Kansas Suffers 2-0 Setback to San Diego

Box Score (PDF)

LAWRENCE, Kan. – A pair of goals by San Diego senior Taylor Housley proved to be the difference as the Kansas Jayhawks fell to the Toreros 2-0 Friday evening inside the Jayhawk Soccer Complex. The Jayhawks outshot the visitors 11-5 in the second half but were unable to tally a goal for the second-straight match.
 
The loss drops Kansas to 3-3-1 on the year while San Diego moved to 5-2-0 in their 2013 campaign.
 
“I thought we played well today but it was just a couple of mental errors that did us in,” said head coach Mark Francis. “I really liked our team’s mentality in the attacking third of the field but it was just one of those days when we couldn’t find the back of the goal. There’s still a lot of soccer still to be played this year and, if we play like we did today, there’s no question we’ll win more games than we lose.”
 
The Toreros came out of the gates in a hurry, controlling possession and arranging several attacks early in the early portions of the match. The Jayhawk defense deflected almost all of USD’s early advances but was caught off guard in the 21^st minute of play. Torero freshman Michaela Dooley found space inside the Kansas box and managed to find a wide open Housley in front of the open Kansas goal. Housley easily converted on her first of the season to put her team up 1-0.
 
After USD jumped in front, the Jayhawks began to counter. KU outshot San Diego 6-1 over the final 25 minutes of the opening half and had a pair of opportunities that forced USD goalkeeper Michelle Craft to make athletic saves on each.
 
With the Jayhawks still trailing in the opening minutes of the second half, the Toreros struck again. Kelley McCloskey found freshman Jacqueline Altschuld on the end of a long corner kick toward the back post of the Kansas goal. Altschuld headed the ball to an open Housely, who turned the pass into her second score of the day, padding her team’s lead with 40 minutes still to play.
 
The KU offense didn’t waiver though, continuing its relentless attacks on San Diego’s half of the field. Just six minutes after the second USD score, Jamie Fletcher tallied one of her two shots on goal, a strike that required a Torero defender’s block to keep the Jayhawks off the board.
 
In the 60th minute Fletcher was at it again, this time near the top of the Torero penalty box. The junior’s strike appeared to be headed for her second goal of the season, however Craft managed to get a fingertip on it and slap it over the goal, leaving her bid for a shutout intact.
 
Five minutes later Courtney Dickerson appeared to pull Kansas one goal closer after senior Caroline Kastor found her at the end of a pass sprinting toward the USD goal. Her shot flew past the goalkeeper and into the back of the net, but the score was disallowed as the linesman deemed Dickerson to be offside.
 
Kansas kept scrambling to get on the scoreboard over the final 15 minutes of action, tallying seven shots, four of which required a USD save. The Kansas attempts remained just that though as KU was unable to get one passed the Torero defense.
 
The fulltime whistle blew with Kansas being handed its second-straight loss and second shutout in a row.
 
Leading the Jayhawks on the stat sheet was sophomore Liana Salazar who notched four shots. Other top shooters on the day were Kastor and freshman Ashley Pankey, each tallying three shots apiece. Kansas goalkeeper Kaitlyn Stroud collected three saves on the day, moving her total save count to 31 on the year.
 
Kansas will look to return to the winner’s circle on Sunday, Sept. 15 when it hits the pitch against San Francisco on the final day of the Kansas Invitational. Kickoff between the Jayhawks and Dons is slated for 12 p.m. and will precede the San Diego-Nebraska match set to begin at 9:30 a.m.
 
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