KU Soccer to Kick Off League Play With Iowa State, Texas

Weekend Notes

LAWRENCE, Kan. – The Jayhawks will kick off conference play Friday, Oct. 4 when they travel to Ames, Iowa for a match- up with the Iowa State Cyclones. KU and ISU are slated to kick off at 7 p.m., and will be broadcast on Cylcones.tv. Kansas will return two days later to play host to the Texas Longhorns on Sunday, Oct. 6. The match, which will be televised on Metro Sports and ESPN3.com, will begin at 1 p.m.
 
Jayhawks On The Air
Fans will be able to watch the Jayhawks take on the Cyclones in Ames by logging on and subscribing to Iowa State’s web stream at Cyclones.tv. Live stats will also be available by going to Cyclones.com and clicking on the live stats link under the multimedia tab.
 
Sunday’s match marks the second of four televised matches for the Jayhawks in 2013. Nearly 86 million homes will be able to tune in and watch Kansas take on Texas as Kansas City’s local channel Metro Sports and ESPN3.com team up to bring the action to fans. Dave Stewart and Huw Williams will call the action, which can be accessed anywhere outside the state of Kansas by accessing ESPN3.com or the WatchESPN app. Fans inside Kansas and the Kansas City Metro area can catch the match by tuning in to Metro Sports. Don’t forget to follow on Twitter at @KUWSoccer for another great way to stay connected to KU Soccer.
 
Series Histories
Kansas and Iowa State will meet on the pitch for the 20th time Friday with the Jayhawks holding an all-time advantage in the series at 14-5-0, which includes six KU wins in the last seven meetings. Kansas and Texas will see each other for the 19th time with the Longhorns boasting a record over the Jayhawks at 13-3-2; however, KU has won each of the last two meetings in Lawrence.
 
About the Jayhawks
Kansas (5-5-1) is coming off a tough 3-2 loss to the No. 20 Santa Clara Broncos last weekend. The Jayhawks’ comeback came up just short after Liana Salazar’s free kick brought her team within a goal with 15 minutes remaining. Kansas currently sits at 107 in the NCAA RPI rankings and has five of its final eight matches against teams sitting in the top-60 of the latest RPI.
 
The Kansas offense is outshooting its opponents by an average margin of +2.8 per match. After boasting a shot percentage of just 6.8 though its first eight games, KU bumped the number up to 8.4 after a prolific scoring stretch the last two weekends. Senior forward Caroline Kastor leads the team with four goals and three assists on the year, while junior teammate Jamie Fletcher has tallied a team-leading 36 shots, the fourth-most in the Big 12.
 
The Kansas defense has seen a roller coaster year thus far allowing nine goals in three of its losses and just five goals in its other nine matches. Goalkeeper Kaitlyn Stroud was named the Big 12’s Defensive Player of the Week after her shutout and seven-save performance two weeks ago versus Illinois State. She is second among Big 12 goalkeepers in saves with 50 on the year. The junior already has tallied three shutouts and is boasting a 1.25 goals against average with her .781 save percentage.
 
Scouting the Cyclones
Iowa State (6-6-0) is coming off back-to-back losses in its first weekend of Big 12 play, falling to Texas Tech in Ames and Texas in Austin. The Cylcones and Jayhawks had two common non-conference opponents as both teams were able to knock off South Dakota State but lost to Santa Clara. ISU has played just four home matches compared to eight on the road.
 
ISU has scored 19 goals on the year and is tallying 13.8 shots per match, but has been outscored 13-8 over its last six matches. The Cyclones have 18 players who are averaging more than 20 minutes per game and have at least seven appearances. Jennifer Dominguez leads the team with five goals and four assists on the year while Emily Goldstein is tops on her squad with 27 shots in 2013.
 
