Kansas Soccer Caps Off Regular Season with 2-0 Victory at K-State

Friday, October 25

Manhattan, Kan.

07:00 PM

University of Kansas

9-5-4, 6-4-1

Kansas State

3-12-3, 0-9-2

Kansas

Kansas St.

Kansas Soccer Caps Off Regular Season with 2-0 Victory at K-State

10/25/2024 11:08:00 PM | Women's Soccer

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MANHATTAN, Kan. – Kansas secured its fourth consecutive win on Friday night as the Jayhawks defeated the Kansas State Wildcats 2-0 at Buser Family Park. Caroline Castans scored her first two goals of the season and Sophie Dawe recorded her sixth shutout of the year to lift Kansas past K-State.

Kansas finished the regular season with a record of 9-5-4 and 6-4-1 in conference play. The six conference victories are the most since the 2006 season. The Jayhawks will now play in the Big 12 Championship next Wednesday, Oct. 30 at 8:00 p.m. CT against Arizona State at CPKC Stadium in Kansas City.

"Credit to K-State, this was a game that they knew their outcome and it's hard to coach those games and hard to play those games," head coach Nate Lie said. "It becomes all about pride. I thought they showed a lot of heart, discipline and pride tonight. They gave us a real fight. Put us on our heels for a good portion of the first half. I thought for whatever reason we came out a little nervous. We were very reactive and second to balls. I thought when we had possession either we weren't moving to try and create the proper angles or we were getting rid of the ball too quickly."

Lie continued, "Went into halftime and it was nice to have that break to regroup…We feel like we were the better team so let's act like it and play like it. I thought our team responded really well in the second half. It was 6-6 on shots heading into halftime and 11-1 in the second half. Manufactured a lot of corners. Those corners looked dangerous. The services all of a sudden looked dangerous. It was every line…It was a nice team effort in the second half. I think it was much more on brand and what we expected the entire evening. Happy with the response after half."

Kansas and Kansas State played a back-and-forth first half. Each team had its opportunities but neither team was able to find the scoreboard. The teams were tied 0-0 at half and even at 6-6 on shots.

The Jayhawks were able to change the trajectory of the game early in the second half. In the 54th minute, freshman Kate Langfelder picked off a K-State pass in the attacking third and sent the ball to Castans at the elbow of the box. Castans hit it towards the back post and it went over the goalkeeper and into the net to give Kansas a 1-0 lead.

"I was going for a cross, but I'll take a shot," Castans said. "I think we had good momentum going in. The second half we flipped a switch and brought a lot of energy pressing them. I'm just grateful it went in the goal."

Less than eight minutes later, Castans was able to strike again. This time, Castans anticipated a K-State pass and picked it off while going full speed towards the goal. Castans took a shot from the elbow of the box and snuck it past the goalkeeper for a 2-0 lead.

That was all that Dawe and the Kansas defense would need the remainder of the game. The Jayhawks outshout the Wildcats 17-7, including 11-1 in the second half. KU had nine shots on goal compared to three for K-State.

"Our team has a lot of good energy right now," Dawe said. "Everything is connecting and we're peaking at the right time. Going into [the Big 12 Championship] we're just bringing that momentum, bringing the energy and trying to keep it up all 90 minutes. Really focusing on valuing our identity and bring it to every single game."

NOTES
• Kansas has won the last four matches. The last time Kansas had a four-match winning streak was Aug. 21-Sept. 1, 2022. The last time the Jayhawks won four consecutive conference matches was Sept. 26-Oct. 10, 2014.
• Kansas recorded its sixth conference win of the season and its fourth on the road. The last time Kansas had six conference wins and four of them coming on the road was 2006. Kansas did not have one conference win on the road in the last three seasons combined.
• Five of the six conference victories this season have been shutouts.
• Kansas has seven shutouts as a team this season.
• Castans scored her first two goals of the season. The only other goal in her career came on Oct. 1, 2023 vs. Texas.
• Dawe secured her sixth shutout of the season.
• Langfelder now has four assists this season.

UP NEXT
Kansas will play in the Sprouts Farmers Market Big 12 Soccer Championship on Wednesday, Oct. 30 at 8 p.m. CT against Arizona State at CPKC Stadium in Kansas City.