Kansas Returns Home to Host Cowgirls, Sooners
Oct. 10, 2007
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The <?xml:namespace prefix=”st1″ ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags”?>Kansas soccer team returns to the friendly confines of the Jayhawk Soccer Complex this weekend after back-to-back weeks on the road. The Jayhawks play host to No. 23 Oklahoma State at 4 p.m. Friday, and then faces the Sooners of Oklahoma on Sunday at 1 p.m.
This Week’s Promotions
Kansas Athletics has announced that the first 1,000 fans in attendance for the Jayhawks’ Friday soccer match with OklahomaState at 4 p.m. will receive a voucher that guarantees admission to Late Night in the Phog, KU’s annual tipoff to the basketball season. Fans wishing to receive a Late Night voucher must arrive at the Jayhawk Soccer Complex prior to halftime.
About the Jayhawks
Kansas (3-8-2, 1-1-1 in Big 12) is coming off a weekend sweep on the road as the Jayhawks took down Drake (2-1) on Friday evening, before routing Texas Tech (4-1) on Sunday. It marked the team’s first road sweep since winning at IowaState (2-0) and at Missouri (4-0) last October. Sophomore Kim Boyer led the team with a pair of goals Sunday, while sophomore Shannon McCabe and junior Jessica Bush each collected a pair of assists. The Jayhawks return nine starters and 18 letterwinners from last year’s team, which finished 11-7-1.
Scouting the Cowgirls
Oklahoma State (8-3-1, 2-2 in Big 12) split a pair of home matches over the weekend. The Cowgirls surrendered a pair of second half goals to fall to No. 9 Texas A&M, 2-1 on Thursday evening before staging a late two-goal rally of their own to down Baylor, 2-1 on Saturday.
Senior midfielder Sasa Jackson leads the OklahomaState offense with five goals and 13 points, while three different Cowgirls, Adriane Radtke, Katie Richardson and Kasey Langdon, are tied for the team lead with four assists each. Junior goalkeeper Erin Stigler has started all 12 matches in net, posting an 0.80 goals against average and a .775 save percentage.
Head coach Colin Carmichael is in his third season with the Cowgirls after serving as the co-head coach the past two years. During Carmichael’s tenure, the team has amassed a 35-12-7 record. OSU returns eight starters and 14 letterwinners from last year’s squad, which advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Kansas leads the all-time series with the Cowgirls, 7-3, with a pair of ties. KU hasn’t lost to OklahomaState in Lawrence since the 1997 season. Last year’s 1-0 overtime loss in Stillwater was the Jayhawks’ first regular season defeat in the series since `97.
Oklahoma State on the internet: www.okstate.com
Scouting the Sooners
Oklahoma (5-5-2, 1-3 Big 12) had a productive weekend, earning its first conference victory of the season, 3-1 over Baylor Thursday, and nearly upsetting No. 9 Texas A&M on Sunday. Just the opposite of KU, the Sooners jumped out to a 3-0-1 start, but have been struggling lately. OU has won just two of its last nine matches.
Freshman forward Whitney Palmer leads the Sooners with six goals and 12 points, while senior Tenesha Duncan has four goals and an assist. Senior Shana All has the team lead with three assists on the season. Goalkeepers Tara MacDonald and Jennifer Nichols have split time in net this season. MacDonald has an 0.74 goals against average and an .891 save percentage, while Nichols has a 1.02 goals against average and a .818 save percentage.
Head coach Randy Evans is in his ninth season at OU and has a record of 77-73-15 at the school. Evans’ team returns eight starters and 14 letterwinners from last year’s squad, which finished 8-11-1. Kansas leads the all-time series with the Sooners, 8-3, including a 1-0 triumph in Norman last season. OU has not beaten the Jayhawks since 2002, when the Sooners took a 2-1 win away from Lawrence.
Oklahoma on the internet: www.soonersports.com.
Last Time Out
Sophomore Kim Boyer scored a pair of goals, while senior Nicole Cauzillo added a goal and an assist as the Kansas soccer team earned a 4-1 victory over Texas Tech Sunday afternoon at R.P. Fuller Stadium.
