Missed Chances Plague Jayhawks in Double OT Loss to Broncos
LAWRENCE, Kan. – After 102 minutes of hard-fought action, Santa Clara sophomore Mariana Galvan put a swift end to the match with a golden goal in the second overtime period to lift her team to a 1-0 win over the Kansas Jayhawks Friday evening inside Rock Chalk Park. Kansas saw several painfully close chances throughout the match but were unable to get the ball to the back of the net has the Jayhawks dropped just their second home-opener in the last five seasons.
The loss dropped the Jayhawks to 2-2-1 on the year, while Santa Clara moved to 3-2-0 in their 2015 campaign.
“I thought we played really well today,” said head coach Mark Francis. “Games like that, you turn around and look at the scoreboard and you can’t believe you lost. Defensively, our back three were unbelievable today. We moved the ball well and because of that, we created some clear-cut opportunities. We just need to be more clinical in the attacking third. We’ll bounce back from this one.”
Both teams had their chances in the first half to get on the scoreboard. In the 8th minute, freshman forward Grace Hagan beat a defender and dribbled into the box before serving a ball to senior Liana Salazar. The midfielder rifled a shot but it sailed just wide of the right post.
Senior Ashley Williams put in a shot against Santa Clara Friday evening inside Rock Chalk ParkSanta Clara countered in the 26th minute with an attack of its own. Midfielder Dani Weatherholt had her first shot from the top of the box blocked, but she recovered and put her second effort on frame. KU goalkeeper Maddie Dobyns came up with the first of her four saves to keep the game scoreless.
In the final moments of the first half, the Jayhawks saw perhaps their best opportunity to net the game’s first goal. Junior forward Ashley Pankey won possession and saw only the Santa Clara goalkeeper standing between her and the first goal of her career. Pankey played in a shot but her try went wide right and Kansas was forced to settle with another missed chance.
After going to the intermission deadlocked at 0-0, the Broncos came out for the second half and intensified the pressure in the midfield. In the 49th minute, forward Jenna Roering put a shot on frame that slipped through Dobyns’ hands. Luckily for the Jayhawks, the ball bounced on the goal line before Dobyns recovered and snatched a goal away from the Broncos.
Several attacks from both teams over the next 40 minutes yielded no result, but the Jayhawks found an opening in the waning minutes of regulation.
A shot from sophomore midfielder Lois Heuchan in the 88th minute took a deflection that forced Santa Clara goalkeeper Andi Tostanoski to adjust and get her hands on the ball but she failed to hang onto it. Multiple Jayhawks crashed the goal but Tostanoski recovered to gather the ball, which kept the teams level at 0-0 and eventually forced overtime.
Neither team managed to create any dangerous scoring opportunities over the first overtime period, but at the start of the second overtime, Weatherholt nearly ended things with a bad-angle shot toward the right post forced an acrobatic kick-save from Dobyns.
The Broncos saw one more opportunity in overtime and this time, they took advantage. Just a minute after the Weatherholt shot, a loose ball bounced around the box before sophomore striker Mariana Galvan gathered and fired a volley that found the upper-right corner of the net to spoil the Jayhawks’ first home game of the 2015 campaign.
The Jayhawks ended the game with 15 shots to Santa Clara’s 14. Kansas has now outshot each of its first five opponents this season. Salazar led the squad with four shots while three other Jayhawks tallied a pair of shots each.
Kansas will return to Rock Chalk Park this Sunday to play Oregon State at 7 p.m. The game between the Jayhawks and the Beavers will be broadcast on Time Warner CableSportsChannel and ESPN3.
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