Jayhawks Look to Bounce Back at Iowa State Sunday

Freshman midfielder Parker Roberts

Game 11: Kansas at Iowa State
Time 1 p.m. (CT)
Location Ames, Iowa
Stadium Cyclone Sports Complex (1,500)
Series Kansas leads, 15-5-1
Radio

Jayhawk Radio Network
Online: KUAthletics.com

Watch

Cyclone.tv ($)

Live Stats Cyclone.com
NOTES Kansas
Iowa State
Stats at a Glance KU ISU
Record 5-5-1 5-7-0
Goals/GM 1.18 1.17
Shots/GM 16.5 11.9
Shot % .072 .098
Shot on Goal % .387 .455
Goals Allowed/GM 1.18 1.42
Saves/GM 3.4 4.3
Save % .755 .750
Fouls/GM 8.8 8.8
Yellows/Reds 5/0 6/1

GAME NOTES // WATCH ($)

AMES, Iowa – Coming off its first loss in three weeks Friday against Texas, the Kansas Jayhawks will look to bounce back Sunday against Iowa State. The Jayhawks and Cyclones, both looking for their first victory in Big 12 play, will meet in Ames, Iowa for a 1 p.m. kickoff. The match will be available to be viewed on Cyclones.tv.
 
ABOUT THE JAYHAWKS
The Jayhawks lost their first game in three weeks Friday when they fell to Texas in their Big 12 opener in Lawrence. The Longhorns scored twice within a five-minute span starting in the 72nd minute to end KU’s hopes of a fourth-straight victory. Last week, Kansas tallied a decisive 3-0 victory over the South Dakota State Jackrabbits in Lawrence, also posting its second shutout of the year. KU has outshot 10 of its first 11 opponents by an average margin of over five shots per match.
 
The KU offense is starting to pick up steam of late, scoring nine goals and averaging 20.6 shots in its last five matches. On the season, Kansas is averaging over 16 shots per match but is putting just 38 percent of those shots on target. Kansas has seen six different goal scorers, five of whom have tallied multiple goals. Senior Liana Salazar leads the squad with three goals and 31 shots on the year, while freshman Grace Hagan has also netted a trio of goals herself.
 
The Jayhawk defense has allowed at least one goal in all but two of its first 11 outings, but is coming off a shutout of South Dakota State last week. Jayhawk opponents have notched 11.4 shots per game with a total of 53 on target or an average of 4.8 per match. Sophomore Maddie Dobyns has started all 11 matches in goal for the Jayhawks. She is boasting a save percentage of .755 and has a goals-against average of 1.09 with 37 saves in her first 11 outings of 2015.
 
ABOUT THE CYCLONES
The Iowa State Cyclones have been working through a rough patch of late as they have lost six of their last seven outings, including a 1-0 loss to Baylor in Ames on Friday night. Prior to that stretch, ISU won five of its first six outings all of which were on the road.
 
The Iowa State offense has had difficulty scoring goals of late, as it has been shutout in its last three outings and is currently enduring a scoring drought of 314 minutes. The Cyclones are averaging just 11.9 shots per game and have gotten 45.5 percent of those tries on frame. Eight different players have recorded either a goal or an assist. Junior forward Corey Willer leads her team with four goals and 27 shots this season. Willer’s three assists also are the most among her ISU teammates. She is joined by five of her teammates who have posted 10 or more shots in 2015.
 
The Cyclone defense began the year with shutouts in four of its first five outings but has since allowed nine goals in its last three games. ISU has allowed an average of 14.9 opponent shots in its first 12 games, but that includes 19 shots from TCU on Sept. 25. Sophomore Lindsey Hendon, has started in goal and played every minute of ISU’s season thus far. She has tallied 51 saves for an average of 4.3 per appearance, which has helped her collect five shutouts. She also is boasting a goals-against average of 1.40 and a save percentage of .750.
 
Tony Minatta is in his second season as the head coach of the Iowa State women’s soccer program. Minatta, who served as an assistant coach at Iowa State from 2012-13, helped return Cyclone soccer to the Big 12 Tournament with a fourth-place conference finish in 2014, the highest for ISU since 2007.
 
STARTING BIG 12 WITH A BANG
In the 16 years Mark Francis has coached at Kansas, the Jayhawks have seen some success in the opening weekends of conference play. Kansas has amassed a record of 10-5-1 (.656) in Big 12 home openers under Francis, an over 15 percent increase from its overall conference winning percentage of .493 since 1999. The Jayhawks hold a record of 1-6-2 (.167) in Big 12 openers played on the road. Under Francis, Kansas is 6-8-2 in all Big 12 opening matches. Last season, Kansas opened its conference slate with a 1-0 win at Baylor.
 
FEEDING ON NON-CON
With its win over South Dakota State last Friday to close out the non-conference portion of the schedule, the Jayhawks made it eight-straight seasons with a .500 winning percentage or better against regular-season non-conference foes. Over the last four seasons, Kansas has posted an impressive 27-12-4 mark in its 43 regular-season non-conference matches (64.7%), which includes a 15-5-1 mark in the last two years. Since the start of the 2012 season, KU has outscored non-con opponents by a tally of 74-37.
 
