⚽ MATCH PREVIEW: Big 12 Championship - Semifinals
LAWRENCE, Kan. –The No. 21 Kansas Jayhawks (13-4-3) will look to punch their ticket to the Big 12 Championship title match when they meet No. 10 Oklahoma State (15-1-3) in the semifinals on Friday, November 8 in Kansas City, Mo. The contest is slated to begin at 4:30 p.m., at Swope Soccer Village and will be streamed on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.
QUICK KICKS
- The Jayhawks will look to advance to the Big 12 tournament final for the second time in program history when they hit the pitch Friday.
- The Jayhawks are now 6-13-5 in their 18 appearances in the Big 12 Championship, which includes a 3-3-2 record since 2015. KU is 1-2-1 all-time in Big 12 semifinal matches.
- A team seeded fifth or lower has advanced to the Big 12 Championship final in six of the last seven years.
- The match against No. 10 OSU will be KU’s fifth against a ranked team this season. The Jayhawks are 1-2-1 in those first four outings, with the lone win coming against then-No. 20 Memphis on Aug. 29.
- Kansas is coming off a 2-0 win over West Virginia in the event quarterfinals Sunday. Katie McClure and Isabella Cavalcante scored KU’s goals in the opening 30 minutes as KU’s defense went on to tally its ninth shutout of the year.
- KU is riding a seven-match unbeaten streak, its longest such streak since the 2018 campaign. The program record for consecutive games without a loss is eight, shared by the 2008 and 2018 squads.
- Senior Katie McClure has scored 14 goals this season, good for second-most in the Big 12 in 2019 and the second-most by a Jayhawk in program history.
- Katie McClure or Ceri Holland have scored eight of the Jayhawks’ last nine goals, which spans KU’s last five matches. McClure has scored five times in KU’s last five outings.
- KU was slotted at No. 19 in the season’s seventh Rating Percentage Index (RPI) released this week. It marked the first time since the weekly rankings became public in 2011 that KU was slotted in the top-20 of the RPI for seven-straight weeks.
- Since 2014, the Jayhawks are 52-2-2 in matches in which they score two or more goals. This includes an 18-1-1 mark since the start of the 2018 season, with the lone blemish coming in the 5-2 loss to OSU last month.
GAME INFORMATION:
#21 Kansas (13-4-3, 4-2-3 Big 12) vs. #10 Oklahoma St. (15-1-3, 7-1-1 Big 12)
Date/Time: Friday, Nov. 8 at 4:30 p.m. (CT)
Where: Kansas City, Mo. (Swope Soccer Village)
Listen: Jayhawk Radio Network
Watch: Big 12 Now on ESPN+
NOTES:
BY THE NUMBERS
- 0 – Kansas and Oklahoma State have combined for zero losses since the two squads met on Oct. 3. The Jayhawks and Cowgirls have combined to go 11-0-3 in the month since they faced off in Stillwater.
- 36 – Katie McClure scored her 36th-career goal in the win over West Virginia Sunday. The number ranks her 16th among active players in NCAA DI.
- 70 – With Addisyn Merrick, Katie McClure and Ceri Holland earning spots on the All-Big 12 teams, KU has now had 70 all-league honorees. The number is the third-most among current Big 12 schools.
ALL-CONFERENCE CORONATION
Kansas soccer senior Addisyn Merrick was named the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year and was one of three Jayhawks to be named to the All-Big 12 teams when the league office announced its postseason awards Tuesday.
In addition to Merrick’s Player of the Year honor, she was named to the All-Big 12 First Team and was joined there by senior forward Katie McClure, who was a unanimous selection. Junior midfielder Ceri Holland was tabbed to the All-Big 12 Second Team.
The announcement means Kansas has had at least one Jayhawk on the All-Big 12 teams each year since the current format began in 2000. The three Jayhawks selected also marked the seventh time in the last eight seasons that three or more KU representatives were selected to the all-conference squads.
TOURNEY TIME
At the Big 12 Championship, now in its 24th year, Kansas has amassed a record of 6-13-5 in its 19 appearances. This season marks the second time Kansas is a No. 5 seed in the event. The previous year KU was seeded fifth was in 2005. Kansas is 5-10-4 all-time in Big 12 quarterfinal games after its win over West Virginia on Nov. 3.
Set to compete in the league tournament semifinals for the first time since 2015 and the fifth time overall, Kansas is 1-2-1 all-time in the semifinal round.
Kansas has history on its side as the No. 5 seed. A team seeded fifth or lower has advanced to the Big 12 Championship final in six of the last seven years.
TOP-25 TAKEDOWNS
Friday’s contest will mark KU’s fifth against a team ranked in the top-25 this season when the Jayhawks meet No. 10 Oklahoma State. Kansas is 1-2-1 in those first four outings against ranked foes. The Aug. 29 win over No. 20 Memphis marked the fourth-consecutive season the Jayhawks have tallied at least one victory over a team ranked among the top-25 in the nation.
Kansas is 8-15-3 against ranked foes since 2016, with seven of those losses coming against teams inside the top-10. Prior to this recent run, the Jayhawks managed just six victories over top-25 teams from 2010-15.
UP NEXT:
If the Jayhawks are able to get past their semifinal match-up, they will advance to the second Big 12 Championship final in five years and will take on the winner of the No. 2 seed Texas Tech-No. 6 seed TCU game for the tournament title slated for Sunday, Nov. 10 at 12:30 p.m. The match will be televised on FS1.
