No. 23 Jayhawks to Meet Bison in Final Preseason Exhibition

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LAWRENCE, Kan. – Coming off an impressive 5-0 win over Drake in its first exhibition of the preseason Wednesday night, the Kansas soccer team will look to carry that momentum into final its final tune-up before the 2015 regular season when the Jayhawks welcome the North Dakota State Bison to Lawrence on Sunday, Aug. 16. Action from Rock Chalk Park is set to begin at 1 p.m.
 
ABOUT THE JAYHAWKS
The Kansas Jayhawks return 15 letterwinners and seven starters from the 2014 squad which went 15-6-0, finished third in the Big 12 and appeared in the program’s sixth NCAA Tournament last season. Mark Francis is entering his 17th season at the helm in Lawrence and holds a 178-133-22 record with the Jayhawks after picking up his 200th career coaching victory last season.
 
Senior midfielder Liana Salazar returns after leading the Jayhawks in scoring last year with 13 goals, four assists and 30 points. The Bogotá, Colombia native is one of 28 players to be named to the preseason watch list for the MAC Hermann Trophy, collegiate soccer’s most prestigious award. Striker Ashley Williams was the Jayhawks’ second-leading scorer in 2014 with seven goals and also returns for her final season at KU. As an offense, Kansas returns 11 of the 14 players who contributed at least one goal or an assist in 2014.
 
The KU defense was one of the best in the nation last season, allowing just 17 goals and boasting a 0.80 goals-against average, the third-lowest in program history. The Jayhawks will look to fill the void left by outgoing senior goalkeeper Kaitlyn Stroud, who had 64 starts in goal, a career goals-against average of 1.21 and 281 career saves. Kansas will carry three keepers on the 2015 rosters and all seem fit to fill Stroud’s shoes; sophomore Maddie Dobyns, who has two starts in goal for KU, redshirt freshman Lauren Breshears and true freshman Regan Gibbs.
 
ABOUT THE BISON
The North Dakota State Bison enter 2015 coming off a 2014 campaign in which they amassed an 8-8-2 record and claimed fourth in the Summit League. NDSU has already played one exhibition this month, earning a 2-0 win over Viterbo on Aug. 13 in Fargo, N.D.
 
Last season, the Bison scored 22 goals which included nine in their nine matches against Summit League foes. NDSU notched just under 11 shots per game and put nearly 50 percent of those on frame. Junior midfielder Lauren Miller returns after she led the squad with nine goals and 19 points on the year. Eight starters return for this season’s Bison squad, seven of whom appeared in all 18 of their team’s games in 2014.
 
The NDSU defense allowed just 17 opponent goals in 2014, which included six shutouts. The Bison held opponents to one goal in eight additional outings. Their opponents posted just over 13 shots per match, including nearly six shots on goal per game. Senior Sierra Bonham started in goal for the Bison in all 18 matches last season and was the Summit League goalkeeper of the year. She amassed 81 saves on the year, stopped 82.7 percent of the shots put on goal and tallied five solo shutouts.
 
Mark Cook is starting his fourth season as the head coach at North Dakota State. Cook has guided the Bison to a 25-28-2 record during his time in Fargo. He came to NDSU after serving as the Director of Coaching at the Minnesota Thunder Academy for 11 years, where he grew a four-team program into one of the premier club programs in the Twin Cities with 65 teams in 2012.
 
FOR STARTERS
Kansas returns seven players from last year’s team that started at least 15 games, which finished the season at 15-6-0. Included in the nine returning starters are three of the team’s top-four scorers from a year ago.
 
Seniors Liana Salazar (13 goals, four assists) and Ashley Williams (seven goals, three assists) lead the way, while sophomore Lois Heuchan (three goals) is also back. Kansas also returns an experienced midfield and back line with the return of juniors Tayler Estrada, Hanna Kallmaier, Jackie Georgoulis, Kaley Smith, Morgan Williams and sophomore Kayla Morrison.
 
