The Jayhawks advance to the second round. Photo courtesy kuathletics.com
LAWRENCE -- Redshirt-sophomore Kailey Lane’s goal in the 70th minute proved to be the difference as the No. 3-seeded Jayhawks outlasted the Iowa Hawkeyes, 1-0, Saturday night in the first round of the NCAA Championship.
Kansas advanced to the second round for the third time in four seasons and will meet the Xavier Muskateers on Friday in Columbia, S.C.
The win improved Kansas to 16-4-3 on the year and gave the Jayhawks their most wins in a season since 2004. Iowa’s season came to a close with a 15-5-1 record.
It was a physical match from start to finish, one that featured 31 fouls and five yellow cards between the two teams. The physicality at both ends of the field made it tough for either side to gain an advantage on the scoreboard, going scoreless for nearly 70 minutes of action.
KU finally broke through when freshman Ellie Prybylski played a pass downfield to a sprinting Katie McClure, who got in behind the Iowa defense and needed only one touch to play a low, darting cross into the heart of the Hawkeye box. There, Lane managed to beat the Iowa defenders to the pass, where she redirected it into the Iowa goal for the match’s first score. It marked Lane’s fifth goal of the season and ended up being the Jayhawks’ only shot on frame for the game.
The Jayhawk defense, which was stellar all night, buckled down from there. Iowa put together several dangerous attacks over the final 25 minutes of regulation, but the KU backline stayed firm. KU goalkeeper Sarah Peters tallied two of the biggest saves of the game in the final 90 seconds when she stopped two Iowa equalizer bids. The sophomore out of Lee’s Summit Missouri finished the contest with five saves and her 10th shutout of the season.
Kansas closed out the 1-0 victory and advanced to the NCAA Tournament’s second round for the sixth time in program history and third time in the last four years.
UP NEXT
The Jayhawks will take on the BIG EAST regular-season and conference champions Xavier Musketeers (17-3-2) in the NCAA Tournament Second Round on Friday in Columbia, South Carolina. Kickoff from Eugene E. Stone III Stadium is still to be determined.
--kuathletics.com--