RCW: Sport Spotlight 4.8 (Soccer)
FULLTIME: KANSAS TAKES DOWN NO. 9 TEXAS!
The Jayhawks score twice in the 2nd half to hand UT its first loss of the year! #RockChalk pic.twitter.com/8YCkZEiltg
— Kansas Soccer (@KUWSoccer) October 14, 2017
That winning feeling. #RockChalk
A post shared by Kansas Women’s Soccer (@kansassoccer) on Oct 13, 2017 at 7:09pm PDT
Last Friday’s victory over No. 9 Texas was impressive for many reasons for the Kansas soccer team. The Jayhawks took down the previously unbeaten Longhorns by a score of 2-1 after Kansas staged a second-half comeback, capped by Kayla Morrison’s eventual game-winner in the 84th minute.
Come-from-behind heroics haven’t been foreign to this year’s squad, as two of its wins and a draw have been in comeback fashion. Kansas found itself trailing in the first half of three of its Big 12 contests and has rebounded in each. KU scored twice in the second half in its matches against Iowa State and Texas to earn its two conference wins, and also netted a game-tying goal to salvage a draw against Texas Tech in Lubbock. The 2017 Jayhawks have reversed the fortunes of recent KU teams, who managed only three victories from 2012-16 in games when their opponents scored first.
“I’m just proud of the kids today,” head coach Mark Francis explained after the win over Texas. “I thought to come back from behind (and pull out the victory); we did the same thing at Iowa State. Again, this group is very resilient. It doesn’t matter what the score is, they just keep fighting.”
The win over Texas was also monumental in that it marked the second for Kansas over a top-10 ranked team this season. The Jayhawks also took down No. 7 Southern California earlier this year and, paired with the victory over Texas Friday, gave Kansas two wins over a top-10 team in a single season for just the second time in program history and the first time since 2004.
