Rally Falls Short in Soccer's 3-1 Loss to Oklahoma
LAWRENCE, Kan. – Caitlin Noble scored late in the second half against Oklahoma Sunday at the Jayhawk Soccer Complex, placing a header in the left corner of the net. But it wasn’t enough to avenge early goals by the Sooners (8-5-1, 3-2-0 Big 12), and KU fell 3-1.
KU (5-9-0, 1-5-0 Big 12) outshot the Sooners 18-11, with half of those shots on frame. Noble and Whitney Berry led the Jayhawks with four shots each. Berry had two on goal while three of Nobles were on target. The senior defender found the net on her fourth attempt with Lauren Jackson assisting.
Whitney Palmer put the Jayhawks behind in just the first minute of the match when she netted one just 11 seconds into play. Palmer’s goal was the fastest one ever allowed by a KU team.
“We probably should have just cleared that ball instead of bringing it down,” said head coach Mark Francis. “The kid just took the first touch and nobody stepped to her. She took it well, but you can’t let people shoot from that range without stepping and pressuring the ball.”
OU then scored again in the 20th minute, putting KU in an early 2-0 hole.
“The second goal was the same way,” Francis said. “We got beat; we overcommitted, but nobody stepped to the ball to defend.”
An aggressive second half ensued for the Jayhawks. KU controlled the ball early on and pressured the Sooner defense, getting off 13 shots with six on goal.
“We showed up in the second half, but unfortunately the game is 90 minutes long. At that point we’re down 2-0,” Francis said.
The Sooners would strike once again in the second half, when Caitlin Mooney caught a deflected save and dribbled around goalkeeper Kat Liebetrau.
The Jayhawks responded with a late rally, which culminated in Noble’s goal. With just 10 minutes left to play, Jackson launched a high pass to Noble in front of the goal, and Noble headed it in to trim the deficit to two goals.
Jackson almost had the deficit down to just one a few minutes later when she took a shot from short range. But her defender forced her to shoot off-balance and Kelsey Devonshire grabbed it for the save.
“We need to finish our opportunities a lot better than that. (Oklahoma) had three goals, and they maybe had five good chances today,” Francis said. “We probably had six other chances from in or around the box where we hit it right at the keeper or we hit it wide. We have to be better at both ends of the field.”
Oklahoma ended a four-match stretch at home for KU. The Jayhawks will split next weekend’s series, traveling to Lubbock to face Texas Tech Friday night, and hosting Baylor next Sunday.
Postgame Quotes
Oklahoma 3, Kansas 1
Oct. 10, 2010
Kansas Head Coach Mark Francis
On the Sooners’ first half goals:
“We probably should have just cleared that ball instead of bringing it down (on Oklahoma’s first goal). The kid just took the first touch and nobody stepped to her. She took it well, but you can’t let people shoot from that range without stepping and pressuring the ball. The second goal was the same way. We got beat; we overcommitted, but nobody stepped to the ball to defend.”
On the team’s effort:
“We showed up in the second half, but unfortunately the game is 90 minutes long. At that point we’re down 2-0. At least we competed in the second half. We outshot them in the game 18-11, and nine of our shots were on frame, but we only scored one goal. We need to finish our opportunities a lot better than that. (Oklahoma) had three goals, and they maybe had five good chances today. The goal we scored wasn’t even a good chance, (Caitlin) Noble just hit it well. We probably had six other chances from in or around the box where we hit it right at the keeper or we hit it wide. We have to be better at both ends of the field.”
On if the team is frustrated:
“I’m sure we are. Losing is not fun. I’m sure we’re frustrated.”
