Kansas to Close Regular Season with Sooners Friday
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LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas soccer will play the final game of its regular season Friday when it welcomes the Oklahoma Sooners to Lawrence. KU and OU will be battling for the final spot in next week’s Big 12 Tournament in Kansas City in the match slated to kick off at 3 p.m. Kansas will also say farewell to its three seniors, Madi Hillis, Caroline Kastor and Shannon Renner in what will likely be the final game played at the Jayhawk Soccer Complex.
Jayhawks on the Air
Friday’s match marks the fourth televised match for the Jayhawks in 2013. Nearly 86 million homes will be able to tune in and watch Kansas take on Oklahoma as Kansas City’s local Time Warner Cable Sports and ESPN3.com team up to bring the action to fans from coast to coast. Dave Stewart and Huw Williams will call the action, which can be accessed anywhere outside the state of Kansas and Kansas City 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 Time Warner Cable Sports. Don’t forget to follow on Twitter at @KUWSoccer for live, in-game updates throughout the match.
Series History
Kansas will meet Oklahoma for the 19th time Friday night, boasting an advantage in the all-time series of 9-7-1. After OU was only able to defeat the Jayhawks once in eight tries from 2003 to 2009, the Sooners have come out on top in each of the last three meetings. The Jayhawks have been unable to score a goal against the Sooners in 190:24 combined minutes, Kansas’ longest scoreless streak in the series’ history. The Jayhawks and Sooners have proven to be evenly matched in recent history as six of the last seven matches between the two schools have been decided by one goal or fewer.
About the Jayhawks
Kansas (6-10-2) suffered back-to-back losses last weekend in road trips to Texas Tech and Oklahoma State. The Jayhawks, who have scored just two goals in seven conference games this year, will need a win or tie against the Sooners to earn the eighth and final spot in next week’s Big 12 Tournament hosted in Kansas City.
The Kansas offense has been up and down this year, averaging only .94 goals per match. KU has managed to put in two or more goals in six games this season, but has been shutout in a program-record 10 games in 2013. Senior Caroline Kastor leads the squad in both goals and assists, notching five and three, respectively. Junior Jamie Fletcher has put in the fourth-most shots among Big 12 players this season with 59 and is tied for the team lead with three assists.
The Kansas defense has been strong this season, allowing just over one opponent goal per game. Goalkeeper Kaitlyn Stroud has played in goal for every minute of KU’s season thus far and has tallied five shutouts on the year. She leads Big 12 goalkeepers in saves and is amassing five per match. She has already posted a career high with her 88 saves on the year. The junior is boasting a 1.14 goals against average as well as a .807 save percentage, the fourth highest in the Big 12.
Scouting the Sooners
Oklahoma (4-12-1) has won only one game in its last 10 outings and is coming off a heartbreaking 2-1 double overtime loss to conference champion West Virginia last Friday. The Sooner roster boasts 16 true or redshirt freshmen, five of which are regular starters. Oklahoma is looking to avoid missing the Big 12 tournament for the first time since 2009.
The OU offense, like Kansas, has had trouble finding the back of the net at times this season, scoring 1.0 goals per match. The Sooners are getting off only 10.2 shots per game but have been accurate with their chances, seeing over 53 percent of their chances end up on frame. Junior Daisy Cardona leads her squad with five goals on the year. Freshman Madison Saliba is tops on her team with four assists in 2013.
The Oklahoma defense is allowing 1.87 goals per game this year and has given up 11 goals in its last six games. The Sooner back line is giving up only 11.9 opponent shots per game. Freshman goalkeeper Kasssidie Stade has started all 16 of her team’s 17 matches and has allowed 29 goals in that span. Her .698 save percentage is ninth among Big 12 keepers.
Matt Porter is in his second year as the head coach of the Sooners. OU went 7-9-4 in his first season. Prior to his arrival at Oklahoma, Potter oversaw Washington State’s program and led it to a record 88 wins (88-69-26 overall) during his tenure.
