Jayhawks Face Texas Tech in Big 12 Play-In Game

Nov. 1, 2009

SAN ANTONIO, Texas –

Complete Release in PDF Format Get Acrobat Reader

Kansas soccer will look to qualify for the Big 12 Soccer Championship as it takes on Texas Tech in a play-in match on Monday, Nov. 2. The Jayhawks and Red Raiders will square off at 6 p.m., at the Blossom Soccer Complex with the winner earning the No. 8 seed in the Big 12 Soccer Championship and a date with No. 1 Missouri on Wednesday.

This marks the first time in league history that a play-in match has been utilitzed to determine qualification to the conference tournament.

Gametracker will provide live statistical updates for the match Monday. Fans can find the link at www.kuathletics.com.

ABOUT THE JAYHAWKS

Kansas is looking to earn a trip to the conference tournament for the 10th consective season, but must take one more step to get there. By defeating No. 20 Missouri, 3-2, on Friday, the Jayhawks set themselves up for a tie-breaking match against Texas Tech. The Jayhawks officially finished the regular season in a three-way tie for seventh place with Tech and Baylor.

KU’s offense is led by sophomore Emily Cressy’s 11 goals and 25 points this season. Freshman Whitney Berry has five goals, and is tops on the team with nine assists. Redshirt freshman Kat Liebetrau has posted a 7-2 record in net this season along with a 1.49 goals against average and a .702 save percentage with three shutouts.

LAST TIME OUT

Sophomore Emily Cressy scored two goals, while senior Monica Dolinsky added her team-leading eighth assist of the season as Kansas wrapped up the 2009 regular season with a 3-2 victory over No. 20 Missouri on a windy Friday afternoon at the Jayhawk Soccer Complex.

Scouting the Red Raiders

Texas Tech enters the first play-in match in conference history with a record of 8-8-3 after falling to Colorado, 2-0, in Boulder on Friday. The Red Raiders finished 3-4-3 in league play. Tech opened conference play at 3-0-1, but finished 0-4-2.

Tech’s offense scored 39 goals this season, which tied for fourth in the Big 12. Freshman forward Dawn Ward provided 1/3 of the team’s offense, scoring 13 goals and recording 27 points, which ranked third in the league. Sophomore Taylor Lytle led the Red Raiders with 11 assists and had 19 points.

In goal, junior Colleen Pitts and freshman Erin Wikelius have split time this season. Pitts has been the choice recently, and has posted a 4-4-2 record with a 1.27 goals against average and three shutouts.

KU leads the all-time series with Texas Tech, 10-3, including a 3-2 win over the Red Raiders in Lawrence this season. Tech hasn’t beaten KU since the 2003 season.

JAYHAWK-RED RAIDER CONNECTIONS

  • Kansas freshman Shelby Williamson and Texas Tech freshman Jaclyn Dozier were teammates at Air Academy High School in Colorado Springs, Colo.
  • Jayhawk forward Nicole Chrisopulos and Texas Tech’s Terry Madison were teammates at Rowlett High School in Rowlett, Texas. Chrisopulos and TTU’s Haley Fowler were also teammates on the Dallas Texans club team.
  • KU goalkeeper Logan Reed and the Red Raiders’ Connor Williams and Tiffini Smith were both Region III ODP players.
  • Jayhawk head coach Mark Francis and Texas Tech assistant Ashley Gordon both played collegiately at SMU.

MO-VING UP IN THE RECORD BOOKS

Senior midfielder Monica Dolinsky has scored a pair of goals and added two assists in Kansas’ last three matches of the season to continue to climb in the record books.

Dolinsky, a senior from Carmel, Ind., now has 23 goals, 28 assists, 74 points and seven game-winning goals in her career, which all rank in the top five in each category at Kansas. The senior’s 28 career assists also tie her for the 18th-most in Big 12 history.

In four career matches against Texas Tech, Dolinsky has a goal and an assist. Her goal came in 2008, which proved to be the game-winner

EMILY’S EXCLAMATION POINT

Sophomore forward Emily Cressy put an exclamation point on KU’s regular season with a two-goal effort against No. 20 Missouri, in a 3-2 Jayhawk victory. Cressy’s two goals against the Tigers marked her first multi-goal match of the season, while her second goal proved to be the game-winner.

Cressy has shown a knack for scoring game-deciding goals as Friday marked the ninth of her career. Her total is the third-most in team history, while her 11 goals this season are the most by a Jayhawk since Caroline Smith’s 11-goal season in 2004.

THE 7,000 CLUB

Early in the first half of the Nebraska game on Oct. 23, Estelle Johnson became just the third player in Kansas history to log over 7,000 minutes of field time in her career. Johnson (7,265) joins former teammate Afton Sauer (7,450) and goalkeeper Meghan Miller (7,836) as the only members of the 7,000-minute club.

Johnson will participate in her 84th match in the Crimson and Blue on Monday and will likely start for the 83nd time – which will tie her for the most starts by a Jayhawk field player with Sauer.

CORNER KICKS

  • Kansas will face Texas Tech in the first-ever Big 12 Play-In match Monday in San Antonio, Texas. Due to unclear wording in the conference’s tie-breaking procedures, the league decided to hold a play-in match to decide which team would earn the No. 8 seed.
  • This marks the first time that KU and Texas Tech have met twice in the same season. The Jayhawks have won six-straight over the Red Raiders, dating back to 2003.
  • Freshman Shelby Williamson scored her seventh goal of the season against Missouri Friday. The seven goals by the first-year midfielder are tied for the fifth-most by a Jayhawk freshman.
  • Freshman Sarah Robbins collected her first career assist Missouri on Friday, setting up Williamson’s goal late in the first half. Robbins is the 14th different Jayhawk to record an assist this year.
  • The Jayhawks honored their senior class on Friday, holding a postgame ceremony for defender Kim Boyer, midfielder Monica Dolinsky, goalkeeper Julie Hanley, defender Estelle Johnson and forward Shannon McCabe.
  • Several members of the Jayhawks are closing in on Top 10 marks in participation. Johnson’s 1,827 minutes played this season are the ninth-most in team history, while freshman Shelby Williamson’s total (1,807) is just five minutes away from cracking the Top 10.
  • Johnson’s 83 career matches played are the ninth-most in school history.

up next

With a win over Texas Tech, the Jayhawks would qualify the team for their 10th consecutive appearance in the Big 12 Soccer Championship. KU would be the No. 8 seed in the tournament, and would face top-seeded Missouri at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday night.

Powered by WMT Digital