Jayhawks Return Home to Face Texas Tech, #15 Colorado

Sept. 30, 2008

LAWRENCE, Kan. –

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Following a split in the first conference weekend of the season, the Kansas soccer team will play host to its first Big 12 contests when it faces Texas Tech at 4 p.m., Friday and Colorado at 1 p.m., Sunday at the Jayhawk Soccer Complex.

Friday’s match against the Red Raiders is Youth Organization Day; kids that belong to an organization will be admitted for just $3. Fans who wear blue to the Friday match can receive a free order of popcorn. Sunday’s match against the Buffaloes has reduced ticket prices ($3) for all KU faculty and staff, as well as a KU Crocs giveaway to the first 250 fans through the gates.

Live statistical updates for both matches will be available on Gametracker. Fans can find the link for Gametracker on the Kansas Athletic department’s official website: www.kuathletics.com.

Last Time Out

The Kansas soccer team re-discovered its offensive firepower to take home a 3-2 victory over the Iowa State Cyclones Sunday afternoon at the ISU Soccer Complex. Three different Jayhawks scored goals, giving KU 24 on the year, one more than the entire 2007 season.

Scouting the Red Raiders

After cleaning up its non-conference schedule, Texas Tech earned its first Big 12 victory of the season Sunday with a 2-1 overtime win over Oklahoma. TTU is 4-2 at home this season, and 1-1-1 on the road.

Junior Brittany Harrison leads the Red Raider offense with seven goals and 17 points, tying her for second in the conference in goals. Freshman Taylor Lytle leads the squad with four assists. Overall, 11 different players have tallied goals for TTU. Senior goalkeeper Tina Rincon has played every minute in net for Texas Tech and has a 1.24 goals against average with 42 saves in 55 chances. Rincon has a .764 save percentage. The Red Raiders have nine starters back from last year’s squad.

Head coach Tom Stone is in his second season at Texas Tech and has an overall record of 13-11-3. Last season, Stone led the Red Raiders to their first conference tournament appearance in seven years.

Jayhawk-Red Raider Connections

– Kansas freshman Alex Winchester grew up in Plano, Texas, along with several members of the Red Raiders: senior Shannon Sims, junior Brittany Harrison, junior Jennifer Kammerer, junior Zhaleh Rezaie as well as freshman Erin Villareal.

– Kansas head coach Mark Francis and Texas Tech assistant coach Ashley Gordon both played collegiately at SMU, but were not at the school at the same time.

Scouting the Buffaloes

Colorado enters the weekend undefeated in its last nine contests, and ranked 15th in the country. The Buffaloes snapped an eight-match winning streak Sunday, tying then-No. 12 Oklahoma State, 1-1. Overall, CU has outscored its opponents 28-10 this season.

The Buffaloes’ offense is led by junior Nikki Marshall and senior Gianna DeSaverio, who both have five goals, while freshman Kate Russell has a team-high four assists. Senior goalkeeper Kirstin Radlinski has started 10 matches in net and has an 0.60 goals against average with one shutout and a .773 save percentage. Radlinski has made 17 saves in 22 chances.

Head coach Bill Hempen is in his eighth season at CU and has an overall record of 87-52-21 with the Buffaloes. He is 249-152-37 in 19-plus seasons as a head coach at Colorado and Duke.

Jayhawk-Buffalo Connections

– Kansas redshirt junior Jenny Murtaugh and Colorado’s Gianna DeSaverio both grew up in Littleton, Colo., and played club soccer with CU seniors Alex Cousins and Nikki Keller for the Colorado Soccer Academy.

– Kansas junior Estelle Johnson grew up in Fort Collins, Colo., with Alex Cousins.

– Jayhawk junior Kim Boyer and CU’s Nikki Keller were teammates at Ralston Valley High School.

– Kansas freshman goalkeeper Kat Liebetrau and Colorado junior Kelly Menachof were high school teammates at Arapahoe High School.

– Jayhawk junior Monica Dolinsky and Colorado freshman Maggi Steury both grew up in Carmel, Ind., and played together at Carmel High School and for the Carmel Cyclones.

A Little Bit of Monica

Junior midfielder Monica Dolinsky scored her fifth goal of the season in the Jayhawks’ 3-2 triumph over Iowa State on Sunday. The junior’s 13 offensive points are the most by a Kansas player this season – and tie her for seventh in the Big 12 – while her five goals are tied for the team lead.

After suffering through a slow start to her sophomore year, the junior midfielder has found her shot again. She is just one goal and four points away from the totals of her freshman year, when she was an All-Big 12 and All-Central Region selection.

AmBUSHed

Senior Jessica Bush continues her assult on the Kansas record books. The 5-foot-2 midfielder collected an assist on Kortney Clifton’s game-winning goal in Sunday’s 3-2 triumph over Iowa State. Bush is now tied for second in the conference with five assists in 10 matches, while her career totals keep climbing as well.

Bush needs just one more helper to move her into the single-season Top 10 at KU, as well as matching her career high. The fourth-year player is also tied for second in career assists at KU (19), and ranks sixth in total points (45).

Offensive Upgrade

A big reason for KU’s success this year has been an explosive offense through the first 10 matches. The Jayhawks are averaging 2.4 goals per match (up 1.31 gpm from last year), and 15.0 shots per match (11.3 in 2007). After this past weekend, KU surpassed its total number of goals (24) from the team’s tally all of last season (23). More importantly, the Jayhawks matched their win total from a year ago with Sunday’s 3-2 triumph at Iowa State.

KU has scored more goals (24) than any Jayhawk team since the 2001 Kansas squad tallied 26 in the first 10 matches of the season. The Jayhawks are also on pace to take 285 shots, the team’s highest total since 2005.

Quick Kicks

– The Jayhawks play host to a pair of Big 12 opponents this weekend in Texas Tech and Colorado. Under head coach Mark Francis, KU is 28-14-4 (.652) at home against conference opponents.

– Junior Kim Boyer tallied her first goal of the season in Friday’s 2-1 double overtime loss at Nebraska. Boyer has been a dangerous player against Big 12 opponents, scoring four of her five career goals against conference opponents. This included a multi-goal match against Texas Tech last season.

– Freshman Kortney Clifton scored her second game-winning goal of the season in the win at Iowa State. Clifton has tallied both game-winners on the road this year, at SMU and at Iowa State.

– Sophomore transfer Sarah Salazar recorded her first goal in a Jayhawk uniform in KU’s triumph at Iowa State. Salazar, who played 10 games at UCLA last year, has been a sparkplug off the bench for the Jayhawks this season.

– Senior Stephanie Baugh came off the bench Sunday and made three saves to preserve the 3-2 win at Iowa State. Baugh has now played 32 minutes between the pipes this season and is 4-for-4 in save opportunities.

– Kansas fell to Nebraska in double overtime last weekend, 2-1. Amazingly, it was the team’s first contest that went into extra time this season, after playing a team-record six matches that went to overtime last year.

Up Next
The Jayhawks will hit the road for the next-to-last time of the regular season. Kansas will travel to Oklahoma State on Friday, Oct. 10 at 7 p.m., and Oklahoma at 1 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 12.