PULLMAN, Wash. – Kansas dropped Sunday’s match against No. 15 Washington State 1-0 at Lower Soccer Field. The Jayhawks had a flurry of chances late in the second half, but were unable to find the back of the net.
“The biggest thing today was we needed to come out and get back to competing again,” Kansas Head Coach Mark Francis said. “We did that today. Other than the first 8-10 minutes, I thought we went toe-to-toe. They had a couple of good chances and Melania (Pasar) made a couple of good saves, but we had some good opportunities too. I could not have asked for more from the group today.”
Kansas had opportunities all game and that started in the first half. Sophomore Lexi Watts had two good chances in the period. The first came in the 11th minute when Watts got the ball past the Washington State goalkeeper, but the shot was saved by a defender. Then, in the 18th minute Watts put a header just wide of the left post. Watts led Kansas with four shots for the match.
Super-senior Melania Pasar made five saves in the first half, which included two big back-to-back saves in the 38th minute to keep the game scoreless. Pasar made six saves overall in the match.
Washington State’s Rajanah Reed broke the scoreless tie with a goal in the 40th minute. She took a shot from a tough angle just outside the corner of the box and was able to put it over the head of Pasar. The game went into the half with the Cougars ahead 1-0.
In the second half, Kansas controlled possession and mounted pressure the final 15 minutes of the game. The Jayhawks had three consecutive corners in the final six minutes of play.
The loss was the first of the season for Kansas who moved to 3-1-4 on the year. Sunday’s match was also the final nonconference game of the season. Washington State improved to 6-1.
“Coming out of nonconference with one loss against the competition that we played, I’m really happy with the group. We made progress over these eight games and now we’re getting ready for Big 12 play,” Francis said.
UP NEXT
Kansas begins conference play on Thursday, Sept. 14 at Oklahoma. The match is scheduled for 7 p.m. CT and will be broadcast on ESPN+.