Seeding Scenarios
With a win or tie Friday against Oklahoma Kansas will qualify for its third-straight Big 12 Championship. Even though seven of the eight spots have already been secured, the Jayhawks could still be as high as a No. 6 seed in next week’s tournament to be held in Kansas City. Here are some scenarios:
With a Kansas win and…
…Oklahoma State win and Baylor win
=3-way tie between KU, ISU and TCU for 6th,
to be separated by Big 12 goal differential
…Oklahoma State win and TCU win
=3-way tie between KU, ISU and BU for 6th,
to be separated by Big 12 goal differential
…Oklahoma State win and TCU/Baylor tie
=2-way tie for 7th between KU and ISU,
to be separated by Big 12 goal differential
…Iowa State win and TCU win
=No. 7 seed
…Iowa State win and Baylor win
=No. 8 seed
…Iowa State win and TCU/Baylor tie
=No. 8 seed
…Oklahoma State/Iowa State tie and TCU win
=No. 7 seed
…Oklahoma State/Iowa State tie and Baylor win
=No. 8 seed
…Oklahoma State/Iowa State tie and Baylor/TCU tie
=No. 8 seed
So Long Seniors
Friday’s match will mark the final home game for Jayhawk seniors Madi Hillis, Caroline Kastor and Shannon Renner. These three have seen 33 KU victories in their four seasons in Lawrence and, with a win Friday, will have helped their team to its third-straight Big 12 tournament birth. Combined, these three accumulated 142 starts and have played over 12,000 minutes in the Crimson and Blue. The three seniors have each also been members of the Academic All-Big 12 First Team.
Farwell to Jayhawk Soccer Complex
With the Jayhawks’ future home, Rock Chalk Park, scheduled to be completed in the Spring of 2014, Friday’s match between Kansas and Oklahoma will likely be the final regular season game played at the Jayhawk Soccer Complex. The match Friday will mark the 177 match at the Jayhawks’ 19-year home. This season KU tallied its 100th victory at the facility with its 3-0 win over Pacific on Aug. 25. Kansas amassed a record of 103-65-8 during its tenure at the Jayhawk Soccer Complex for a 60.8 winning percentage.
This Day in KU Soccer History
November 1, 2006 – In the quarterfinals of the 2006 Big 12 Championship, no. 4 seed Kansas and No. 5 Colorado saw one of the most thrilling games in the school’s series’ history. The Buffaloes opened the scoring in the 18th minute but KU’s Jessica Bush sent in the equalizer just under 19 minutes later with the help of a Holly Gault assist. After regulation and two 10-minute periods of overtime, the match pent to penatly kicks. It was CU’s day as the Buffaloes were able to convert on all five of their attempts, while Kansas could only connect on three.
(Kansas’ All-Time Record on Nov. 1: 0-4-1)
Odds and Ends
- Over its last 40 games, Kansas is 18-3-4 when scoring at least one goal, including a 6-1-1 mark this season.
- Caroline Kastor is currently the active Big 12 leader in career points (66) and goals (26).
- Over the last two seasons (34 games), 11 of KU’s 16 loses have come by one goal.
- Last Sunday, Caroline Kastor became the fourth Jayhawk in school history to tally three or more multi-goal games. (Caroline Smith – 11, Jessica Smith – 3, Natalie Hoogveld – 3)
- Head coach Mark Francis needs only five more victories to hit 200 for his collegiate coaching career.
Staying Onside
In the first 13 games of this season, the Jayhawks were one of the most-often penalized teams in the nation in regards to offside calls, as the Jayhawks were called off almost three times per game (36 times in 13 games). Since then, KU hasn’t had an offside flag raised on it in its five most recent matches. Kansas’ ties the school record for consecutive offside-less matches of five, first set in 2000.
First to Score, Wins Galore
Over its past 38 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 38-game span, the Jayhawks have been on the losing end only once in the contests which they have put in the match’s first score. Kansas has amassed a record of 16-1-2 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 match in that same 38-game stretch when finding itself trailing 1-0 at any point in a match. The Jayhawks are 0-18-1 in those games over the last two seasons, including a 0-10-0 mark this year.
Up Next
With a win or tie against Oklahoma Friday afternoon, the Jayhawks will qualify for the Big 12 Tournament to be hosted in Kansas City’s Swope Soccer Village, Nov. 6-10. Kansas will likely be No. 7 or No. 8 seed, meaning its first match of the tournament will either be at 5:30 p.m. or 8 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 6. Each game of the tournament will be available to watch via a free live stream through Big12Sports.com.
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