Jayhawks Top Hurricane, 2-1, in Spring Friendly
TULSA, Okla. – A goal and assist from sophomore transfer Alex Schweitzer helped propel the Kansas soccer team to its first victory of the spring exhibition season Saturday afternoon. Junior Ashley Pankey also added a goal in the victory.
“I was really happy with how we played in the first half today,” said head coach Mark Francis. “We were all over them in the first half and were doing some really nice things on both ends of the field. We came out a little flat in the second half, but overall, I was happy with the game today. I think the first two matches of the spring (vs. the Kansas Men’s Club Team and FC Kansas City) really helped us and have is in a good place as we move forward over the next few weeks.”
The Jayhawks controlled the majority of the opening frame, getting out to an early 2-0 lead before the midway point of the match. Schweitzer, who transferred to KU at the start of the spring semester from Virginia Tech, sparked the KU offense, putting in the team’s first goal of the spring campaign. The sophomore defender found herself in the right place at the right time when a KU free kick into the Tulsa box was deflected to her. Schweitzer used a strong left-footed strike off the volley to knock the ball into the back of the net and give the Jayhawks the lead.
Schweitzer was also involved on KU’s second goal when she found Pankey 20 yards outside the Hurricane frame. The junior forward then turned and nailed a hard strike that went upper 90 to the far post and put the Jayhawks comfortably ahead, 2-0.
Tulsa got on the board with just over 10 minutes to play after it took advantage of a Jayhawk miscue. A poor Kansas clearance resulted in an easy takeaway for the home team and an eventual goal. Despite cutting the lead in half, Tulsa was unable to tie up the score before fulltime, handing the Jayhawks their first win of the spring.
Kansas will return home to close out the spring campaign with two matches in Lawrence over the last three weeks of April. The Jayhawks will welcome the Iowa Hawkeyes to Rock Chalk Park on April 16 before closing out the spring with the Arkansas Razorbacks on April 30. For recaps of each of the remaining three spring contests log on to KUAthletics.com.
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