Kansas upended at BYU, 3-2
PROVO, Utah – For the first time in more than five seasons, the Kansas soccer team was victim to an opposing team come-from-behind victory as the Jayhawks fell to the BYU Cougars, 3-2, Monday afternoon at South Field. KU’s unbeaten streak of 51 matches when it scores the game’s first goal was snapped after the Cougars rattled off three unanswered goals over 36 minutes of action.
The loss extended KU’s winless streak to four games and dropped its record to 5-4-1 as the Jayhawks closed out nonconference play. The win bumped the Cougars’ record to 2-4-3.
“We just lacked heart today,” said head coach Mark Francis following the match. “We scored a great goal and were making it look easy in the first 15 minutes, then we just took our foot off the gas and let them back in the game. Our mentality was not good. Now we have a quick turnaround and need to get ready to start our new season (Big 12 play) next weekend.”
The Jayhawks struck less than three minutes into the match off the foot of Eva Eliasdottir. The sophomore defender let a shot loose from more than 25 yards away from the BYU goal that snuck inside the upper right-hand corner of the frame. The goal was the first of Eliasdottir’s collegiate career and put her team up 1-0 with just over 150 seconds gone in the match.
The home side turned the momentum around just under that half-hour mark when Nadia Gomes struck for the first of her two goals. A long dribble down the center of the field and a shot from the top of the KU penalty box rolled outside the reach of KU goalkeeper Maddie Dobyns and just inside the right post to level the score at 1-1 in the 29th minute.
Twelve minutes later the Jayhawks caught an unlucky break when an attempted clearance out of the KU box struck the hand of sophomore Madison Meador, giving BYU a penalty kick. Gomes converted on the PK attempt to put her team up, 2-1 with just under five minutes to play in the opening frame.
The Cougars continued to attack in the second half and eventually broke through for their third and eventual game-winning goal in the 65th minute. BYU’s Cameron Tucker got on the end of a long ball played down the center of the field. She beat the only Jayhawk defender between her and the goal and slotted home her second of the season in the lower left corner of the KU frame.
With Kansas sending numbers forward in the final minutes of regulation, junior Grace Hagan was able to send in her third goal in as many games to pull KU within striking distance of a comeback. Senior Lois Heuchan beat the BYU keeper to a loose ball near the left edge of the Cougar penalty area and found Hagan near the PK spot. The Wichita native then sent in her fifth strike of the year on the open net, closing KU’s deficit to a goal with five minutes to play in regulation.
That’s as close as the Jayhawks could get however, falling to BYU 3-2. The Cougars ended the game with 24 shots, a season-high for a KU opponent, while the Jayhawks amassed 10 shots in the game, but only two attempts in the second half.
Dobyns collected a season-high eight saves in the loss as she made her 50th-career start in goal for the Jayhawks.
UP NEXT
KU will have just three days to prepare for the Big 12 opener, a Friday night contest against the TCU Horned Frogs in Fort Worth. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m., on FoxSports Southwest. The Jayhawks will then head to West Texas to take on the Texas Tech Red Raiders on Sunday, Sept. 24 for a 1 p.m. first touch.
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