Mark Francis has led KU to a winning record in non-con in 16 of his 17 seasons in Lawrence and is now 106-44-8 in regular-season non-conference games.
 
SPREADING THE WEALTH
The Kansas offense has shown that it could be a tough assignment for opposing defenses this year after a host of Jayhawks have made their presence known on the stat sheet. Five Jayhawks have netted at least two goals, while a total of nine have had their hand in at least one of the team’s 12 goals thus far in 2015, either scoring or assisting. Eight additional players have managed to tally at least one shot. While seniors Liana Salazar and Ashley Williams have notched nearly a third of the team’s total shots (54), six of their teammates can boast adding 10 or more attempts to the team’s total of 168.
 
This is a trend that is carried over from last year’s squad, as nine different players managed to post double-figure shots and 14 Jayhawks tallied at least one goal or assist in 2014.
 
RPI REVIEW
With the release of the season’s several Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) report by the NCAA this week, several good signs stick out for the Jayhawks. Kansas checked in at No. 53 on the list that takes numerous factors into account including strength of schedule, record against top-50 teams and home versus road record. The ranking marked the 11th-straight RPI release that Kansas has found itself ranked among the top-75 in the NCAA, dating back to last season.
 
This week’s report shows that the Big 12 is among the nation’s toughest conferences after the conclusion of non-conference play. The league boasts five of its nine teams inside the top-75. The conference’s high ranking also means the Jayhawks will get plenty of chances to up their national standing as six of their next eight contests will be against teams currently ranked inside the top-100 of the RPI.
 
CLUTCH JAYHAWKS
KU has seen numerous instances of late-game heroics already this year. Of the 13 goals Kansas has scored this season, seven of them have come within the final 25 minutes of regulation or overtime. Four KU game-winning goals have also come within the final 25 minutes of action, including Ashley Williams’ golden goal in the 92nd minute versus Arkansas (9/17).
 
Speaking of game-winners, a total of four different Jayhawks have already posted at least one game-winning goal this season.
 
ROAD WARRIORS
Last week, the Jayhawks returned to the friendly confines of Rock Chalk Park after completing a stretch of seven of their first nine matches of the season on the road. This might be a daunting task for most teams, but the Jayhawks can hang their hat on an impressive record in road games over the past year-and-a-half. KU has played 14 true road games since the start of the 2014 season, amassing a record of 9-3-1, which includes a 4-2-1 record this year, culminating in the Jayhawks’ win at Arkansas on Sept. 17.
 
When Kansas has played on the road in that span, the Jayhawks have held their opponents to a goals-against average of 0.83, have tallied five clean sheets and have outshot teams by an average of 13.8-11.5 shots per game. Nine different Jayhawks have scored at least one goal in that span, with Liana Salazar netting five goals and two assists in road matches. Jayhawk goalkeepers have also been stout away from home since the start of last season, allowing just 12 goals, tallying 62 saves and amassing a save percentage of .838.
 
THIS DAY IN KU SOCCER HISTORY:
OCTOBER 4, 2013
– The Kansas Jayhawks and Iowa State Cyclones played to a 0-0 tie Friday night inside the ISU Soccer Complex. The draw was the first in a conference contest for Kansas since 2008. The tie brought Kansas’ record to 5-5-2 and 0-0-1 in the Big 12 After starting the game off slow, with ISU able to mount three shots within the first 12 minutes, the KU offense picked up the pace over the final 20 minutes of the opening half, outshooting the home team 5-0 in that span and getting four of those shots on frame.
 
Perhaps Kansas’ best look of the night came in the first half, just over 34 minutes into the match. Senior forward Caroline Kastor was handling the ball 10 yards outside the top of the ISU box and unleashed a right-footed strike that appeared to be headed in. However, Cyclone goalkeeper Maddie Jobe was there for what would end up being her biggest save of the night. Jobe got just enough of her finger tips on the ball to redirect it over the cross bar and end Kastor’s hopes at her fifth score of the year.
 
LAST TIME OUT
A pair of Texas goals off set pieces in the final 20 minutes of action proved to be too much for Kansas to come back from as the Jayhawks fell to the Longhorns in their Big 12 opener, 2-1, Friday night inside Rock Chalk Park. Freshman Grace Hagan cut the UT lead in half on her third goal in the year with ten minutes remaining, but KU was unable to pull out an equalizer, snapping its three-match winning streak.
 
The two squads played mostly even over the first 70 minutes of action with the Jayhawks supplying many of the better scoring opportunities. To start the second half, Parker Roberts tallied three shots over the first 15 minutes of action, the final, a hard-hit strike from 20 yards out that nearly hit the cross bar.
 
In the 72 minute, Texas took advantage of KU’s missed opportunities and converted on one of their own. Awarded a free kick 25 yards from the mouth of the Jayhawk goal, UT senior midfielder Lindsay Meyer sent in a service that ricocheted around inside Kansas’ 6-yard box before sophomore forward Olivia Brook headed it home, putting her squad up 1-0.
 
