Kastor Scores Golden Goal to Lift Jayhawks Past Texas In Double Overtime

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Sophomore Caroline Kastor’s header in the 105th minute lifted the Kansas soccer team to a 3-2, double-overtime victory over Texas Friday night, for the Jayhawks’ third win in program history over the Longhorns. Kastor’s goal was the result of a Whitney Berry pass as the midfielder collected the assist on all three of KU’s goals, which ties for the second-most single-game assists in KU history.

Kansas is now 2-1 in overtime contests this season as it improved to 8-4 on the season while evening its Big 12 Conference record to 1-1. Texas fell to 7-4 with the loss, including 1-2 in league play.

Leading 1-0 at the half, freshman Ingrid Vidal recorded her team-leading ninth goal in the 56th minute but UT answered with a pair of goals in the second half to knot the game. Both teams went scoreless through the final 14 minutes of regulation time to force the game into extra frames.

Neither team could produce much offense in the first overtime sending the game into a second 10-minute overtime period. Finally, in the 105th minute, Berry chipped a pass into the box from the right side. Kastor ran onto the ball and was able to get a head on it from three yards out as it got past the UT goalkeeper for the win. It was Kastor’s fourth goal of the season, while Berry logged her nation-leading 11th assist.

Kansas had just 11 shots in the game compared to the Longhorns’ 21 but a solid defensive effort by the Jayhawk backline along with goalkeeper Kaitlyn Stroud kept Texas off the scoreboard. KU made the most of its limited chances putting seven of its 11 attempts on frame.

Freshman Liana Salazar had only one shot all night but it was enough as she netted her second goal of the season in the 33rd minute of the first half while Berry collected her first of three assists on the night. Salazar’s attempt, a distant shot from nearly 25 yards away, sailed over the goalie’s outstretched arms and dipped just under the crossbar.

Vidal pushed the Jayhawks’ lead to 2-0 shortly after halftime. Berry sent Vidal a pass inside the box just left of the goal mouth which she quickly finished from eight yards out.

As both teams picked up the intensity, sophomore Amy Grow was charged with a foul in the box in the 62nd minute. Texas goalkeeper Alexa Gaul then recorded the successful penalty kick to cut the Longhorns’ deficit to 2-1. Not long after, Texas’ Lucy Keith fired a shot from close range but Stroud was there to make an impressive save, punching the ball away. Unfortunately, UT”s Kristin Cummins caught the rebound and immediately scored to tie the game.

Stroud made a number of great saves throughout the night, collecting seven total stops for the game as she improved to 5-1. Also on defense for Kansas was freshman Jami Vaughn, who made her first career start and played all 115 minutes of the contest.

KU will play again this weekend when it hosts No. 24 Texas A&M on Sunday, Oct. 2 at 1 p.m. Former Jayhawks Meghan Miller, Caroline Smith and Holly Gault will be honored prior to the match as they will have their jerseys retired.

Postgame Quotes
Kansas 3, Texas 2
September 30, 2011

Kansas Head Coach Mark Francis
On his team’s play:
“I thought we played really well today. I was disappointed we gave up two goals, but one was off a PK (penalty kick) and one was off a set piece. But in the run of play I thought we did a pretty good job. I didn’t think we played particularly well in the second half, but I thought they battled. We did enough to win the game and I thought we scored some good goals. We finished the opportunities we had pretty well and I think that’s the difference in the game.”

Sophomore Forward Caroline Kastor
On how much confidence this win gives you:
“It’s going to give us a lot of confidence, especially going into Sunday. I know we beat (Texas) last year and it was a close game, too. I think it was just 1-0 and we scored late in the game. It just shows that we have the heart and the ability to push and get the win at the end. It’s a big boost for us.”

On keeping your focus throughout the entire game:
“It was hard to get a rhythm with all the calls, but stuff like that you can’t control and we just needed to keep working and focus on the things we could control. We played with a lot of heart tonight.”

On the final play:
“I don’t remember who played that ball out there. Whitney (Berry) had a great pass and she’s obviously great at distributing to the perfect spot. I kind of saw it coming in and I got away from my defender and just went for the header.”

On recovering before Sunday’s game:
“Tomorrow we’ll have a light practice so we keep our touch and to stretch, but mainly just get a lot of rest because it is a quick turnaround. Especially, when you play more than 90 minutes. We have to focus on starters and people who played a lot so they get their legs back.”

Redshirt Freshman Goalkeeper Kaitlyn Stroud
On how big a win like this is:
“This is a huge win. First of all, this is our third win in our conference’s history against Texas. So, obviously we knew this was going to be a great game. This win against a very good team shows we’re a team to beat and we have a chance to really do some damage.”

On the defense’s performance:
“I thought the defense in this game was pretty good. They helped us hang on long enough for our forwards to get the ball in the net.”

Junior Midfielder Whitney Berry
On how big a win like this is:
“Huge, especially since they came back and tied it up. That was even bigger for us to get the win out of it.”

On the morale of the team after a win versus Texas:
“It sets a standard. We can do it, so now we have to come out and do it every game.”

On what she saw when she made the pass to Kastor for the game-winner:
“I saw her make the run and I saw the defender was a step ahead of her, so I just put it over her and hoped Caroline (Kastor) got on the end of it.”

On the recovery process before Sunday’s game versus Texas A&M:
“We definitely need to get lots of rest and get in the cold tank like we always do. We’ll have an easier practice tomorrow just to get some touches on the ball and then we should be set for Sunday.”