As in six of its seven games thus far this season, the Kansas soccer team outshot its opponent. The Jayhawks had eight attempts to Iowa State’s four, and four on target to the Cyclones’ one.
But the Cyclones made their one count, and they got it at a critical stage of the match on Thursday night at Rock Chalk Park.
In the 84th minute, Sophia Thomas took possession at the edge of the box following a deflection from the KU defense. She lobbed a shot toward the top of the goal that keeper Sophie Dawe got a hand on, but it hit the underside of the crossbar and bounced in to give ISU the 1-0 victory.
The result, one of a couple this year in which the Jayhawks have allowed a game-tying or game-winning goal in the final minutes, dropped KU to 2-2-3 on the season and dealt head coach Nate Lie a loss in his first-ever game as a Big 12 coach.
“It’s another game that we created the way clearer chances and for whatever reason we’re not capitalizing,” he said in a press release. “That falls first and foremost on us as a staff, so that we can make sure that the players are able to capitalize on those moments. I thought we played a better second half after playing a really, really disappointing first half, especially as it relates to a Big 12 game at home coming off our first and only bye so far this year. So again, the responsibility falls on me first. But this wasn’t good enough tonight.”
The Jayhawks had six corner kicks, including one in the 89th minute that did not produce a shot, to zero for the Cyclones, and ISU’s Avery Gillahan was needed for four saves, two on Lexi Watts and one each on Saige Wimes and Lauren Wood.
Dawe, the reigning Big 12 freshman of the week after her clean sheet at Vanderbilt on Sept. 5, did not record a save in the match.
KU will remain at Rock Chalk Park to host non-NCAA Friends University on Sunday before it resumes its Big 12 schedule with a match of some significance to Lie at Cincinnati on Thursday. Lie coached at the university for five seasons and in the city for an additional seven.
