Jayhawk Soccer Cruises by Oral Roberts, 6-1
LAWRENCE, Kan. – Freshman Ingrid Vidal collected two goals while four other Jayhawks also scored as Kansas soccer topped Oral Roberts 6-1 Sunday afternoon at the Jayhawk Soccer Complex.
The Jayhawk offense dominated the game recording 25 shots compared to just five for the visiting Golden Eagles as KU improved to 7-4 on the season. ORU fell to 4-6-1.
In addition to Vidal, junior Whitney Berry, sophomores Shannon Renner and Amy Grow and freshman Jamie Fletcher each scored a goal in the contest. Kansas’ six scores were its most since tallying seven goals versus Francis Marion on Oct. 19, 2008.
During the seventh minute, Berry helped get KU on the board when she sent a corner kick into the box where the ball bounced around in front of the goal. The ball eventually found Grow at top of box, about 20 yards out, and she launched a shot that ORU’s goalkeeper caught but then bobbled. When the ball popped out of the keeper’s hands, it broke the plane of the goal line for a score.
Four minutes later the Kansas offense struck again as Fletcher flicked the ball to Berry who carried the ball down the middle of the field. She then made a cross to Vidal inside the box on the left side where she quickly punched it in the back of the net from 12 yards out to give the Jayhawks a 2-0 advantage.
Kansas would convert on one more shot before the end of the half. Sophomore Caroline Kastor had the ball in the right corner near ORU’s goal and sent Berry a pass to the top of the box. Berry needed only a few touches to get an open look before netting a shot from 18 yards out near the middle of the field in the 16th minute of play.
The Jayhawks would not score again until the 57th minute in the second half as Vidal netted her second goal of the game and team-leading eighth of the season.
Fletcher started the play when her shot from 25 yards out hit the crossbar. As usual, Vidal was in the right place at the right time and stood in front of the mouth of the goal to catch the rebound and score.
After failing to get a goal in her first three shots, Fletcher finally collected her fifth goal of the year during the 68th minute. Vidal was able to get a pass off to reach Fletcher in the box. As she worked to control the ball, Fletcher juggled the ball over her defender’s head, bounced a pass up to herself, and then shot the ball in midair for an easy goal from three yards out pushing Kansas’ advantage to 5-0.
Oral Roberts finally broke the shutout in the 75th minute when Shelbi Lousch’s pass to Whitney Booth in the box bounced off a KU defender. Booth headed the rebound at the goal and the ball floated just over the reach of KU goalkeeper Kaitlyn Stroud.
Despite the goal, Stroud made two saves on the day and improved to 4-1 between the posts.
Renner capped the game with her first career score, a header in the 85th minute, after freshman Kelsey Lyden delivered a corner kick into the box.
Kansas will continue its four-game homestand next weekend when it welcomes Texas on Sept. 30 and Texas A&M on Oct. 2 in a pair of conference matches. Friday’s contest is scheduled for 5 p.m., while Sunday’s game will begin at 1 p.m.
Postgame Quotes
Kansas 6, Oral Roberts 1
September 25, 2011
Head coach Mark Francis
On how important it was to get two complete halves from his team:
“It was good. I thought when we scored the third goal we kind of backed off a little bit. I told them at halftime if we didn’t score three goals in the second half we were going to be in the training room tomorrow. I think that probably motivated them a little bit. My concern was in the last 10 minutes of the first half because I thought we took our foot off the pedal and you can’t afford to do that. I think they responded well to that and we kept going at them. I thought we did a good job keeping the ball today. I thought we were patient for the most part. It was good to see some different people score. It was really important for us to come back today and win.”
On how he thought his team played defensively:
“It was good. I’m a little disappointed we gave up a goal. I felt as much as we had the ball today I’m disappointed we didn’t get a shutout. There weren’t that many times where they really had us under pressure to really test us, but I thought we did a good job when we had the ball in the back.”
On how good it was to be able to teach during the game with a big lead:
“It was nice because we were able to get a lot of players in the game. Some players that maybe haven’t played a lot like Jami Vaughn. I thought she did very well in the middle of the back. She was composed with the ball and for her it was good to get her in and get some minutes under her belt because she’s a kid down the road that’s going to be able to help us.”
On what they need to work on this week:
“The biggest thing we need to do is continue being confident. When you lose two games (Florida and Oklahoma State) the kids start doubting themselves a little bit and so I think today was good for our confidence. We just need to get back to playing our game and doing the things we do well on a consistent basis.”
Sophomore defender Madi Hillis
On what this win means for the team going forward:
“I think it gives us a lot of redemption because the last couple games have been a little frustrating. We got a good win and it was good to score a lot of goals because we’ve had a lot of goals scored on us (lately).”
On what they have been working on defensively:
“We’ve been focusing on our movement and shape. I think we’ve struggled a little bit with that, but we figured it out.”
On the preparation going into the Texas and Texas A&M games:
“We just need to work really hard this week. We need to make sure we know what the game plan is and having the right mentality. These are two big conference games and they are two really good teams, so we need to be ready for them.”
