⚽ Kansas Dominates Missouri Southern State, 5-0, in exhibition
LAWRENCE, Kan. – No. 25 Kansas (5-3-1) opened the 2021 spring soccer season with a dominant 5-0 victory versus Missouri Southern State in exhibition play Friday afternoon at Rock Chalk Park.
The Jayhawks shut out the Lions during the match, tallying three saves and amassing 24 shots on the day.
Kansas led the attack early in the match. Freshman forward Brie Severns wasted no time scoring her first goal of the spring campaign, launching an unassisted shot into the back of the net in the 10th minute of the match.
The rest of the first period was a back-and-forth affair, with neither team being able to gather enough momentum to score. Heading into the locker room, Kansas outshot MSSU 12-2 in the first half and the Lions tallied seven saves as KU led 1-0.
Kansas wasted no time adding to its lead once the second period started. In the opening minute of the half, freshman Shira Elinav found the back of the net to give the Jayhawks a 2-0 lead.
A foul by one of the Lions’ led to a Rylan Childers penalty kick that the junior midfielder buried for the third KU goal of the contest.
In the 74th minute, Severns knocked in her second goal of the contest and gave the Jayhawks a comfortable 4-0 lead.
With time winding down, KU junior Samanatha Barnett scored a goal of her own in the 89th minute to close out the scoring.
Four different Jayhawks scored goals on the day, with Childers, Severns, Elinav and Barnett leading the offensive attack. KU used three goalkeepers for the match with junior Sarah Peters starting and sophomores Melania Pasar and Emilie Gavillet also seeing action. The trio combined for three saves for the match.
MOMENT OF THE MATCH
In the 74th minute of the match, freshman Brie Severns knocked in her second goal of the day and the fourth goal of the contest to give Kansas a commanding 4-0 lead.
STAT OF THE GAME
4 – Four different Jayhawks scored a goal on the day: Brie Severns (2), Shira Elinav, Rylan Childers and Samantha Barnett.
QUOTING MARK FRANCIS
On the first match of the spring
“We’ve been training for a month, which is longer than normal to get ready for the (spring) season. We lost our seniors (from the fall), so there is a different look and a lot of the younger guys are playing. It’s a great opportunity for them and I thought some of the younger players did very well today.”
On the halftime talk
“I told them our tempo was to slow. There were a lot of little details that we were not executing efficiently in the first half. I thought we were sharper in the second half and because of that we created more chances and finished better.”
UP NEXT
Kansas will travel to Manhattan, Kansas, to play face Kansas State in the Dillons Sunflower Showdown on Saturday, March 6. The match will start at 7 p.m.
