KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Head Coach Mark Francis coached in his 500th game at Kansas on Thursday night in a 1-1 draw against Kansas City at Durwood Soccer Stadium. Associate Head Coach Kelly Miller joined Francis in the 500-game milestone at KU.
KU redshirt junior Hallie Klanke scored her team-high fourth goal of the season and sophomore Lexi Watts collected her third assist of the season in the draw. Kansas remained undefeated this season, moving to 3-0-4 on the year.
“Credit to UMKC,” Francis said. “They wanted it more than us today. We finally woke up the last 15 minutes to create more chances. We need to do a lot of simple things better than we did tonight. We have to recover. We have a tough game on Sunday and have to learn from this.”
In the first half, neither team was able to find the back of the net. Kansas held a 5-2 advantage on shots at the break.
The scoring started quickly in the second half with the Jayhawks striking first. Klanke connected on her team-high fourth goal of the season in the 50th minute. A through ball from midfield by Watts caught Klanke in stride in the box that she was able to finish with her right foot into the top left corner of the net. The goal was Klanke’s team-high fourth of the season.
Less than two minutes later, Kansas City (1-3-3) tied up the game. Briana Castleberry took a shot from just outside the box and was able to put it past KU goalkeeper Melania Pasar. The goal evened the game at 1-1.
Kansas had a couple chances late in the half but was unable to convert. The Jayhawks had a 13-6 advantage in shots, including a 6-2 advantage for shots on target. Watts led the team with three shots.
UP NEXT
Kansas travels to Pullman, Washington, to play the second of five-consecutive road matches at No. 15 Washington State on Sunday, Sept. 10. The match is scheduled for 3 p.m. CT/1 p.m. PT and will be broadcast on the Pac-12 Network.