EXHIBITION MATCH SUCCESS
Kansas will try to continue its streak of solid preseason tune-ups when it welcomes in the North Dakota State Bison on Sunday. KU has won four-straight preseason exhibition matches and boasts a record of 6-2-1 in preseason friendlies since 2005. The Jayhawks have already notched an impressive exhibition win this preseason with their 5-0 win over the Drake Bulldogs on Aug. 12. KU and Drake are not unfamiliar with each other as the two squads have now met four times since 2005 in exhibition play. Prior to this year, the Jayhawks and Bulldogs last met prior to opening the 2008 season, with Kansas coming out on top, 3-0. Last year, KU took on the Jackrabbits of South Dakota State, and dispatched of the Jackrabbits, also be a final of 3-0. Kansas will take on SDSU again this year, but in the regular season. That match is set for Sept. 25 at Rock Chalk Park.  
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Jayhawks were impressive on both ends of the field in the first of two preseason exhibitions Wednesday, Aug 12 inside Rock Chalk Park. KU dispatched of the visiting Drake Bulldogs, 5-0, behind two-goal outings from senior Ashley Williams and freshman Parker Roberts.
 
Williams wasted little time in taking the game over. The Albuquerque, New Mexico product saw her opening in the sixth minute when a poorly played ball back to the Drake keeper was mishandled. Williams managed to swoop in and steal position. After that, all that was left was to walk the ball into the net. Fifteen minutes later Roberts found Williams open five yards outside the penalty area. Williams quickly sent in a left-footed bullet that flew into the upper 90 and just past the outstretched fingertips of Bulldog keeper, Haley Morris.
 
Five minute later, Roberts made her presence felt by scoring twice in a two-minute span before another KU senior struck from long distance later in the opening frame. Courtney Dickerson collected a pass from freshman Bailey Bravard near the top of the 18-yard box, where she unleashed a shot toward the far post. Dickerson’s attempt soared through in the 41st minute for what was eventually the Jayhawks final goal of the evening
 
NEW BATCH
Wednesday’s contest featured seven newcomers to the Kansas lineup, three of which started the match. KU has eight true freshmen incoming this season, including All-American and U20 US National Team veteran, midfielder Parker Roberts. Other freshmen looking to make big impressions in their first outings in the Crimson and Blue are goalkeeper Regan Gibbs, forward Bailey Bravard, midfielders Anna Courtney, Taylor Chaffetz and Grace Hagan and defenders Lindsay Sammis and Taylor Christie.
 
SALAZAR ALREADY MAKING HEADLINES
Senior midfielder Liana Salazar is already getting national recognition as a player who is expected to have a big year in 2015. She was one of 28 women in Division I NCAA soccer to be selected to the Watch List for the Missouri Athletic Club’s (MAC) Hermann Trophy, considered the most prestigious award in collegiate soccer and was also named to the TopDrawerSoccer.com “Best XI” First Team.
 
Salazar, who hails from Bogotá, Colombia, will enter this season coming off a stellar junior campaign in 2014. An honoree on the NSCAA All-American Third Team, Salazar scored a team-high 13 goals and added four assists to combine for 30 total points on the year, the second-most in the Big 12 Conference. She was picked unanimously by the league’s coaches to the All-Big 12 First Team and was also added to the NSCAA’s All-Central Region First Team. Salazar added four game-winning goals on the year and helped the Jayhawks to their best record in a decade, finishing 15-6-0 and helping Kansas make the program’s sixth NCAA Tournament appearance.
 
Salazar is just five goals shy from moving to No. 2 on Kansas’ all-time goal scorers list with 21. She also is ranked among the top-10 Jayhawks all-time in points, game-winning goals, shots and shots on goal.
 
RECORD BOOK WATCH
With the 2015 regular season looming, it’s never too early to glance at the Kansas soccer record book to see where current Jayhawks stand. Senior midfielder Liana Salazar finds herself among the Jayhawk elite when comparing her career numbers. She currently sits seventh on the all-time goal-scoring chart with 21, but needs just five more to tie Caroline Kastor and Rachel Gilfillan for No. 2 on the list. Caroline Smith is the school’s all-time leading goal scorer with 51. Salazar is also ninth on the all-time points chart as she has amassed 50 points in 62 appearances for the Jayhawks. That mark is 28 points behind Whitney Berry, who is second on the list and 76 points behind the record-holder, Caroline Smith, who tallied an impressive 126 points during her days in Lawrence.
 
