MANHATTAN – Playing in front of a boisterous opening night crowd of 1,556 fans at Buser Family Park, K-State registered 20 shots but were unable to find the netting as Weber State downed the Wildcats, 2-0, on Thursday night.
“It’s a tough one,” said K-State head coach Mike Dibbini. “I thought early on we played some good soccer, but didn’t get one in the back of the net. We had some chances early on, and then we kind of fumbled. They got the one that they needed. The adjustments they made were really good. Our phases of play were inconsistent. The bright spots, some of our freshmen stepped up and did some good things. It’s a long season, and this is not going to define us. We’re just going to get back to work and be ready on Sunday.”
With the 20 total shots, K-State (0-1-0) held the advantage by six in the category (20-14) and put seven on frame to Weber State’s five. The 20 shot attempts on Thursday night marked the most since K-State registered 20 against Tulsa on September 15, 2019.
Kansas State threatened to open the scoring in the 10th minute. Junior Aliyah El-Naggar was played in by a Porter List pass. El-Naggar gathered the ball with Weber State goalkeeper Kaytlin Bradley off-balance on her line. El-Naggar’s left-footed blast was barely deflected away from the Weber State from by a defender.
In the 29th minute, K-State found another strong threat extinguished. Caylee Thornhill, playing her first match since October 2, 2020, drew the attention of the defender and brought the keeper off her line with an attack. With the goal mouth open, Thornhill found freshman Riley Baker at the left post with a low pass. Baker was quickly surrounded by Weber State defenders and unable to fire a shot.
“I think it’s just putting away the chances we had,” said K-State senior Brookelynn Entz. “We had lots of chances to put the game away early. We let a team like that stay in the game and they gained more confidence and we saw what happened. They scored on their first shot on goal. I think after that we panicked a little bit, got out of our game and we were trailing. We can’t let that happen. We have to be on the front foot and score early and put away our opportunities early.”
Weber State (1-0-0) took advantage in the 31st minute. Lauren McConnell was played into the 18-yard box on a through ball from Brynlee Meyerhoffer. McConnell attempted a right-footed shot from a strange angle on the right side of the box and found the far upper left corner.
Weber State added an insurance goal in the 62nd minute, as K-State attempted to clear a Weber State corner kick from the box. Amy Kenney bounced the ball off her head and found Morgan Furmaniak who finished the second tally.
K-State put pressure on Weber State in the final 15 minutes with a pair of corner kicks. The Wildcats ended the night with a 6-2 edge in corner kicks. Entz and junior Kyler Goins fired shots in the last two minutes which were on frame but Bradley made saves on both.
K-State will wrap up the opening weekend of action on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m., as the Wildcats host Omaha at Buser Family Park. Sunday’s match is Youth Sports Day, as kids will receive a medal and can take part in K-State Olympics activities. For tickets, contact the K-State Athletics Ticket Office at (800) 221-CATS, visit kstatesports.com/tickets or purchase at the Buser Family Park ticket windows.
Sunday’s match will be broadcast on Big 12 Now on ESPN+.
– kstatesports.com –