Jayhawks Upset Aggies, 4-2
SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Junior Shannon McCabe scored two goals, while All-Big 12 First Team selection Monica Dolinsky tallied two assists as the Kansas soccer team upset the eighth-ranked Texas A&M Aggies, 4-2 Wednesday in the quarterfinal round of the Big 12 Soccer Championship.
The win, KU’s first Big 12 Championship victory since 2004, moves the seventh-seeded Jayhawks into the semifinal round where they will meet Border Showdown rival Missouri Friday at 7:30 p.m.
After falling in the regular season finale to Missouri, Kansas scored a postseason record four goals in Wednesday’s match.
Junior Shannon McCabe gave the Jayhawks a 1-0 lead in the 10th minute. McCabe – who scored the only goal in a 1-0 win over Texas A&M in the regular season – followed a Monica Dolinsky shot off the crossbar with a tap into the net from five feet out. It was the junior’s seventh goal of the season.
Kansas took a 2-0 lead in the in the 62nd minute as Jessica Bush finished a Dolinsky free kick from the far side of the box, getting ahead of the defense and tapping the ball past Aggie goalkeeper Kelly Dyer.
One minute later, the Jayhawks struck again as Emily Cressy collected a loose ball the top of the box and fired a shot into the net to give KU a 3-0 lead. The three goals scored against the Aggies marks the most a Jayhawk team has ever scored against a Texas A&M team. KU also improved to 7-0 in matches where Cressy records a goal.
Later in the half, Kansas poured it on as McCabe scored her second goal of the match on a breakaway. Junior defender Estelle Johnson started the play, clearing a ball up the middle of the field where McCabe gathered it just past midfield and beat the keeper one-v-one. It marked McCabe’s second multi-goal match of the season after recording a hat trick against Francis Marion on Oct. 19.
The four goals scored match a Big 12 Soccer Championship record. KU also recorded four goals in the opening round of the 2004 championship against Iowa State – it’s last conference tournament win.
Texas A&M scored two goals late in the second half, but to no avail as KU recorded its second win over the Aggies this season. Heading into the 2008 season, the Jayhawks had defeated Texas A&M just once in 12 previous meetings.
Kansas matched the eighth-ranked Aggies shot for shot as each team recorded 20 on the evening. The Jayhawks put nine on frame, compared to just seven for Texas A&M.
Bush and McCabe led the offensive attack with five shots a piece.
The win was KU’s fourth over a nationally ranked team this season, and second over a team ranked in the top 10 – defeating then-No. 6 Texas A&M on Oct. 17.
Kansas (12-7-1) will play Missouri at 7:30 p.m. Friday evening in the semifinal round of the Big 12 Championship.
