MATCH PREVIEW: vs. Kennesaw State

QUICK KICKS

• Kansas is coming its second loss of the year, a 2-0 defeat at the hands of No. 7 BYU Thursday night at Rock Chalk Park.
• The match will act as the 25-year celebration event for the Kansas Soccer program, which played its first season in 1995. Jayhawk soccer alumni will be in attendance and recognized prior to kickoff.
• Kansas jumped four spots in the latest United Soccer Coaches’ poll. At No. 14, the Jayhawks were slotted in the top-20 for the fourth-straight week and inside the top-15 for the second time this season.
• The Jayhawks are a formidable foe when coming off a match in which they suffered a shutout. KU hasn’t been blanked in consecutive matches since 2015, and are 8-1-4 in those instances during that span.
• Kansas is 34-15-2 in regular-season home games since 2014, which includes a 12-3-0 mark since the start of 2018.
  A win Sunday would make the 2019 Jayhawks just the third Kansas squad to earn at least eight victories through the opening 10 games of the season.
• Eight different Jayhawks have scored a goal this season. Senior Katie McClure leads the team with seven goals, which ranks her 14th in the NCAA.
• The Jayhawks are 4-0-0 in matches played on Sundays this season. This after KU when a combined 5-7-3 on Sundays over the previous two seasons.
• KU’s defense has conceded just five goals through its first nine matches and became just the fourth Jayhawk team to allow five or fewer goals through its first nine games of a season.
• Senior Addisyn Merrick was named the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week by the league office Tuesday. She played all 180 minutes in back-to-back Jayhawk shutouts last weekend, in which the KU backline allowed a combined eight shots in those two outings.

STORYLINES

• FEASTING ON NONCON
  This season, the Jayhawks have already made it 12-straight seasons with a .500 winning percentage or better against regular-season nonconference foes. Since the start of the 2012 season, Kansas has posted an impressive 50-21-9 mark in its 80 regular-season nonconference matches (69%), which includes a 38-14-6 mark since 2014. In that span, KU has outscored noncon opponents by a tally of 138-76. Mark Francis has now led KU to a winning record in noncon in 20 of his 21 seasons in Lawrence and is 130-53-13 in regular-season nonconference games.
• BOUNCING BACK
  The Jayhawks have been good bouncing back when they are coming off a loss, especially when they are playing on their home turf. KU will try to carry this trend into its match with Kennesaw State, coming off its season loss of the season.Since moving to Rock Chalk Park in 2014, Kansas is 7-3-2 when playing a home match following a loss. That includes a 2-0-0 mark a season ago.The KU offense has also proven to be potent in games coming off being shutout. The Jayhawks have not been blanked in consecutive matches since 2015 and are 8-1-4 in matches coming off being shut out in that span.
• LET’S GET DEFENSIVE
  In their first nine matches of 2019, the Jayhawks have once again proved to be a stout defensive team, carrying over the trend from their last several seasons. Kansas currently boasts a goals-against average of 0.56 this season, which encompasses five shutouts in those first nine outings. The Jayhawks are allowing less than three opponent shots on goal per match.KU has already put together several impressive shutout streak to start this season. Kansas went 189-straight minutes without conceding a goal to start the year, and recently wrapped up a 295-minute opponent scoreless stretch. KU has tallied four opponent scoreless streaks of 300 minutes or more in the last five seasons.