KU Soccer Set for Exhibition Tune-Up Against Nebraska-Omaha

LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas soccer will play its first and only exhibition match of the 2013 season when it takes on Nebraska-Omaha Sunday, Aug. 18 at the Jayhawk Soccer Complex. The Jayhawks will hit the pitch for a 1 p.m. kickoff. Admission is free to the public.
 
Live Updates
Throughout the season fans can get live updates by logging on to KU soccer’s live stats to get up-to-the-minute stats and updates from every Jayhawk match. Just log on to www.sidearmstats.com/kansas/wsoc during every home game and enjoy. Don’t forget to follow on Twitter at @KUWSoccer for another great way to follow KU Soccer.
 
Series Histories
The Jayhawks and Mavericks have never met in either exhibition or regular-season competition. Kansas boasts an all-time regular-season record of 5-2-0 against members of the Summit League, outscoring the conference 15-4 in seven games played against its members.
 
About the Jayhawks
Kansas enters the 2013 season with high hopes, coming off a 10-8-2 finish in 2012. The Jayhawks posted a ten-win season for the tenth time under head coach Mark Francis last season, before falling to Texas Tech in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Championships. KU returns five starters from last year’s squad, including four of its top five scorers and three starting defenders.
 
The Jayhawks feature eight true freshmen and a redshirt freshman on this year’s squad, making this one of Francis’ youngest squads ever with a third of the team having never before suited up for KU. 
 
Scouting the Mavericks
Nebraska-Omaha enters 2013 looking to improve on last season’s 3-15-0 record. The Mavericks return 14 letterwinners and all 11 starters from last year when they placed seventh in the Summit League with a 3-5 record. UNO was picked to finish sixth in the league’s preseason poll.
 
The Mavericks have already notched one exhibition match this season, a 3-1 loss to Drake last Thursday.  Chelsi Rohloff scored her team’s lone goal in the 29th minute. UNO was outshot by the Bulldogs 13-6 with a 6-4 disadvantage in shots on goal.
 
Nebraska-Omaha averaged 0.78 goals per game last season and posted eight shots per contest. Sophomore midfielder Hannah Wampler is the team’s top returning scorer after posting three goals and 10 points in 2010.
 
The Maverick defense held opponents to a 2.33 goals against average in 2012 and allowed 15.6 shots per match. Goalkeeper Meaghan Clark started all 18 of UNO’s matches, posted a 2.34 goals against average and a .698 save percentage.
 
Don Klosterman is in his 15th year as the head coach of the Nebraska-Omaha Maverick’s women’s soccer program. He enters the season with a record of 201-74-12, which are the most wins in program history.
 
Spring success
In April the Jayhawks completed a 12-game spring exhibition season that saw marked improvement for KU in almost every facet of the game. The highlight of the spring was the Jayhawks’ nine-day trip to central Europe, which saw the team take on women’s squads from four different nations. KU went 4-0 on the trip with its best win coming over the U23 Swiss National Team, 1-0.
 
The Jayhawks returned stateside to play six more games against NCAA Division I opponents, playing to a 3-1-2 record in that span. KU’s final match of the spring came against Arkansas in Lawrence, with  the Razorbacks coming out on top 1-0. The Jayhawks will have a chance at payback when the two meet for the 2013 regular-season opener in Fayetteville on Aug. 23.
 
One for the Record Books
The 2012 Jayhawks rewrote the school record books in several ways a year ago, some due to KU’s stingy defense. Kansas allowed just 3.9 shots on goal per game, the lowest opponent SOG average in program history. The Jayhawks were only issued one yellow card last year, the fewest in a season in program history and second-fewest in the NCAA last season.
 
Jayhawk Picked Fifth in Preseason Poll
Kansas soccer is predicted to finish fifth in the Big 12 preseason coaches’ poll, which the conference office released Aug. 9.  The ranking marks the sixth time in the 14-year history of the preseason vote that KU has been picked to finish among the top-five teams in the conference.
 
Defending league champion West Virginia was chosen to win the conference, receiving seven first-place votes and 63 points overall, followed by Texas Tech (55), Baylor (52), Oklahoma State (40), Kansas (33), Texas (31), Oklahoma (21), TCU (19) and Iowa State (10).
 
For Starters
Kansas returns seven players from last year’s team that started at least 10 games, which finished the season at 10-8-2. Included in the seven returning starters are four of the team’s top five scorers from a year ago.
 
Senior forward Caroline Kastor (11 goals, 24 pts) leads the way, while sophomore forwards Ashley Williams (eight goals, two assists) and Courtney Dickerson (four goals, two assists), junior Jamie Fletcher (three goals, six assists) as well as senior defender Madi Hillis and junior defenders Haley Yearout and Caroline Van Slambrouck.
 
KU also brings back 2011 Big 12 All-Newcomer honoree, redshirt sophomore Liana Salazar, who started all of KU’s 21 matches as a freshman in 2011 before redshirting last season. Salazar tallied five goals and an assist in her rookie season.
 
New Batch
Sunday’s contest could feature as many as six newcomers to the Kansas lineup. KU has seven true freshmen incoming this season, however Aurélie Gagnet is not yet in Lawrence as she is currently playing with her native France’s U19 National Team in the EUFA European Cup. Those who could see action Sunday are goalkeeper Maddie Dobyns, defender Tayler Estrada, forward Ashley Pankey, defender Morgan Williams, midfielder Jackie Georgoulis and defender Jen Rush.
 
Sweet Caroline
Kansas senior forward Caroline Kastor is looking to move up in the school’s record books this season. Kastor enters the 2013 season ranked sixth in career points (51), sixth in goals (20) and seventh in game-winning goals (6). The senior’s 20 goals are just three shy of Whitney Berry’s, Monica Dolinsky’s and Emily Cressy’s career totals of 23, which ties for third most at KU’s all-time.
 
Up Next
KU will open the 2013 regular season with a trip to Fayetteville, Ark. for an Aug. 23 matchup with the Arkansas Razorbacks. Kickoff from Razorback field is slated for 7 p.m. The Jayhawks will then return to Lawrence for their regular-season opener vesus the Pacific Tigers. KU will hit the pitch for a 12 p.m. start.
 
 
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