Jayhawks Knock Off Red Raiders, 3-1, In Front of Record Crowd
LUBBOCK, Texas – In front of a John Walker Stadium-record, 2,288 fans, the Kansas soccer team took down the Texas Tech Red Raiders 3-1 on Friday night.
Behind a balanced offensive attack from the Jayhawks, KU was able to pick up its first road conference win of the season. The Jayhawks improved to 10-6 overall and 2-3 in Big 12 play, while the Red Raiders fell to 9-5-2 overall and 2-2-1 in conference play.
The Red Raiders threatened less than a minute into the match, but redshirt freshman goalkeeper, Kaitlyn Stroud, made a great diving save to her right to keep TTU off the scoreboard. For the game, Texas Tech held a 18-10 shot advantage but Kansas was able to capitalize on its limited opportunities.
In the 30th minute, junior forward Whitney Berry put the Jayhawks on the board on a penalty kick to give the Jayhawks a 1-0 lead. The penalty occurred after a Red Raider committed a handball in the box. With the goal, Berry moves into a tie, with Emily Cressy, for fourth place in KU history with 52 career points.
In the 44th minute, Texas Tech’s Dawn Ward broke through the Jayhawk defense and had a one-on-one with Stroud, but Stroud made a great save to deny the Red Raiders from scoring. Stroud recorded seven saves in the first half.
Texas Tech had another good opportunity off a corner kick in the 52nd minute, but the header went wide left.
A yellow card was given to TTU’s Casey McCall in the 59th minute and it immediately led to the second goal of the game for KU. Sophomore midfielder Amy Grow knocked in a long range goal, as it ricocheted off the right post and flew into the back left corner to give the Jayhawks a 2-0 lead.
The Red Raiders finally got on the board in the 81st minute as Texas Tech’s McCall made an easy open-netter from about 30 yards out to cut the lead to 2-1.
However, freshman forward Jamie Fletcher answered back for the Jayhawks as she knocked in a goal from the right side of the penalty box off an assist from fellow freshman Liana Salazar. The goal gave the Jayhawks enough breathing room to wrap-up the game. The goal was Fletcher’s seventh of the season and second in the last two games.
Kansas continues its four-game road trip on Friday, Oct. 21, when the Jayhawks travel to Columbia, Mo., to take on the Missouri Tigers at 6:30 p.m.
