Williamson Sparks No. 17 Kansas Past Oral Roberts, 5-3
TULSA, Okla. – Freshman Shelby Williamson scored two goals, while senior Monica Dolinsky added a goal and an assist as No. 17 Kansas captured a 5-3 win over Oral Roberts in KU’s final non-conference match of the regular season.
Kansas, which won eight of its 10 non-conference matches this season, improves to 8-2-1 overall, while the Golden Eagles fall to 3-5.
Just as it did last Sunday, Kansas scored a goal within the first minute of the game and rode a potent offense to a win.
It only took the Jayhawks 21 seconds to get on the board against ORU Sunday as freshman Whitney Berry found Emily Cressy with a cross from the far side of the box to give KU a 1-0 lead. The goal was the fastest scored by a Jayhawk to start a game, breaking the previous record of 23 seconds which Berry did last Sunday against South Dakota State.
KU took a 2-0 lead on Williamson’s first goal of the day. After a corner kick, Dolinsky took a loose ball to the near corner of the box, where she sent a cross to the far post. Williamson used her head to direct it past ORU goalkeeper Amanda Wheeler in the 18th minute.
ORU came within one in the 31st minute as Natalya Manyan scored on a through ball from Tara Lomas. However, the Jayhawks answered with Williamson’s second goal with just under a minute remaining in the half.
Sophomore Kelsey Clifton recorded her first assist of the season, crossing a ball from the near side of the box to the center, where Williamson tapped the ball into the far corner at 44:09.
Dolinsky put the game out of reach in the second half. Following a hard foul just outside the box, the senior fired a free kick into the top far corner of the net giving KU a 4-1 advantage.
ORU scored a pair of goals on penalty kicks in the final 20 minutes to get within 5-3, but could not get any closer.
Kansas freshman Sarah Robbins tapped in a mistake in front of the Oral Roberts net for the team’s fifth goal of the match in the 83rd minute. Robbins became the 11th different Jayhawk to score a goal this season.
KU held a 17-13 advantage in shots, including three by Cressy and Berry.
The Jayhawks (8-2-1) will travel to College Stations, Texas to face No. 12 Texas A&M next Friday at 7 p.m.