The visitors added to their lead five minutes later, this time off a corner kick. Longhorn junior Julia Dyche curled in the corner to find the head of Meyer, who whipped it in at the far post and gave her team a almost insurmountable 2-0 lead with less than 15 to play in the match.
 
Facing the big deficit, Kansas refused to give up, cutting UT’s lead in half just three minutes later. Liana Salazar sent in a well-place through ball to Hagan, who was making a run toward the far post. Hagan and UT goalkeeper, Abby Smith, met just as the Longhorn was attempting to coral the ball but Hagan beat her to it, averting the keeper and sending in her third of the year.
 
Outstanding in Overtime
Kansas’ wins over Colorado College and Arkansas added to a recent trend of successful outcomes when the Jayhawks play in overtime matches. KU’s Sept. 4 loss to Santa Clara in the 102nd minute marked the end of an impressive streak for KU as the team had been unbeaten in seven-straight matches that had gone to overtime. Before that, Kansas’ previous loss in an overtime match came at the hands of Northwestern on Aug.19, 2012.
 
In his career, Mark Francis’ KU teams are 14-18-22 in matches decided in overtime for a winning percentage of .457, but over the last four-plus seasons, the Jayhawks have turned up their game in extra time. Including its wins over Colorado College and Arkansas, Kansas had been 8-4-1 in overtime games since the start of the 2011 season.
 
Jayhawks Picked Fourth in Big 12 Preseason Poll
Kansas soccer was predicted to finish fourth in the 2015 league standings according to the Big 12 preseason coaches’ poll which was released Aug. 12. The ranking marks the fourth time in the 16-year history of the preseason vote that KU has been picked to finish among the top-four teams in the conference.
 
Three-time defending league champion West Virginia was the coaches’ choice to win the conference, receiving eight seven-place votes and 63 points overall. The Mountaineers were followed by Texas Tech (55), Oklahoma State (46), Kansas (45), Oklahoma (38), Texas (28), TCU (22), Baylor (18) and Iowa State (9).
 
FIRST TO SCORE, WINS GALORE
Over its past 71 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 71-game span, the Jayhawks have been on the losing end only once in the games which they have put in the match’s first goal. Kansas has amassed a record of 35-1-2 in those games, which already includes a 3-0-0 mark this year. The Jayhawks’ win against South Dakota State on Sept. 25 marked their 25th-consecutive victory in games which KU has scored first.
 
On the flip side, KU hasn’t been quite as fortunate when its opponents have gotten on the board first. Kansas’ two recent wins over Colorado College and Arkansas were the first and only wins in that same 71-game span when finding itself trailing 1-0 at any point in a match. The Jayhawks are 2-29-1 in those games over the last three years, including an 0-6-0 mark in 2014 and a 2-5-0 mark this season.
 
RECORD BOOK WATCH
The Kansas soccer record book has already seen some movement concerning where some current Jayhawks stand. Senior midfielder Liana Salazar finds herself among the Jayhawk elite when comparing her career numbers. She currently sits fourth on the all-time goal-scoring chart with 24, but needs just two more to tie Caroline Kastor and Rachel Gilfillan for No. 2 on the list. Caroline Smith is the school’s all-time leading goal scorer with 51. Salazar is also sixth on the all-time points chart as she has amassed 57 points in 71 appearances for the Jayhawks. That mark is 21 points behind Whitney Berry, who is second on the list and 74 points behind the record-holder, Caroline Smith, who tallied an impressive 126 points during her days in Lawrence.
 
Senior Ashley Williams has also moved up charts midway through her last season in the Crimson and Blue. Williams is now eighth on KU’s goal-scoring list with 19 career goals and is at No. 4 with nine game-winning goals. If she can match or exceed her total of four from last season, that will put her at No. 2 on KU’s list. 
 
JUST ONE WILL DO IT
The 2015 Jayhawks have already carried on an impressive trend that has developed over the last three seasons when it comes to scoring. Since the start of the 2012 season the Kansas soccer team has scored at least one goal in 47 matches. The Jayhawks’ record in those matches: 37-7-3. Kansas was won or drawn all but seven matches in which it has scored, including a 15-2-0 record in those instances last season.
 
The one goal trend has obviously proven fruitful for Kansas last season as, until KU’s Oct. 19 loss to West Virginia, the Jayhawks held their opponents to one goal or less in each of their first 16 matches of the year. That 16-match streak was the second-longest in program history and is only topped by the 2003 and 2004 squads, which combined to hold 29-straight opponents to one goal or fewer from Oct. 19, 2003- Nov. 3, 2004.
 
UP NEXT
Kansas will return to the friendly confines of Rock Chalk Park on Friday, Oct. 9, to take on the Baylor Bears. KU and BU will hit the pitch for a 7 p.m. kickoff, which will be available via webcast on KU Athletics’ YouTube channel.
 
 
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