⚽️ No. 12 TCU Beats Kansas 1-0 on Sunday

LAWRENCE, Kan. — The No. 12 ranked TCU Horned Frogs defeated the Kansas Jayhawks 1-0 on Sunday afternoon at Rock Chalk Park. TCU’s Gracie Brian scored the only goal of the match in the 47th minute.

“I thought we played really well,” Head Coach Mark Francis said. “Obviously, they’re a very good team. They have won the league the last two years and are preseason number one in the conference. We knew it would be a tough game, but I thought the kids played great. We competed really well. The game plan we had was really good defensively. It made it difficult for them. Against a very good offensive team, we did not give them many looks. I thought defensively we were phenomenal.”

The first half did not have many opportunities for either side. The only shot on goal in the half came in the third minute off the foot of Kansas freshman forward Lexi Watts. Watts turned and fired the ball at the near post, but TCU’s Lauren Kellett was there to make the save. The game was tied 0-0 at the break.

Chances for both teams opened up in the second half. Not even two minutes into the period, TCU was able to go ahead 1-0. A cross off the foot of Camryn Lancaster went off the corner of the post and crossbar and bounced directly in front of the net to Brian. She was able to easily put the ball in the back of the net.

In the last 15 minutes of the match, Kansas started to string together a couple chances. Junior midfielder Avery Smith put a strong shot on target in the 75th minute that Kellett was able to save. Then, in the 83rd minute junior defender Moira Kelley sent a free kick into the box that super-senior midfielder Rylan Childers was able to get her head on. Childers put the ball on goal, but Kellett deflected it over the crossbar.

“We had more looks in the second half offensively,” Francis said. “Maybe a little more of a bounce here or there and we would have had some opportunities. We’re getting the ball into the right spaces and right areas, but we’re not quite connecting on them.”

TCU had a 16-6 advantage on shots, but KU held a 4-3 edge for shots on goal. KU falls to 7-5 on the season and 0-2 in the Big 12, while TCU improved to 6-2-3 on the year and 1-0-1 in conference play.

Kansas will play its first conference game on the road Friday (Sept. 30) when it travels to Morgantown to play West Virginia at 6 p.m. CT. The game will be broadcast on Big 12 NOW on ESPN+.