Senior Ashley Williams is also ripe to move up some impressive charts during her last season in the Crimson and Blue. Williams is ninth on KU’s goal-scoring list with 17 career goals and is at No. 5 with seven game-winning goals. If she can match or exceed her total of four from last season, that will put her at No. 2 on KU’s list. 
 
JUST ONE WILL DO IT
The 2015 Jayhawks will hopefully carry on an impressive trend that has developed over the last three seasons when it comes to scoring. Since the start of the 2012 season the Kansas soccer team has scored at least one goal in 40 matches. The Jayhawks’ record in those matches: 32-5-3. Kansas was won or drawn all but five matches in which they have scored, which included a 15-2-0 record in those instances last season.
 
The one goal trend has obviously proven fruitful for Kansas last season as, until KU’s Oct. 19 loss to West Virginia, the Jayhawks held their opponents to one goal or less in each of their first 16 matches of the year. That 16-match streak was the second-longest in program history and is only topped by the 2003 and 2004 squads, which combined to hold 29-straight opponents to one goal or fewer from Oct. 19, 2003- Nov. 3, 2004.
 
TURNING THINGS AROUND
The 2015 Jayhawks will look to bring the same mentality from the 2014 Jayhawk squad, which achieved one of the best turnarounds in program history. In 2013, Kansas won seven games and tied twice, while the 2014 team picked up eight more victories. This mark is the program’s best turnaround which formerly belonged to the 2003 squad that also won seven more games than the year prior.
 
Head coach Mark Francis is no stranger to monumental turnarounds. After a 2-17 season during first season at South Alabama, Francis led the Jaguars to an 18-3-1 mark during the 1997 season. The 16-win turnaround is still the biggest in NCAA Division I soccer history.
 
FIRST TO SCORE, WINS GALORE
Over its past 61 games, dating back to the beginning of the 2012 season, Kansas has developed an interesting trend when it comes to which team tallies the first goal of the match. During that 60-game span, the Jayhawks have been on the losing end only once in the games which they have put in the match’s first goal. Kansas has amassed a record of 32-1-2 in those games, which included a 15-0-0 mark last year.
 
On the flip side, KU hasn’t been quite as fortunate when its opponents have gotten on the board first. Kansas has not won a game in that same 60-game span when finding itself trailing 1-0 at any point in a match. The Jayhawks are 0-24-1 in those games over the last two years, including an 0-6-0 mark in 2015.
 
LET’S GET DEFENSIVE
While the Jayhawk offense was as potent as the program has seen in some time last year, the defense was just as impressive. With eight shutouts on the year, Kansas boasted a goals-against average of 0.80, the lowest in the Big 12 and the 19th-best mark in the nation. The Jayhawks allowed just 17 goals on the year and no more than one opponent goal in all but three matches. KU went 298 minutes without conceding a goal from Sept. 5-19, the 11th-longest streak in school history, and also wrapped up a 360-minute long streak, which ranks fifth in school history.
 
Kansas opponents’ lack of goal scoring may be attributed to the Jayhawks’ ability to keep the opposing team’s shot percentage low. Of the 241 shots KU allowed last season, opponents put just over 41 percent of those on target and only got 17 percent of those shots on frame past goalkeeper, Kaitlyn Stroud, and into the back of the net.
 
UP NEXT
Kansas will open up its regular season against former Big 12 foe, Nebraska, on Aug. 21. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m., in Lincoln. The Jayhawks will then travel north for another collision with a member of the Big 10 Conference when they go against the Minnesota Golden Gophers on Sunday, Aug. 23. The Jayhawks and Golden Gophers will kick off in Minneapolis at 2 p.m.
 
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