Kansas tops Colorado College, 2-0, wins fourth straight

LAWRENCE, Kan. – The Jayhawks scored early and late and collected their fourth-straight clean sheet as the Kansas soccer team to a 2-0 victory over the Colorado College Tigers Friday night inside Rock Chalk Park. Senior Lois Heuchan netted her first goal of the year with a strike in the fourth minute, while junior Grace Hagan added a goal late, her second of the year.
 
The win moved the Jayhawks to 4-1-0 on the year, claiming their fourth-straight victory. The Tigers dropped to 1-3-0 in their 2017 campaign.
 
“We knew what we needed to do to break them down, we just didn’t do it,” said head coach Mark Francis. “We didn’t execute. (It was a) quality goal, the first one. I thought it was a great goal, a great ball, by Katie (McClure) and Lois (Heuchan) did a great job finishing, but I think that was probably the only quality moment. Grace (Hagan) obviously kept her cool on the PK, but we’ve got to regroup going into Sunday. We’re playing the defending national champion (Southern California) and we’re going to have to be sharper than we were tonight.”
 
The Jayhawks got out of the gates early against the visitors from Colorado Springs. Less than four minutes into the match, sophomore Katie McClure found space at the top of the Tiger penalty area. From there she played a ball to the corner of the six-yard box that was met by the boot of Heuchan. The senior out of Castle Douglas, Scotland sent the ball in toward the far post, where it slammed into the side netting. The goal was the first of the season for Heuchan and the seventh of her collegiate career. It also marked the second time in three games that Kansas netted a goal within the opening four minutes.
 
The pace slowed considerably following the early Jayhawk strike as the pesky Tiger team limited the KU scoring chances for much of the final 85 minutes of action. McClure tallied a pair of shots on frame within a minute of each other just over midway through the opening period, however CC goalkeeper Jade Odom was there both times for two of her six saves.
 
The frustration continued for Kansas in the second half as the Tigers made it tough for the Jayhawk offense to get organized. KU managed only three shots over the final 45 minutes of play, however it was the final of those three attempts that gave Kansas its second goal.Junior Grace Hagan 
With just over a minute remaining in regulation, Heuchan was taken down with a late tackle inside the Colorado College 18-yard box. The referee immediately signaled a foul that resulted in Kansas’ first penalty attempt of the season. Junior forward Grace Hagan was called on to take the shot, which she calmly buried into the back of the net to claim her second goal of the year.
 
The final buzzer sounded 61 seconds later, giving Kansas its fourth-straight win as well as its fourth-straight shutout. The Jayhawks have not conceded an opponent goal in over 381 minutes, which ranks as the fourth-longest shutout streak in program history.
 
Senior Maddie Dobyns needed only three saves to collect her fourth shutout of the year. She now ranks third on KU’s all-time shutouts chart with 13 career clean sheets.
 
UP NEXT
Kansas welcomes the defending NCAA Champion USC Trojans to Lawrence for a Sunday-night contest on Sept. 3. The match will begin at 7 p.m., and will be televised on Spectrum Sports and streamed on ESPN3.