Last Second Goal Propels KU to 2OT Win Over Baylor, 1-0

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LAWRENCE, Kan. – Freshman Parker Roberts headed in a goal with less than 10 seconds left in the second overtime to lift the Kansas Jayhawks to a 1-0 win over the Baylor Bears Friday night inside Rock Chalk Park. Roberts’ goal was the latest game-winner in program history and lifted the Jayhawks to their fifth win in their last six games.
 
The win moved Kansas to 7-5-1 on the year, including a 2-1-0 mark in league play, while Baylor’s seven-game win streak was snapped and dropped the Bears to 7-5-1 in its 2015 campaign, including a 2-1-0 record in conference.
 
“I’m so proud of our kids,” said head coach Mark Francis. “Even with 11 seconds left on the clock, we found a way to get it done. When you play Baylor you have to come to fight and I thought our kids really did a tremendous job of battling today. This is a great win for us.”
 
The Jayhawks and Bears fought for nearly 110 minutes in one of the most physical matches in program history, with neither squad able to break free from the other. The two teams entered the final minute of the second overtime period still level at 0-0 and appeared to be headed for a draw, which is what the result would have been had it not been for Roberts’ last-second heroics.
 Teammates mobbed Liana Salazar after her free kick was headed in by Roberts for the game winner.With 11 seconds on the clock, play was stopped after Baylor was whistled for its 26th foul of the match. The foul, which marked the most by a Jayhawk opponent since Oct. 9, 1998, was significant because it gave Kansas one last glimpse at the BU frame with a free kick from 30 yards out.
 
Senior Liana Salazar lined up the kick and sent it curling in toward the right post. Roberts made a run from the top of the Bear 18-yard box and met Salazar’s service eight yards from the face of goal. The Leawood, Kansas product got just enough of the ball to redirect off its original line and into the right side netting, immediately bringing the match to an end and giving KU its seventh win of the year, all with just eight seconds before the match would have been declared a draw.
 
Roberts’ goal, which came 109:52 after the opening whistle, marked the latest game-winner in program history (since the overtime format was changed in 2002). The win, which came in the Jayhawks’ program-record-tying sixth overtime match of the year, was also the third golden-goal victory by Kansas this season.
 
The win didn’t come without a hard-fought opening 109 minutes though, which saw a combined 41 fouls whistled on both teams as well as five yellow cards issued. Each squad saw several chances to net a goal earlier in the match, with the best opportunities coming in the waning moments of regulation and overtime.
 
In the 78th minute, Baylor junior Ashley York took a 25-yard free kick that slammed of the left post of KU’s goal, just inches from putting hear team ahead with 12 minutes to play. BU came close again five minutes later when York let one loose from 20 yards, which required Jayhawk keeper, Maddie Dobyns, to make an acrobatic save to tip the ball over the crossbar.
 
KU’s prime opportunity came seven minutes into the second of the two 10-minute overtime periods, when junior Tayler Estrada found space just outside the BU box. She sent in a strike that appeared to be going in as the game-winner, but Bear goalkeeper Sara Martinson was there for a diving save that, for the moment, appeared to thwart KU’s final chance to win the match.
 
Salazar connected with Roberts 90 seconds later to bring the match to a close, and gave KU the golden goal victory and its seventh win of the season.
 
Kansas was outshot for just the second time this season after Baylor took the edge 22-18 on the shot sheet. Estrada led the squad with five shots on the evening. Dobyns tied a career-high with five saves, each of which came in the second half or overtime.
 
The Jayhawks will now have less than two days to recover from their match against Baylor when they return to the pitch at Rock Chalk Park to take on Oklahoma. The match, set for Sunday, Oct. 11, will kick off at 1 p.m., and will be televised on Time Warner Cable SportsChannel and ESPN3.
 
 
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