Jayhawks and Red Raiders battle to 1-1 draw

LUBBOCK, Texas – The Kansas Jayhawks fought back after an early Red Raider goal to pull out a 1-1 draw Sunday afternoon at the John Walker Soccer Complex. Sophomore Sophie Maierhofer netted the equalizing goal to help Kansas put an end to a four-game losing skid.
               
The tie moved Kansas to 5-5-2 on the season and 0-1-1 following the first weekend of league play. Texas Tech saw its record go to 8-2-1 in 2017, with a 1-0-1 mark in the Big 12.
 
“I thought the kids were tremendous today,” said head coach Mark Francis. “This is a good result. We’ll take the tie based on the situation. Coming from behind especially when I felt like we had the better of it in the first half, was big to get the momentum back before halftime. I’m proud of the kids today.”
 
The Red Raiders get on the board early with a strike off the foot of Rebekah O’Brien. The TTU senior sent in her first goal of the year off a free kick from 25 yards away from the KU frame. Her attempt, taken from the center of the field, curled just inside the left post and just out of reach of the outstretched arms of KU goalkeeper Maddie Dobyns.
 
Kansas fought its way back into the match 18 minutes later with the help of a quality shot from Maierhofer. A strong build-up in the Red Raider end of the field saw freshman Amari Hopkins find space inside the 18-yard box. Hopkins passed back to Madison Meador at the top of the box, who then found Maierhofer on the left side of the rectangle. The Graz, Austria product then buried her fourth goal of the season inside the far post.
 
The two sides played even the rest of the way, with each team putting together a handful of dangerous chances over the final 60-plus minutes of action.
 
The Jayhawks tallied six shots over the remainder of the game, with just two of those forcing the TTU goalkeeper into a save. In the 70th minute, Grace Hagan connected on a header from 10 yards out, but her try was stopped by Red Raider keeper Marissa Zucchetto.
 
With the game still deadlocked at 1-1 and the match in overtime, the home side came within inches of netting the golden goal. In the 106th minute, TTU’s Ally Griffin connected on a shot the slammed off the KU crossbar.
 
Four minutes later the match ended with neither side able to get the upper hand, handing the Jayhawks’ their second draw of the year and putting an end to their four-match losing streak.
 
Texas Tech ended the match with a slight edge in shots at 18-14, however the Jayhawks tallied more shots on frame, 8-4. Dobyns ended the match with one game and was called into action to defend seven Red Raider corners.

UP NEXT
Kansas will play its fifth and final match of a five-game road stretch when the Jayhawks head north to Ames, Iowa to meet the Iowa State Cyclones on Friday, Sept. 29. Kickoff from the Cyclone Soccer Complex is slated for 7 p.m. A week later KU will make its long awaited return to Rock Chalk Park to host the first installment of the Dillons Sunflower Showdown. Kansas State will journey to Lawrence to face Kansas on Oct. 6. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. and will be televised on Spectrum Sports and ESPN3.
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