No. 3 West Virginia Tops Kansas, 6-0
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Two goals in the opening 20 minutes as well as a brace from West Virginia senior Amanda Hill lifted the third-ranked Mountaineers to a 6-0 win over the Kansas Jayhawks Friday night inside Dick Dlesk Stadium.
The loss dropped the Jayhawks to 8-6-1 in 2015 and 3-2-0 in Big 12 play. West Virginia extended its unbeaten streak to 13 games and moved to 13-1-1 in its season with a 4-0-1 clip in conference.
“West Virginia is a very good team, but to be honest, I thought we made it very easy on them tonight,” said head coach Mark Francis. “We created some chances tonight but we have to be better. We need to move past this one though. We still have a lot to play for. We have three big games left so we need to regroup.”
In a night where seemingly nothing went the Jayhawks’ way, it was a less than ideal start for KU, who found themselves facing an early deficit against one of the most potent offenses in the nation. West Virginia got on the board less than four minutes into the match when a shot from senior forward Kailey Utley was deflected to the back of the KU net by a Jayhawk defender. The Utley goal brought the Kansas opponent scoreless streak to an end at 307 minutes, which is the 10th longest streak in program history.
The Mountaineers built upon their lead less than 15 minutes later. Junior Ashley Lawrence beat the Kansas defense to a long through ball to the center of the Jayhawk penalty area. Lawrence used a light toe poke to redirect it passed KU goalkeeper Maddie Dobyns for West Virginia’s second goal of the night. The score marked just the fourth time Kansas has allowed multiple goals this season.
The Jayhawk managed to create a handful of chances themselves over the opening 45 minutes. Liana Salazar found Ashley Williams open on the right side of the WVU penalty area just minutes prior to the Mountaineers’ second goal. Williams was faced with a difficult angle but got a shot off that rolled wide of the far post.
The home team didn’t take its foot off the gas pedal in the second frame, scoring four more goals, two of which came off of Hill’s boot following corner kicks in the 60th and 70th minutes, respectively.
West Virginia’s fifth goal illustrated the Jayhawks’ bad luck throughout the match perfectly. In the 75th minute the Jayhawks earned a corner kick which they managed to tally two shots on the WVU frame. Sophomore Kayla Morrison headed the corner service but a Mountaineer defender was there to deflect the try away. Ashley Pankey then had a try that hit the right post. Before Kansas could react to their two near misses, West Virginia was already down the field on a counter attack, which turned into the Mountaineers fifth goal. Kelsie Maloney kicked in her first goal of the season from 25 yards out 20 seconds later.
Three minutes prior to the end of the match, West Virginia capped off its offensive onslaught with its sixth goal of the night. Senior Maggie Bedillion sent a shot in the KU keeper Lauren Breshears managed to get a hand on, however the strike was strong enough to break the plane of the goal line and go in for its final score of the match.
The full-time whistle sounded three minutes later and signaled the Jayhawks worst conference loss since they fell to Missouri, also 6-0, in Columbia on Oct. 31, 2008.
The Jayhawks were outshot in the match 23-10 and managed to get just three shots on goal, their lowest total of the season. Freshman Parker Roberts led her team with three shots on the night.
The Jayhawks will once again hit the road next weekend for their final away matches of the Big 12 slate. KU will kick off the weekend with a match against the Texas Tech Red Raiders on Oct. 23 at 7 p.m., in Lubbock. Two days later the Jayhawks will meet up with the Oklahoma State Cowgirls in Stillwater. Kickoff from the Cowgirl Soccer Complex is slated for 1 p.m.
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