Kansas Heading Back to Big 12 Championship with 2-1 Victory Against No. 12 Colorado

Wednesday, November 5

Fort Worth, Texas

7 p.m. CT

University of Kansas

14-4-3, 6-4-1

Colorado

15-3-3, 8-1-2

Kansas

Colorado

Kansas Heading Back to Big 12 Championship with 2-1 Victory Against No. 12 Colorado

11/5/2025 11:00:00 PM | Women's Soccer

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FORT WORTH, Texas – For the first time in school history, Kansas soccer is in the Big 12 Championship match in back-to-back seasons after a 2-1 victory against No. 12 Colorado on Wednesday night in the semifinals of the Big 12 Tournament at Garvey-Rosenthal Soccer Stadium. Saige Wimes tied the game with a goal early in the second half and freshman Lydia Viets scored her first career goal for the game-winner in the 74th minute.

Kansas (14-4-3) won the Big 12 Tournament a season ago and will look to defend its title on Saturday night against BYU in Waco, Texas, at 7 p.m. CT. The Jayhawks improved to 14-4-3 on the season and have now won six consecutive games in the Big 12 Tournament dating back to last season. In two seasons at Kansas, head coach Nate Lie is 6-0 all-time in the Big 12 Tournament. With tonight's win, Kansas has knocked off the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds in the tournament to make it to the championship.

"We didn't start off great again," Lie said. "I thought we were a little timid, a little hesitant, and playing on our back foot. Let's give (Colorado) credit for that. They changed shapes. We played them (six) days ago and they changed shapes, so that took a minute to settle into. The way that they run through balls is different from most teams in the country. It took us too long to adjust to it. We gave them too many set pieces early on. I thought we might have weathered it, but then they found their goal off a corner."

Lie continued, "Our first goal that we scored, we weren't knocking on the door. It kind of came out of nowhere, and it absolutely changed the game. Lexi made a play, got to the end line, served one across and Saige finished it. Saige has had just horrible luck this year, horrible luck. She stuck with it and she scored a great goal, not an easy one either. I think that changed the game. I think us possessing the ball changed the game.

"I think we were better at winning first and second balls. And the game could have gone either way. The ball popped out to Lydia and one thing we talk about is to not sky the ball. We want to keep the ball low to give yourself a chance and it picked up a deflection. That's the kind of stuff that happens in the crowded box. Adding to our mystique and our folklore here, it's another player who hasn't scored all year, scores the game-winner in the semifinal. We tell the team all the time that it could be anyone who can be the hero. Anyone can change the game, and in this case, Lydia did. It was 2-1 with 15 minutes to go. It felt like probably two hours, but we hung on."

Kansas started the game by taking two early shots from Lexi Watts, but both were saved by the Colorado goalkeeper. Colorado started to control possession more as the first half continued and the Buffaloes were able to score first in the 27th minute. Faith Leyba put the ball in the back of the net off a corner kick to make it 1-0 Colorado.

The Buffaloes went into the half with a 1-0 lead. Despite trailing, the Jayhawks did hold a 6-5 advantage in shots at the break.

KU came out in the second half with an emphasis on possessing the ball. That paid off in the 55th minute. Lexi Watts gathered the ball on a failed clearance by Colorado and dribbled the ball from near midfield all the way into the box and crossed it to Wimes in the middle of the box for her to finish into the back of the net to knot the match at 1-1.

"Not to say that we're familiar with being down, but we kind of like being the underdogs," Wimes said. "So when we go down, we just tell everyone, don't put your heads down. Keep pushing. We just kept chipping away and we got the goal. We're just relentless all the time."

Colorado (15-3-3) nearly took the lead right back in the 59th minute. On a corner kick, the Buffaloes put a header on goal and Caroline was standing at the post and made a save with her head to keep the game tied at 1-1.

Kansas continued to push forward and found its reward a short time later. After a couple failed clearances by Colorado, the ball found Viets at the left elbow of the box. Viets fired a shot at the goal and it was redirected into the net to give Kansas a 2-1 advantage in the 74th minute.

"It was just like a surreal experience," Viets said. "I'm not a starter, but every time I come in, I just want to do whatever I can to help the team. I'm just really glad that tonight I was able to get that last goal and help our team win."

The Jayhawks were able to close out the final minutes of the match to earn a 2-1 victory and a spot back in the Big 12 Tournament Championship match. Kansas and Colorado were even at 13-13 on shots.

NOTES
• Kansas has won six consecutive Big 12 Tournament games dating back to last season. Head coach Nate Lie is now 6-0 in the Big 12 Tournament across two tournament appearances.
• Kansas has now qualified for the Big 12 Tournament Championship four times in program history (2015, 2019, 2024, 2025).
• Kansas will be looking to become the first team to win the Big 12 Tournament Championship in back-to-back seasons since West Virginia in 2013-14.
• Kansas has knocked off the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds in the Big 12 Tournament to qualify for the championship match.
• Kansas moved to 14-4-3 on the season and 8-1-1 in games away from Lawrence.
• Kansas has surpassed its win total from a season ago (13).
• Kansas improved to 18-4-2 in two seasons under Coach Lie in games played away from Lawrence.
• Wimes scored her fourth goal of the season, and the 10th of her career.
• Watts recorded her fourth assist of the year, and the 12th of her career.
• Viets scored her first career goal and the game-winning goal.

UP NEXT
Kansas advances to the championship match of the Big 12 Tournament to play No. 8 BYU. The match will be played on Saturday, Nov. 8 at 7 p.m. CT at Betty Lou Mays Soccer Field in Waco, Texas.