Kansas Returns Home to Host Jayhawk Invitational

Sept. 15, 2009

Coach Francis Preview

Jackson Interview

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After a 5-1-1 start, the Kansas Jayhawks will play its final non-conference matches at home when it hosts the Jayhawk Invitational this weekend. No. 22 Kansas will play host to No. 18 San Diego at 5 p.m. Friday and South Dakota State Sunday at 1 p.m. Other contests in the tournament include South Dakota State against Missouri State on Friday at 2:30 p.m. and San Diego versus Missouri State Sunday at 10:30 a.m.

Statistical updates from all four 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.

Kansas Soccer Celebrates Youth Soccer This Weekend

Kansas soccer will celebrate Youth Soccer Month during the Jayhawk Invitational. All youth soccer players wearing their team uniform or t-shirt will be admitted free of charge on both days, and be invited to participate in a free clinic following Sunday’s match. All youth wishing to participate in the clinic are asked to wear proper attire, especially athletic footwear.

About the Jayhawks

Kansas suffered its first winless weekend at the Colorado College Invitational, falling to Denver, 2-1, and tying Colorado College, 0-0. The Jayhawks won their first five matches of the season, including their first two home contests.

The Jayhawks have featured a very balanced offensive attack as six different players have scored goals, while 11 different Jayhawks have points. Sophomore Emily Cressyleads the team with four goals and nine points. Defensively, KU has held its opposition to a 0.71 goals against average and has posted three shutouts.

Scouting the Toreros

San Diego, ranked 18th in the latest National Soccer Coaches Association of American (NSCAA) poll, enters the Jayhawk Invitational with a 5-2-1 record after winning two matches at the Mariott University West Tournament in Arizona. The Toreros defeated then-No. 12 Rutgers, 2-1, and Brown, 1-0, this past weekend.

The Toreros are averaging 1.75 goals per game, but have actually been outshot this season, 93-86. Freshman forward Erica Peeples leads the team with three goals, while freshman Sierra Ferreira is tops on the team with three assists. Sophomore goalkeeper Courtney Parsons has started every match for the Toreros in net, and boasts an 0.97 goals against average as well as an .800 save percentage.

This will be the third all-time meeting between the Jayhawks and Toreros on the soccer field, with Kansas claiming the first two contests by 1-0 scores in 2003 and 2005. KU is 4-3 all-time against schools from the West Coast Conference.

Jayhawk-Torero Connections

  • Kansas junior defender Lauren Jackson and San Diego sophomore Dani Russell both grew up in Long Beach, Calif., but played at different high schools and on different club teams.
  • Jackson and San Diego junior Jackie Zinke were teammates on Slammers F.C., while USD freshman Colleen Schlosser also played for the Slammers club program, but came through two years later.
  • Kansas freshman Nicole Chrisopulos and San Diego freshman Meg Stewart were teammates on the Dallas Texans ’91 club team.

Scouting the Jackrabbits

South Dakota State has won two-straight matches heading into the Jayhawk Invitational, after starting the season 0-3-1. The Jackrabbits enjoyed one of their finest seasons in team history last year, posting a 15-5-1 overall record and upsetting Colorado in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

SDSU’s offense is led by junior midfielder Kaitlin Justice, who has scored two of the team’s four goals this season. Justice put home the game-winning goal in the Jacks’ 2-1 triumph over Drake last weekend. Sophomore forward Kayla Braffet has a pair of assists. In goal, senior Danielle Pappas and junior Brie Rogers have split time this season and have combined for a 1.61 goals against average and a .706 save percentage.

This will be KU’s first match against South Dakota State. The Jayhawks are 2-3 all-time against schools from the Summit League.

Jayhawk-Jackrabbit Connections

  • Kansas junior Erin Lewis and South Dakota State junior Emily Quigley were teammates on the KCFC Alliance Heat as well as on the Kansas State ’89 ODP team. Quigley also played state ODP with KU juniors Erin Ellefson and Geneva Magness.
  • Kansas sophomore Sierra Miramontez and South Dakota State freshman Brittany Sipp were both products of the KC Comets Select club team. However, they played one year apart.
  • Kansas redshirt freshman Kat Liebetrau and South Dakota State’s Kelsey Ferguson were club teammates on Real Colorado.
  • Three Jackrabbits, Shelby Buttron, Quigley and Sipp will all be returning to their native state of Kansas for the weekend’s tournament.

Cressy Comes Alive

Sophomore forward Emily Cressy has again gotten off to a fast start this season. The 5-foot-4 forward has scored four goals in KU’s last six matches to give her the team lead. Fast starts are nothing new to Cressy, who scored five goals and recorded 11 points in KU’s first seven contests last season. Her four goals tie her for fifth in the Big 12 in goals, while her nine points also rank fifth in the league.

She became the second-fastest Jayhawk to collect 10 goals in her career, reaching that total in her 26th career match.

Back in The Saddle

After entering the Rhode Island match in a relief role on Sept. 6, senior goalkeeper Julie Hanley has started the Jayhawks’ last two matches, and has allowed just two goals in 245 minutes (0.73 goals against average).

Hanley posted three saves in KU’s scoreless tie with Colorado College on Sunday, her first official shutout of the season. The senior has 15 shutouts in her Kansas career, the second-most by a Jayhawk. Her 1.23 career goals against average also ranks second in KU history.

Corner Kicks

  • Kansas hosts an in-season tournament at the Jayhawk Soccer Complex this weekend. This marks the first invitational hosted at the complex since 2004, when KU held the KUStore.com Invite. The Jayhawks defeated UW-Milwaukee and St. Louis in the 2004 event.
  • With a 2-1 loss to Denver on Sept. 11, the Jayhawks just fell shy of matching their best start in school history. In each of the last two seasons, KU has opened the season with five wins, only to fall in the sixth match of the year. The team’s best start came in 2004, when KU started 6-0.
  • Denver scored the game-winning with 5:39 remaining in the match. This marked the only stretch of time that KU has trailed this season.
  • Kansas and Colorado College played to a scoreless tie on Sept. 13. This was the first scoreless tie involving Kansas since 2007, when the Jayhawks and Texas played 110 minutes without a goal. KU has only played in four scoreless draws all-time.
  • Kansas junior Rachel Morris recorded her first assist of the season on Emily Cressy’s goal against Denver. She became the 11th different Jayhawk to record a point this season. It was Morris’ first point since her freshman season.
  • The Jayhawks defeated Arizona State on Aug. 30 with an own goal that was deflected in off a Sun Devil defender. It marks the first own goal that KU has scored since a 1997 meeting with Iowa on Oct. 26.
  • Kansas was whistled for offsides a record eight times against Rhode Island on Sept. 6. This was two more than KU’s previous high, which was six against Oklahoma State in 1998.

Up Next
Following the Jayhawk Invitational, Kansas will hit the road for the next two weekends to begin conference play. The Jayhawks will travel to Stillwater, Okla., to open their Big 12 schedule against No. 21 Oklahoma State, Friday, Sept. 25 at 7 p.m. KU will then play its final non-conference match against Oral Roberts on Sunday, Sept. 27 at 1 p.m. in Tulsa, Okla.

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