Kansas Soccer Falls at Missouri in Final Minutes

Postgame Videos: Coach Francis | Berry | Hillis

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Despite leading 2-0 with six minutes remaining, Kansas soccer fell 3-2 at Missouri Friday night following a penalty kick with 1:20 left on the clock.

Freshman Liana Salazar and sophomore Caroline Kastor both scored for the Jayhawks during the second half but the KU defense could not stop the Tigers’ final push as KU fell to 10-7 overall, including 2-4 in the Big 12. Missouri improved to 12-6 on the year and 3-4 in conference play.

Kansas was forced to play defense for the first 20 minutes of the opening half but soon battled back and ended up holding an 11-9 shot advantage through the first 45 minutes. After a scoreless opening half, Salzar finally broke the stalemate in the 72nd minute of the game.

Kastor started the play when her shot from the top right corner of the box was blocked. Freshman Jamie Fletcher recovered the ball and took a shot from close range but her attempt was deflected by MU goalkeeper McKenzie Sauerwein. Fortunately for Kansas, the ball rebounded right onto the foot of Salazar, who put it in the lower right corner from eight yards out. It marked her third score of the season.

The midfielder almost repeated the feat in the 79th minute. When fellow freshman Ingrid Vidal took a shot from just inside the box, the ball bounced off the hands of Sauerwein and once again Salazar was in the right spot for the rebound. This time though MU came up with a save on Salazar’s shot.

Kansas made up for the missed opportunity just two minutes later. Vidal took a shot that was deflected out of bounds. Berry took the resulting corner and sent it high into the box. That’s where Kastor went airborne and headed the ball into the back of the net during the 81st minute for her fifth goal of the season.

Despite the 2-0 lead, Missouri countered with a goal in the 84th minute. Now with the momentum, the Tigers’ quickly scored again just 41 seconds later to knot the game, 2-2.

Both teams picked up the intensity and hurried to break the tie but in the 88th minute, Kansas was charged with a foul in the box. MU’s Kelsey Blincow converted the penalty kick into the game-winning goal.

For the game, the teams collected 24 shots apiece. Redshirt freshman Kaitlyn Stroud bested her career high tallying nine saves on the night for the Jayhawks.

Kansas continues its road trip when it travels to Iowa State on Sunday, Oct. 21 in its last regular-season road game. Kick-off is scheduled for 1 p.m.