No. 25 Kansas Begins Season Against Missouri State

Thursday, August 14

Lawrence, Kan.

7 p.m. CT

University of Kansas

Missouri State

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No. 25 Kansas Begins Season Against Missouri State

8/12/2025 3:29:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Game Notes Live Stats Watch Season Preview Press Conference

Missouri State vs. No. 25 Kansas
When	Thursday, Aug. 14 at 7 p.m. CT
Where	Lawrence, Kan. // Rock Chalk Park
Watch	ESPN+
Live Stats	Stats
Tickets	Buy Tickets
Social Media	@KUWSoccer \| @kansassoccer \| Facebook

LAWRENCE, Kan. – No. 25 Kansas soccer will begin its 31st season of soccer on Thursday, Aug. 14, against Missouri State at Rock Chalk Park. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. CT and will be broadcast on ESPN+. Fans can purchase tickets by clicking here.

Led by second-year head coach Nate Lie, the Jayhawks are coming off the 10th NCAA Tournament appearance in program history after winning the Big 12 Tournament Championship last season. Kansas finished the year 13-6-4 and went 6-4-1 in league play before winning four matches at CPKC Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri, to the Big 12 Tournament title.

"There's the new excitement of being back together, whether that's returning and seeing familiar faces or the infusion of excitement from the new talent, the new personalities," Lie said. "We haven't had many challenges quite yet. We haven't had much adversity yet. That's when you really see the test of character within an individual or a team, but that's to come. It's been a nice start thus far."

Kansas returns 15 players from the 2024 roster while adding 13 newcomers to the roster. The Jayhawks return seven starters, four of which scored three or more goals last season. In addition to the returners, the group of 13 newcomers includes three transfers and 10 freshmen.

Kansas is ranked No. 25 in the TopDrawerSoccer preseason rankings for the first time since the 2020-21 split season. The Jayhawks were picked to finish in fifth place in the Big 12 preseason poll, as voted on by the league's head coaches. Kansas was also well represented on the Preseason All-Big 12 Team, as Caroline Castans, Lexi Watts, and Saige Wimes were all named to the team. The three Preseason All-Big 12 selections were the most in program history.

This season, 78 percent of the team's scoring production from 2024 is returning. Kansas also brings back the top four goal scorers from last season in Lexi Watts (9), Jillian Gregorski (8), Saige Wimes (5), and Caroline Castans (3).

Kansas is 15-11-4 all-time in season openers, including 4-1-2 in the past seven seasons. Last season, Kansas won a 2-1 match at South Dakota State in the opener. Kansas is 16-10-4 all-time in home openers and 4-4-3 at Rock Chalk Park.

ABOUT MISSOURI STATE
Missouri State is coming off a season in which the Bears finished with a record of 13-5-3 after winning the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament to advance to the NCAA Tournament. The Bears are entering their first season in Conference USA this year and the Bears were picked to finish third in the conference. Missouri State is led by head coach Kirk Nelson, who has a 37-14-10 record with the Bears as he enters his fourth season as head coach.

SERIES HISTORY
Kansas leads the all-time series 11-1-0 against Missouri State, including 11 straight wins. The Jayhawks are 6-1-0 at home against the Bears. Kansas has outscored Missouri State 28-9 in 12 meetings, dating back to 1997.

HOW TO FOLLOW ALONG
Thursday's match will be broadcast on ESPN+, with the link available here.

Live statistics can be found here, while live updates will also be provided on the team's official X page @KUWSoccer.

UP NEXT
Kansas will stay at home to play South Dakota State on Sunday afternoon at Rock Chalk Park. The game is scheduled for 1 p.m. CT and will be broadcast on ESPN+.