MANHATTAN – Playing its first match against a top-five opponent, K-State received a pair of first half goals from seniors to hold an early lead, but fifth-ranked TCU scored a pair in the second half to send the match to overtime and capped the comeback with an overtime winner to down the Wildcats, 3-2, at Buser Family Park on Sunday afternoon.
K-State falls to 1-6-0, while TCU moves into the lead in the Big 12 with a 6-0-1 mark.
“I thought we had a really good performance despite the result,” said K-State head coach Mike Dibbini. “I thought we competed really well. We were very disruptive in defense, had some really nice goals, but that’s an experienced team and they just never seem to go away. When you have a bunch of juniors and seniors in the Big 12 that play together for a long time, it shows and that’s what they did today. They had a lot of experience on the field and they just never looked rattled and stayed composed. It’s unfortunate, it’s a tough loss, but we learned a lot about ourselves today.”
On its second corner of the afternoon in the 18th minute, K-State freshman Maddie Weichel played a ball to the far-left post. TCU cleared the ball into the middle of the field, roughly 40 yards from the net. The ball fell to the feet of K-State senior midfielder Maddie Souder, who was wide-open. Souder unleashed a rocket of a shot that found the upper left corner of the net to give K-State a 1-0 lead.
“I can’t wait to see the replay of my face, because I know it left my foot and I turned around and my jaw dropped,” said Souder of her strike. “It was a great feeling to get that goal early in the game and get the energy flowing through the team. It was definitely a good moment. I wish we could’ve executed, but it’s alright.”
The goal was Souder’s first this season and the fourth of her career. She ranks tied for fifth for career goals in school history.
The Wildcats went up 2-0 in the 26th minute. Senior Brookelynn Entz held possession and advanced through the TCU defense. She brought the ball back towards the middle of the field and took two dribbles before she fired a laser beam toward TCU goalkeeper Emily Alvarado. The shot forced Alvarado to jump and the ball slipped off her fingertips and into the net.
“It was a really fun moment for me,” said Entz. “I’ve wanted to score a pretty goal like that. I’ve scored on a PK and a hard-work goal against West Virginia, so I wanted to score a pretty goal. But honestly, it doesn’t really matter to me if we don’t win. I would rather me never score and we win all our games than for me to score a bunch of goals.”
With her goal, Entz boosted her season total to three and improved her school record for career goals to 13. She tied her own school record for goals in a Big 12 season, a mark she originally set in 2019. She also improved her school record for career points with 33.
The Horned Frogs would hold a 9-6 edge in total shots in the first half, but the teams were equal in shots on goal with three apiece.
“I think the energy was really high going into the locker room,” said Souder about the team’s mindset at halftime with a 2-0 lead. “We kind of got ahead of ourselves. We’ve been in this position before and we were going to try to come out and keep that 2-0 lead. Then that first goal in the first two minutes of the half, again the five minutes of the half is where we’ve got to be better.”
TCU pulled within a goal in the 47th minute. Gracie Brian redirected a cross from Grace Collins and banged the ball off the bottom of the crossbar and in.
In the 77th minute, TCU’s Olivia Hasler attempted a shot from 28 yards to the left of the net. The ball was just inside the right post and found the netting to square the match at two.
In the overtime session, Collins beat the K-State defense by toeing a ball from 12 yards toward the left post. The low shot bounced off the post and in to end the match and keep the Horned Frogs unbeaten.
K-State would finish the afternoon with a 17-15 edge in total shots, but TCU would hold a 6-4 lead in shots on goal. The teams were tied in corner kicks at five each.
K-State will make its final road trip of the 2020 season, as the Wildcats travel to Ames, Iowa, to face Iowa State on Friday at 7 p.m. Friday’s match will be broadcast on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ and will be available for free at kstatesports.com.
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