Kansas Soccer Hosts Missouri State and Arkansas this Week

Aug. 30, 2005

Lawrence, Kan. –

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The University of Kansas soccer team will host Missouri State on Wednesday, Aug. 31 and Arkansas on Friday, Sept. 2. Both matches will start at 5 p.m. at the Jayhawk Soccer Complex. KU (0-1-1) will be looking for its first victory of the year against two teams that opened their season a combined 3-1 last weekend.

• Southwest Missouri State (SMS) officially became Missouri State on Sunday, Aug. 28.
• Kansas is 14-5-0 all-time against the Missouri Valley Conference, including a 3-1 victory over Creighton in the first round of the NCAA Tournament last year. The Jayhawks also hold an 8-5-1 mark against the SEC.
• Senior Caroline Smith scored at least one goal in all four season opening matches she played in during her career.
• In the season opener, sophomore Colleen Quinn became the first Kansas goalkeeper other than Meghan Miller to start in goal since Aug. 31, 2001. Sarah Gonzalez started and played the first half against North Texas in the 2001 season opener. Miller started 87-consecutive matches during her four year career (2001-2004).
• Caroline Smith’s next assist will place her in a tie for second all-time at KU with 16.

ABOUT MISSOURI STATE
The Bears enter the mid-week match after two dominating performances against Arkansas State and Arkansas-Little Rock to open up their season. MSU out-shot its opponent, 44-11, in posting 4-0 and 2-1 victories.
Freshman Allison Osmundson was named the MVC Defensive Player of the Week. The defender led a defense that allowed just eight shots on goal as she also chipped in two goals. In its first two matches, MSU started freshman Jackie Jasper in goal. Former Kansas volunteer assistant coach, Lane Davis, is in his first season as an assistant coach for the Bears.

ABOUT ARKANSAS
After a season opening 5-1 victory over Tulsa, the Lady Razorbacks were shutout, 3-0, at Oklahoma to even their record to 1-1-0. Arkansas was picked sixth in the Western Division in the SEC preseason coaches poll.
Sophomore Alison Harter scored two goals and had an assist against the Golden Hurricane. Senior Carrie Dillsaver started between the posts for both of Arkansas first two matches. Dillsaver recorded a four-save shutout against Tulsa.

THE POLLS
Two of the four NCAA women’s soccer polls released new polls on Monday. The Jayhawks dropped out of the Soccer America poll and received votes in the Soccer Buzz poll. It marks the first time in 17-weeks KU was not ranked in the Soccer Buzz poll. Soccer Times was unavailable at press time and the first regular season poll from the NSCAA will begin on Sept. 6.

KU OPENS SEASON WITH A TIE AND A LOSS
Heavy rains in the Lawrence area forced the Jayhawks to move their opening weekend to Hummer Sports Park in Topeka, Kan. Caroline Smith’s goal in the second half allowed KU to tie Michigan in the season opener. Despite out-shooting the Wolverines, 36-10, Smith’s goal was the lone ball to get behind MU’s goalkeeper Megan Tuura.
KU then faced 25th-ranked Wisconsin on Sunday. The back-and-forth match in front of 1,273 fans went into overtime where the Badgers record the victory on a Kansas own goal. Smith and Nikki Alvarez notched goals for the Jayhawks.

FRESH FACES
Plenty of preseason buzz around the KU soccer program has been about the performance of the freshmen class that consists of Jessica Bush, Missy Geha, Kristin Graves, Julie Hanley, Jenny Murtaugh and Sara Rogers. Bush, Geha and Murtaugh have started KU’s first two matches with Graves and Rogers also see action. Rogers scored in KU’s exhibition match against Drake.

HEAD COACH Mark Francis
The winningest soccer coach in KU history, Mark Francis returns for his seventh season as the Jayhawks head coach. Francis owns a 108-72-8 (.596) career record and an ever-improving 75-47-7 (.609) mark at KU. In just six seasons on the job, Francis has four times as many wins as any soccer coach in KU history.
Francis was honored with the 2004 Big 12 Coach of the Year award as well as the Central Region Coach of the Year. He won his 100th career match with a win over Texas Tech on October 1, 2004.
In 2004, the Jayhawks compiled a program-best record of 18-5 on their way to winning KU’s first Big 12 Championship. It was KU’s first women’s Big 12 Championship since the basketball team won the league title in 1997.