ROUND ROCK, Texas — The No. 15 ranked TCU Horned Frogs defeated the Kansas Jayhawks 5-1 in the quarterfinal round of the Big 12 Championship at the Round Rock Multipurpose Complex on Sunday. Super-senior Rylan Childers scored the lone goal for the Jayhawks.
“This group showed unbelievable character over the course of the season,” Head Coach Mark Francis said. “That aspect of this group is what I am most proud of, how they handled adversity when things were not always going right.”
TCU got on the board early in the first half. In the ninth minute, Sarah Melcher scored her first career goal that was assisted by Gracie Brian and AJ Hennessey off a corner kick. Melcher would then score again in the 22nd minute on a header from a free kick by Payton Crews. The Horned Frogs extended their lead to 3-0 after a penalty kick from Kennedy Clountz.
Junior forward Shira Elinav nearly got a goal back for the Jayhawks in the 30th minute. Super-senior Rylan Childers made a pass to Elinav in the box. Elinav took a shot that was deflected off the right post by the TCU goalkeeper. Kansas trailed by three goals at halftime.
The offensive attack for TCU did not slow down to start the second half. Messiah Bright scored a goal in the 51st minute and Dana Read scored in the 88th minute to push the lead to 5-0.
Kansas did not stop fighting the entire night regardless of the score. Childers got the Jayhawks on the board in the 89th minute on a shot from about six yards away that she put over the goalkeeper’s head. The goal was her seventh of the season and put her at 14 career goals during her three seasons at KU.
Kansas finished its season with a 9-9-2 overall record.
