24th-Ranked KU Hosts UC Irvine, Travels to Purdue

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Sept. 14, 2005

LAWRENCE, Kan. –

The 24th-ranked University of Kansas Jayhawks will face UC Irvine in Lawrence on Friday, Sept. 16 at 5 p.m. KU will then travel to West Lafayette, Ind., to face Purdue at 1 p.m. on Sunday.

-After going 1-1 at the adidas/Toreros Invitational, KU moved up to 24th in the NSCAA poll. KU is also ranked 30th in this weeks Soccer Buzz poll.

-KU has not allowed a goal at the Jayhawk Soccer Complex this year and are 2-0-0.

-UC Irvine defeated Kansas, 3-2, on Sept. 8, 2000 in Irvine, Calif., in the teams’ only meeting.

-Kansas has not lost two consecutive matches since Sept. 28 and Oct. 3 of 2003.

-Freshman Missy Geha scored her first career goal (the game-winner) against San Diego on Friday. The tally came 3:51 into the match.

-Junior Holly Gault recorded her first career two-goal match against #12 Pepperdine on Sunday.

-Caroline Smith’s assist against Pepperdine was the 16th of her career, moving her into a tie for second all-time in the KU record book.

ABOUT UC IRVINE
The Anteaters (1-4-1 overall) went 1-1 last weekend in the UC Irvine Nike/Holiday Inn Invitational. On Friday, freshman goalkeeper Rosie Aguilera earned the shutout for the Anteaters in her first career start as UCI tied Columbia, 0-0.
Offensively, the `Eaters Britney Webster leads the team with three goals and one assist. Freshman Megan Ortiz and Alex Fries have recorded two goals and one goal, respectively.

ABOUT PURDUE
The Boilermakers enter the weekend, 2-4-0, after coming from behind to beat Butler on Tuesday. Before meeting KU, Purdue will host Nebraska on Friday. Purdue is 0-2-0 against the Big 12 this season, dropping matches to Iowa State (1-0) and Missouri (2-1).
Led by seventh year head coach Rob Klatte, Purdue is looking to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2003 when the Boilermakers advanced to the third round. Jessica Okoroafo and Kalie Grambeau are tied for the team lead with two goals each. Grambeau provides her offensive punch off the bench for the Boilermakers.

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 111-73-8 (.599) career record and an ever-improving 78-48-7 (.613) 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.

TUBE TIME
The Jayhawks Oct. 23 home match against the University of Texas will be broadcast by College Sports Television on tape delay. The game can been seen on CSTV on Tuesday, Oct. 25 at 7 p.m. CST.

EAST CALIFORNIA
KU’s match on Friday against UC Irvine will mark its third straight contest against a squad from the state of California. The Jayhawks defeated San Diego, 1-0, then fell to #12 Pepperdine, 3-2, at the adidas/Toreros Invitational in San Diego, Calif.

CLOSE TO HOME
When KU ventures to play Purdue on Sunday, freshman Julie Hanley will be close to home. The goalkeeper is from Indianapolis, Ind., and was a two-time all-state performer at North Central High.

LAST TIME OUT
The Jayhawks went 1-1 at the adidas/Toreros Invitational in San Diego, Calif. Behind Missy Geha’s first career goal, the Jayhawks downed host San Diego, 1-0, on Friday night under the lights. Colleen Quinn recorded her third consecutive shutout, while making a career-best seven saves.
On Sunday, KU played a close match with #12 Pepperdine. Holly Gault recorded both of KU’s goals but it was not enough as the Wave scored the game-winning tally with under seven minutes remaining in the match.