in the final minutes of the game sealing a 1-0 win.

Colorado freshman midfielder Taylor Kornieck scored for the Buffaloes in the 89th minute of play, leaving little to no time for the Cougars to respond. Sophomore midfielder Sarah Kinzner one-touched the ball to the top of the box where Kornieck connected, sending it low past WSU redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Ella Dederick.

WSU put pressure on Colorado defense early on, taking three shots by the 13th minute of play. The Cougars outshot Colorado 23-8, but were unable to convert any of those into goals. Colorado redshirt freshman goalkeeper Jalen Tompkins was continuously challenged by WSU offense, saving seven of the shots taken.

Eight WSU players had shots for the game, including freshman forward Morgan Weaver who led the team with seven. Senior forward Kaitlyn Johnson was not shy about her desire to score either, taking four shots and two shots on goal.

Head Coach Todd Shulenberger chalked up the struggle to score to lack of patience in the box.

“We had opportunities to win the game, and we did not,” Shulenberger said. “They’re a very good team, they do what they do well and we do what we do well. I don’t really know what happened there at the end but we’ll call it as that it was a good soccer game by both teams.”

WSU demanded most of the possession throughout the game, keeping the ball on Colorado’s end of the field.

“Our possession in general was really good, we just need to finish our chances,” WSU junior defender Kelsee Crenshaw said.

Crenshaw and senior midfielder Kailiana Johnson both received yellow cards near the end of the game as tensions rose between the two teams.

The loss brought the Cougars overall record to 5-3-1, and 0-1-0 in the conference. The Buffaloes moved up to 7-3-0 and 1-0-0.

The Cougars will hit the road once more when they take on Stanford in California this Thursday.