⚽️ Kansas Hosted Kansas City NWSL in Friendly Match

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Tuesday afternoon at Rock Chalk Park, behind closed doors, the Kansas soccer team fought to the final whistle with Kansas City NWSL, ultimately losing the contest 2-0.

The match will not count to Kansas’ final season record as the Jayhawks make their final push for the NCAA Tournament.

MOMENTS OF THE MATCH

Junior goalkeeper Sarah Peters started the match in goal for the Jayhawks and put the team on her back early. She faced a barrage of shots from Kansas City’s attack but refused to be beat early. On one save in particular she left her feet, reached out at full extension and parried the ball over the crossbar with one hand. She would play just 45 minutes but made nine saves.

On the other side of the ball Kansas nearly cut the deficit in half when freshman forward Shira Elinav found herself open at the top of the box. With a defender closing in and no options for a pass she opted for a chip shot from a difficult angle. As she struck the ball, she beat Kansas City’s keeper, Abby Smith, but missed the goal inches high.

STAT OF THE MATCH

18 – In the 90-minute scrimmage 18 different Jayhawks got playing time, including three different goalkeepers. Freshman defender Mackenzie Boeve was the only Jayhawk to play all 90 minutes, but multiple players saw more than 75 minutes of play. All 18 players gained valuable experience playing against professional athletes.

QUOTING MARK FRANCIS

“As coaches, we always try to challenge our players in training and the different environments we put them in to help them get better and you can’t get more challenging then playing a professional team. Defensively, we did extremely well today. We kept them out of any really clear-cut opportunities. Sarah (Peters) made a couple of really good saves in goal. Melania (Pasar) made an unbelievable save when she was in the game. I’m excited to get to watch Kansas City play live when their season gets started. It was enjoyable for us and a great opportunity for the players to play against opponents of that level.”

UP NEXT

Kansas heads to Ames, Iowa, to take on the Iowa State Cyclones, Saturday March 20th at 3 p.m. CT.