Jayhawks Open Home Slate with Long Beach State, Rhode Island

Sept. 2, 2009

LAWRENCE, Kan. –

Complete Release in PDF Format Get Acrobat Reader

Get Tickets

Ellefson Interview

Following a pair of wins at the Lady Vol Invite, the Kansas soccer team returns to Lawrence to host its first matches of the season at the Jayhawk Soccer Complex. KU will face Long Beach State in its home opener, Friday at 5 p.m., before taking on Rhode Island on Sunday at noon.

Statistical updates from both matches will be available via Gametracker, which is produced by CBS College Sports. The link for Gametracker is available on the kuathletics.com web site.

About the Jayhawks

Kansas has won its first three matches of the 2009 season, marking the second-straight year that the team has won at least three in a row to open the season. Last weekend, KU took the Lady Vol Invite title, knocking off previously unbeaten Pepperdine and Arizona State.

The Jayhawks have featured a very balanced offensive attack as four different players have scored the five KU goals this season, while five different players have been credited with assists. In goal, redshirt freshman Kat Liebetrau has posted two shutouts and has a goals against average of 0.33 and a .917 save percentage.

Ccouting the 49ers

Long Beach State enters Friday’s match with Kansas at 1-1, after defeating Fresno State in its season-opener and falling to No. 7 UCLA on Sunday. The 49ers were thoroughly dominant in their season-opener and then thoroughly dominated by the Bruins, being outshot 19-7.

Sophomore midfielder Shawna Gordon holds the 49ers’ team lead with three points, collecting a goal and an assist against the Bulldogs in the season-opener. Junior midfielder Karina Camacho leads the Beach with eight shots, including five on net. In goal, sophomore Emily Kingsborough has started both matches and has posted a 1.67 goals against average with seven saves in 10 chances.

This will be the first meeting between Kansas and Long Beach State on the soccer field. Kansas is 2-1 all-time against schools from the Big West Conference.

Jayhawk-49ers Connections

  • Long Beach State midfielder Marysol Rosas and Kansas defender Lauren Jackson were both members of the Slammers Club in California. However, the pair played on different teams.

Scouting the Rams

Rhode Island comes to the midwest winless, after falling to Boston University and New Hampshire in its first two matches of the season. The Rams will play at Missouri before their match in Lawrence on Sunday afternoon.

URI has been shut out in its first two matches of the season by 2-0 scores. Sophomore forward Stephanie Santos, junior Adrian Ruhe Lischke and sophomore Alexis Veith are tied for the team lead with four shots a piece. Rhode Island has played fairly even with its first two opponents, taking 20 shots and allowing 22. Junior goalkeeper Jackie Fede has posted a 2.00 goals against average and has made five saves in nine chances in her first two contests.

This will be the first meeting on the soccer field between Kansas and Rhode Island. The Jayhawks are 2-1 all-time against the Atlantic-10 Conference.

Jayhawk-Ram Connections

  • Rhode Island midfielder Kaylen Shimoda and Kansas midfielder Sarah Robbins were both Canadian National Team pool players, although at different times.
  • Rhode Island has three players, Courtney Findlen, Ashley Evangelista and Torey Hart, who played club soccer in the Boston area along with KU freshman Jamie White. White played for the Aztecs in Middleton, Mass.

Jackson, Liebetrau Earn Big 12 Weekly Honors

Kansas junior defender Lauren Jackson and freshman goalkeeper Kat Liebetrau have both been honored by the Big 12 after their performances at the Lady Vol Invite over the weekend. Jackson was selected as the Big 12’s Defensive Player of the Week on Tuesday, while Liebetrau was tabbed the conference’s Newcomer of the Week.

This marks the first time since Aug. 26 of last season that KU has had multiple recipients during a single week of the conference’s awards.

Jayhawks Earn National Ranking

Following the team’s pair of victories at the Lady Vol Invite over the weekend, the Kansas soccer team finds itself in the Soccer Times’ Top 25, checking in at No. 23 this week. This marks the first time since September of last season that the team has been ranked in the Top 25.

The Jayhawks have now been ranked at least one week in each of the last seven seasons, dating back to 2003. The current team is 3-0 after wins over Drake (Aug. 23), Pepperdine (Aug. 28) and Arizona State (Aug. 30) to start the season.

Cressy Comes Alive

Sophomore forward Emily Cressyfound the back of the net at the most opportune time again on Aug. 28 against Pepperdine. The second-year forward scored her fifth career game-winning goal by virtue of her second-half score against the Waves.

The sophomore forward, who earned Big 12 Rookie of the Year honors last season, has scored nine goals in her Kansas career with five of them deciding games.

With another goal this weekend, Cressy can become the fastest Jayhawk to 10 career goals (matches 26 and 27 of her career), since Caroline Smith tallied 10 goals in her first 10 matches of her freshman season (2002).

Corner Kicks

  • Kansas will face non-conference foes Long Beach State and Rhode Island this weekend at the Jayhawk Soccer Complex. KU is 8-5-1 all-time in home-openers, including 7-3-1 under head coach Mark Francis.
  • One reason for KU’s NCAA Tournament berth last season was due to its record against non-conference opponents. Dating back to the 2007 season, the Jayhawks are 12-4 in their last 16 regular season contests against competition outside of the Big 12.
  • Kansas has been outstanding in August the past two seasons, going a combined 5-0 during the month, and outscoring its opponents 10-2. Since the 2006 season, KU has lost just one August match, going 7-1 during that stretch, which includes four shutouts.
  • Kansas midfielder Monica Dolinsky recorded an assist on Emily Cressy’s game-winning goal against Pepperdine on Aug. 28, to tie former teammate Jessica Bush for the second-most career assists in team history (21). Dolinsky trails only Caroline Smith’s 24 career assists for the school record.
  • Kansas freshman goalkeeper Kat Liebetrau posted her second career shutout against Arizona State on Aug. 30. She becomes the first Jayhawk keeper to tally shutouts in two of her first three career starts.
  • The Jayhawks defeated the Sun Devils Sunday with an own goal that was deflected in off an Arizona State defender. It marks the first own goal that KU has scored since a 1997 meeting with Iowa on Oct. 26.
  • Once again, the Jayhawks have dominated the first half of matches this season. The Jayhawks have outshot their opponents 28-15 in the initial 45 minutes of their matches, and have been outshot 24-17 in the second half.
  • KU’s center backs, senior Estelle Johnson and junior Geneva Magness have both been extremely solid in the first three matches of the season. Both players have played the full 90 minutes in all three contests and have helped the Jayhawks hold their opponents to just one goal and 17 shots on goal (5.67 per match).

Home Cookin’

The Jayhawks have been extremely successful throughout the years at the Jayhawk Soccer Complex, especially during Mark Francis’ tenure. KU is 71-40-5 at home all-time, including 59-24-5 under Francis. KU has had just three seasons where it has a sub-.500 record at home.

Up Next
Kansas will hit the road once again next weekend, traveling to Colorado Springs, Colo., to participate in the Colorado College Invite at Stewart Field. The Jayhawks will face Denver on Friday, Sept. 11 at 2:30 p.m. CDT, before taking on host Colorado College at 3:30 p.m., on Sunday, Sept. 13.