Jayhawks and Cowgirls play to 1-1 draw
LAWRENCE, Kan. – Despite outshooting the visitors 17-6 over the final 65 minutes of play, the Kansas Jayhawks were unable to separate themselves from the Oklahoma State Cowgirls as the two squads played to a 1-1 tie Sunday afternoon at Rock Chalk Park. Sophomore Grace Hagan netted her sixth goal of the season in the match that featured 43 fouls and eight yellow cards.
The draw moved Kansas to 8-4-3 in its 2016 campaign, which includes a 3-1-1 mark in league play. The Cowgirls went to 7-5-3 in their season with a 2-2-1 record in the Big 12.
“I’m pretty disappointed with this result, to be honest,” said head coach Mark Francis. “We came out and weren’t good enough in the first half. We were flat and we were playing about as poorly as we have all year. But I was really happy with how the kids responded in the second half. We created enough chances to win the game, but unfortunately we just couldn’t get that winning goal. We’ll move past this one and look forward to this off weekend and hopefully use it to heal up and get better.”
For just the second time on the year, the Jayhawk conceded an opponent goal within the opening 10 minutes of the half. The Big 12’s leading scorer, Oklahoma State’s Courtney Dike, got her team on the board within the first five minutes with her eighth strike of the season. The senior gained possession near midfield and took the ball all the way to the edge of the six-yard box after beating the last Jayhawk defender. Her shot near the right post flew past the outstretched arms of KU keeper Maddie Dobyns and gave the Cowgirls the early 1-0 lead.
Chances for either team were few and far between for the rest of the first half, with only nine shots between the two squads coming over the final 40 minutes of the half.
Sophomore Grace Hagan logged her sixth goal of the season in the draw with OSU Sunday.A different Kansas team emerged from the halftime locker room. The Jayhawks knotted the score up just five minutes after the start of the period. Freshman Katie McClure found space from 10-yards out of the Cowgirl frame and sent in a hard-hit ball that was turned away by OSU goalkeeper, Michael Ongaro. Fortunately for Kansas, the rebound went right to the feet of Hagan, who was just yards from the mouth of the goal. The Wichita product only needed one touch to redirect the rebound into the back of the net and tie the score at 1-1 with 40 minutes still to play in the second half.
Kansas continued to attack over the rest of the period and saw several prime chances to take the lead. The Jayhawks best opportunity of the half came in the 85th minute when Hanna Kallmaier seemed to have an open look at the OSU net. A KU free kick was deflected to the senior midfielder’s feet before she slammed a shot that appeared to be going in for the first goal of Kallmaier’s career. Ongaro wouldn’t allow it though, as the senior goalkeeper came out of nowhere for her sixth save of the day to keep the match intact for the visitors.
Moments later Kansas went to its fourth overtime match of the season. Both teams saw chances at the golden goal, but were unable to send in the game-winner. After 20 minutes of extra time the match came to a close with a 1-1 tie.
The Jayhawks ended the match outshooting OSU by a tally of 22-11, which included a 17-6 advantage in the second half and overtime. McClure led all players with five shots and was one of 11 different Jayhawks to posts at least one shot in the match.
The match also proved to be a physical one, with both squads combining for 43 fouls and eight yellow cards.
UP NEXT
After a 12-day layoff, the Jayhawks will return to action on Friday, Oct. 21 when they journey to Norman, Oklahoma to take on the Sooners. KU and OU are slated to kickoff at 7 p.m. Two days later, Kansas will head south for its final regular-season road contest of the year when it meets Baylor in Waco on Sunday, Oct. 23.
KUAthletics.com: The official online source for Kansas Athletics, Williams Education Fund contributions, tickets, merchandise, multimedia, photos and much, much more.