The Cyclone defense is giving up 1.58 opponent goals per match this season which includes two shutouts in 12 games played this year. Opposing shooters are getting just under 50 percent of their attempts on frame versus Iowa State. ISU goalkeeper Maddie Jobe has started all 12 of her team’s games this year, boasts a .740 save percentage and a 1.58 goals against average and leads the Big 12 with 54 saves in 2013.
 
Wendy Dillinger is in her sixth year as the head coach of the Iowa State women’s soccer program. Since taking over the reins in Ames, she has tallied a record of 39-50-9 in five seasons.
 
Scouting the Longhorns
Texas is currently 60th in the most recent RPI rankings and has won seven of its last eight games including its first two conference matches last weekend. The Longhorns are undefeated at home but have yet to notch a win on the road and are being outscored 5-1 when they play as the away team.
 
The Longhorn offense is outscoring its opponents by 1.08 goals per match and is doubling up its opponents on shots, tallying 16.2 per game. During its current four-game winning streak UT has outscored its opponents 11-1. Kelsey Shimmick and Brooke Gilbert each lead the team with four goals apiece. Three Longhorns have each contributed three assists while Sharis Lachappelle has tallied 34 of her team’s 195 shots this season.
 
The UT defense has been tough to break in 2013 with three shutouts in its last four games and is allowing just 0.75 goals per game, the third-lowest in the conference.  All-Big 12 goalkeeper Abby Smith has played every minute of the Longhorns’ season and has allowed only nine goals in 12 matches. She has tallied 37 saves on 96 shots faced and has amassed a save percentage of .804.
 
This Day in KU Soccer History
Oct. 4, 2009 – The No. 19-ranked Jayhawks looked to be on their way the program’s first win over the Texas Longhorns in Austin after Caitlyn Noble knocked in her third of the season in the 59th minute to give KU a 1-0 lead, but UT had other plans. The home team tied up the score just eight minutes later and put in the eventual game-winning goal in the 78th minute to hand Kansas its fourth loss of the season. KU dominated the shot chart with an 8-3 advantage in shots on goal.
(KU All-Time Record on Oct. 4: 0-3-0)
 
Oct. 6, 2002 – After scoring the first goal of the game near the 23-minute mark, Texas Tech appeared to be headed for an upset victory over the Jayhawks in Lubbock. However, KU came up with two goals in the final 14 minutes of play to claim its eighth win of the year and second Big 12 victory. Then-freshman and current Kansas assistant coach Jessica Smith put in the eventual game-winner and the first goal of her Kansas career with only seconds left in regulation to give the Jayhawks the victory.
(KU All-Time Record on Oct. 6: 2-2-0)
 
Beginning Big 12 Play with a Bang
In the 14 years Mark Francis has coached at Kansas the Jayhawks have seen some success in the opening weekends of conference play, that is if they’re playing at the friendly confines of the Jayhawk Soccer Complex. Kansas has amassed a record of 8-4-1 (.607) in Big 12 home openers under Francis, an over 10 percent increase from its overall conference winning percentage of .496 since 1999. The Jayhawks haven’t been quite as fortunate in their season’s first league game on the road, holding a record of 3-9-2 (.286) in those matchups. Under Francis, Kansas is 4-9-0 in all Big 12 opening matches. Last season, Kansas opened its conference slate with a 2-1 win over No. 7 Oklahoma State in Lawrence.
 
Stroud Seeing Career Year
KU’s junior goalkeeper is seeing the most efficient year of her career this season and is on career-high pace in nearly all statistical categories including goals allowed average, wins, shutouts and saves. She needs just 10 more saves to move into the top five of KU’s all-time saves list and needs only two more wins to move into fourth all-time among KU goalkeepers. Her 50 saves so far this year are the second-most by a KU keeper after 11 games since 2000, giving her a good chance to move high up on the single-season saves list come year’s end.
 
