⚽️ Four Goals Lead Kansas to 4-1 Victory Against Yale

LAWRENCE, Kan. — The Kansas Jayhawks won their fourth straight home game by a score of 4-1 against Yale on Sunday afternoon at Rock Chalk Park. Kansas has now won six of its last seven games.

“I thought we played very well for a majority of the game,” Head Coach Mark Francis said. “We definitely ran out of gas, which is why we played 18 players. Some of the girls that are going to play a lot of minutes next week did not have to play as many today, so that’s going to help us in the long run. We needed our bench today and they stepped up.”

Juniors Kate Dreyer and Shira Elinav each scored a goal, while freshman Saige Wimes scored her first two career goals. The four goals were a season high for the Jayhawks.

Dreyer got the scoring started in the 14th minute. Following a foul just outside the box, Dreyer took the free kick and hit the ball off the crossbar and it deflected straight down past the goal line. The goal was the first of the season for Dreyer and her third career goal.

Wimes would add to the lead with her first goal of the game in the 28th minute. The play began with freshman Maree Shinkle sending a ball to the corner that freshman Lexi Watts chased down and crossed into the box. Watts put the ball on the back post where Wimes was making a run and was able to get her head onto the ball and into the back of the net for her first career goal. KU led 2-0 at halftime and had an 11-2 advantage on shots.

The Jayhawks continued their scoring in the second half. In the 58th minute, Elinav extended the lead to 3-0. Shinkle crossed the ball into the box where Elinav was able to get a piece of the ball and put it into the bottom left corner of the net. Shinkle was credited with her second assist of the game. Her two assists were a career high and Elinav’s goal was her fifth of the season, surpassing her total from a season ago.

When asked about her strong start to the year, Elinav said, “I think it’s just hard work and a whole team effort. Everyone coming in and putting their hearts out on the field. I just try to stay humble, perform and help my team win.”

Yale was able to get on the board in the 89th minute after a scrum in front of the net led to a Bulldogs goal. The Jayhawks did get the goal back before the end of regulation.

At 89:55, super-senior Rylan Childers crossed the ball into the box. The ball got past the goalkeeper and all the way to Wimes to finish it off for her second goal of the game with only one second remaining on the clock.

Kansas held a 21-10 shot advantage in the match and had 12 shots on goal. Kansas improved to 6-2 on the season with the win, while Yale dropped to 3-2-1.

Kansas will head to Florida next week to wrap up its non-conference schedule by playing Florida Atlantic (Sept. 15) and USF (Sept. 18). Both matches will be broadcast on ESPN+.