Kansas Opens Euro Play with 8-1 Win Over SpVgg Kaufbeuren
March 18, 2013
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| Team manager Thomas Earle and the KU Soccer staff worked to remove the two inches of snow from the field in Kaufbeuren prior to Monday’s match. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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KAUFBEUREN, Bavaria, Germany – In its first of four international matches as part of its European tour, the Kansas soccer team downed SpVgg Kaufbeuren 8-1 as the Jayhawks played through snowy conditions Monday night. Freshman Ashley Williams notched a hat trick and added an assist with four other Jayhawks entering the scoring column.
“I was really happy with the way our girls responded to the conditions,” said head coach Mark Francis. “They came out and competed really hard and that was great to see considering the weather and the field weren’t ideal. I’m definitely pleased with the performance.”
After snow had been falling in southern Germany for the majority of the day the Jayhawks arrived at the field in Kaufbeuren to find two inches of snow blanketing the turf and their first match of international play in jeopardy. With the help of both teams’ staffs the majority of the snow was removed by gametime and the match went on as scheduled. Fortunately for Kansas, any remaining snow did little to slow the them down as they put on a scoring clinic for the Fourth Division German club.
Sophomore Jamie Fletcher opened the KU scoring with a header off a Williams corner kick in the ninth minute of play. The score was just a preview of the powerful scoring attack the Jayhawks would exhibit throughout the rest of the match.
Eleven minutes later Williams put in the first of her three scores on the night after junior Caroline Kastor assisted her with a short play into the box. Kastor got into the scoring mix just three minutes later when she beat her defender with a long run and score in the 24th minute. Her goal put KU up 3-0 just over halfway through the opening frame.
Near the end of the first half Ali Kimura gave the Jayhawks even more cushion before they went to the locker room. The junior walk-on got a through ball from senior Nicole Chrisopulos and then made a short run to beat the keeper to give her team a 4-0 lead after the first 45 minutes of play.
The second period started off well for Kansas as the home team put in an own goal in the 52nd minute. KU didn’t take its foot off the pedal, earning a penalty kick after freshman Courtney Dickerson was taken down in Kaufbeuren’s box. The foul eventually lead to Williams’ second score of the evening.
Williams capped off her outstanding outing just a minute later when she and Kastor connected for the second time on a short cross into the left side of the box. Williams managed to flick it in and give KU a 7-0 lead.
Kansas’ final goal of the match came in the 81st minute when senior Amy Grow got a left-footed shot in past the German keeper after Jami Vaughn found her at the end of a long run and pass.
Kaufbeuren managed to get on the board late, as Sophia Schneider got a ball past KU’s junior goalkeeper Kaitlyn Stroud in the 88th minute. Despite the score, the Jayhawk defense was nearly impenetrable throughout the night, allowing just four Kaufbeuren shots and three shots on goal.
With one victory already in hand, KU will have a quick turnaround as they travel south Tuesday, March 19 to Innsbruck, Austria. The Jayhawks will have their hands full as they will hit the pitch against Wacker Innsbruck, the second-ranked club in Austria. Kickoff is slated for 8:30 p.m. (2:30 p.m. [CT]). Log on to KUAthletics.com for a complete recap of the match and updates from KU’s European tour and follow on twitter at KU_Soccer.
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