Boyer scored both of her goals in the first half as KU built a 3-0 lead after 45 minutes of play. Cauzillo collected the first goal of the match and then assisted on Boyer’s first goal. Freshman Kaitlyn Cunningham added a second half goal as the Jayhawks enjoyed their best offensive day since scoring four times at Missouri on Oct. 15 of last season.
A Century of Greatness
Kansas head coach Mark Francis became the fifth soccer coach in conference history to earn his 100th victory at a Big 12 institution with Sunday’s 4-1 win at Texas Tech. Francis accomplished the feat in 177 matches, which is the fourth-fastest among current Big 12 coaches. Only Nebraska’s John Walker (124), Texas A&M’s G. Guerreri (129) and Texas’ Chris Petrucelli (162) have won 100 contests faster in the Big 12.
Francis will be honored with a short ceremony prior to Friday’s match with OklahomaState.
And the Award Goes To…
Freshman Kaitlyn Cunningham became the first Jayhawk to be honored by the Big 12 this season, earning the conference’s Newcomer of the Week award on Tuesday. The freshman forward scored her first collegiate goal in Sunday’s win over Texas Tech. Cunningham is the first Jayhawk to earn Big 12 Newcomer of the Week honors since teammate Monica Dolinsky received the recognition on Oct. 15 of last season.
Kim Possible
Sophomore Kim Boyer enjoyed the most productive weekend of her career at Drake and at Texas Tech. The 5-foot-10 sophomore scored a pair of goals, including the game-winner, in KU’s 4-1 win over the Red Raiders, and collected an assist on Monica Dolinsky’s game-winner at Drake on Friday.
Boyer has been prominently involved with all three Jayhawk victories this season. The sophomore forward also scored the golden goal in KU’s first win of the season, against MissouriState, on Sept. 18. On Sunday, she also became the first Jayhawk to produce a multi-goal contest since Dolinsky and junior Jessica Bush each scored a pair of goals at Missouri last season.
Cauz and Effect
Senior midfielder Nicole Cauzillo also had a multi-point match Sunday against the Red Raiders, scoring KU’s first goal and assisting on Kim Boyer’s deciding tally. Her three points in the contest matched a career-high, which was also set against Texas Tech, on Oct. 1, 2004.
Quick Kicks
– Kansas will host OklahomaState on Friday, marking the first time the Jayhawk soccer team has played at home on the same night as Late Night in the Phog since Oct. 11, 2002. KU also met the Cowgirls in that match and scored the biggest rout in team history, drubbing OSU, 6-0.
– Head coach Mark Francis is 7-2 against OklahomaState at KU, with both losses coming by 1-0 scores.
– KU will play Oklahoma on Sunday in the 12th all-time meeting between the schools. KU has shut out the Sooners in each of the last four matches, dating back to the 2003 Big 12 Championship, when the Jayhawks topped OU, 1-0 in a first-round match.
– Head coach Mark Francis is 7-2 against OU at Kansas.
– Sophomore Monica Dolinsky recorded her first career game-winning goal in Friday’s 2-1 triumph over Drake. More importantly, it was the sophomore’s first goal of the season.
– Freshman Rachel Morris scored goals in each of her first two starts after finishing KU’s first goal Friday against Drake. Morris becomes the first Jayhawk to score in each of her first two starts since Caroline Smith accomplished the feat during the 2002 season.
– Sophomore Shannon McCabe and junior Jessica Bush both recorded assists in KU’s two matches over the weekend. Bush leads the team with four assists this season, while McCabe is second on the team with three.
– Kansas’ two-win weekend was the team’s first road sweep since shutting out IowaState (2-0) and Missouri (4-0) last October.
– KU played to its second tie of the year at Baylor on Sept. 28, which matches the program record for ties in a season, which was last accomplished in 2005.
Looking Ahead
Kansas will make its final road trip of the regular season next week, when it travels to Colorado and nationally ranked Texas. The Jayhawks will meet the Buffaloes on Friday, Oct. 19 at 4 p.m. in Boulder, Colo., before squaring off with the top-ranked Longhorns on Sunday, Oct. 21 at 1 p.m. KU’s final three matches of the regular season will all be at home, Oct. 26 vs. Nebraska; Oct. 28 vs. IowaState and Nov. 2 against Border Showdown rival Missouri.