Odds and Ends

• Over its last 35 games, Kansas is 17-3-4 when scoring at least one goal, including a 5-1-1 mark this season.
• The Jayhawks were booked for four yellow cards against Illinois State on Sept. 22 which ties for the most ever by a KU team in a single match. The one previous four-caution game came on Aug. 31, 2008 against Auburn.
• KU has already amassed six yellows in 11 games this season after earning just one caution in 20 games last year.
• The Jayhawks have already endured three opponent penalty kick conversions this season, the most Kansas has ever seen through the first 11 games of a season.
• When KU and Texas square off Sunday, it will be a battle of the Big 12’s two most flagged teams in regards to offside penalties. The teams are tied for the league lead with 33 offside calls each this season.
• Senior Caroline Kastor needs just three more goals to pass Rachel Gilfillan (2001-04) to sit alone at No. 2 on Kansas’ all-time goal scoring charts.
• The Jayhawks’ 56 corner kicks this season are the team’s most at the 11-game mark since 2006.
• Last weekend’s loss to Santa Clara marked the first time since Oct. 21, 2011 that Kansas lost when scoring two or more goals.
• Head coach Mark Francis needs just six more victories to hit 200 for his collegiate coaching career.
• Aurélie Gagnet’s 70 minutes versus Santa Clara were the most by a Jayhawk off the bench this season.

 
First to Score, Wins Galore
Over its past 31 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 31-game span, the Jayhawks have been on the losing end only once in the games which they have put in the match’s first score. Kansas has amassed a record of 15-1-2 in those games. 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 31-game span when finding itself trailing 1-0 at any point in a match. The Jayhawks are 0-13-1 in those games over the last two seasons, including a 0-5-0 mark this year.
 
Fast Goal Fun
In Kansas’ win over South Dakota State on Sept. 22, sophomore Courtney Dickerson scored the Jayhawks’ first goal just 62 seconds into the match. The goal was the fastest by a KU player since current senior Caroline Kastor set a school record with her goal only 18 seconds after kickoff on Oct. 25, 2010 against Colorado. Since the start of the 2005 season, Kansas has put in a goal within the first 10 minutes of a match 32 times and has proven to be almost unbeatable on those occasions. KU is 26-2-4 in matches which it has scored before the 10-minute mark, with the two losses coming in Kastor’s record-breaking 18-second game against Colorado in 2010 and the Jayhawks’ 3-2 loss to Santa Clara on Sept. 27.
 
Stroud Honored as Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week 
Junior Kaitlyn Stroud was tabbed the Big 12 Conference’s Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 24 after her heroics helped lift the Jayhawks to an undefeated weekend with wins over South Dakota State and Illinois State. Stroud tallied three saves in KU’s 2-1 victory over the Jackrabbits Friday. She then posted her third shutout of the season against the Redbirds Sunday with the help of seven saves, four of which came in the final 15 minutes of action. The Fayetteville, Ga., native also faced a season-high 23 shots in the win over ISU. Her .909 save percentage against SDSU and ISU was her highest of any weekend in 2013. With her 10 saves in the last two matches, she has now amassed 44 on the year, the most by a Big 12 keeper in 2013. The award made Stroud the fourth KU keeper to claim the weekly honor multiple times after she earned her first-career distinction in October of 2011.
 
Spreading the Wealth
Kansas has proven to be an unselfish team in the first half of this season, with eight different Jayhawks tallying goals, already surpassing last season’s goal scorer total. This type of unselfish play isn’t anything new for Kansas, especially during the Mark Francis era. KU has seen seven or more of its players put in goals in all but one season of Francis’ 15-year stay in Lawrence.
 
Last year, KU had seven different players enter the score sheet and 10 tally at least one helper. The program high came in 2003 when 14 of the team’s 20 players posted at least one goal.
 
Up Next
The Jayhawks will welcome the TCU Horned Frogs for the two programs’ first-ever meeting in Lawrence on Friday, Oct. 11. Kansas walked away from the teams’ first meeting in Fort Worth a year ago winners after thrilling 3-2 double overtime victory. KU and TCU are slated to kickoff at 4 p.m. from the Jayhawk Soccer Complex.
         
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