Kansas University soccer coach Mark Francis doesn’t know if his team will improve on its Sweet 16 appearance of a year ago, but he’s certain this year’s club is better.
“This is definitely the most talented team we’ve had,” said Francis, now in his sixth year at KU. “We’re a lot further along at this point in preseason than we were at this time last year, so I think that’s a good sign. The kids came in really fit.”
The Jayhawks will open at 2 p.m. today with an exhibition match against Creighton at the Jayhawk Soccer Complex. Regular-season play will begin a week from today at UNLV.
Francis said it was evident his players worked on their offseason conditioning more this summer than in past seasons, but he said he wasn’t surprised. The Jayhawks had plenty of motivation.
For one, a 1-0 loss to a physically superior UCLA team in the Sweet 16 last fall hammered home the belief that the Jayhawks needed to be bigger, stronger and faster. Second, last year’s 18-6-1 season and No. 13 national ranking in the final poll fueled expectations.
“We had a good season last season,” Francis said, “but this season is going to be a little bit more challenging because to top what we did last year obviously is going to be tough to do.”
Tough, yes, but not impossible.
Seven starters are back — including junior All-America forward Caroline Smith and senior All-Big 12 Conference goalkeeper Meghan Miller — and six more Jayhawks saw extensive minutes with the starting unit. Plus, sophomore midfielder Nicole Cauzillo, a transfer from West Virginia, and junior forward Nicole Braman, an Ohio State transfer, both came from Top-25 programs.
The deeper talent pool has breathed new life into the Jayhawks’ workouts, Miller said. Practices are more up-tempo at all times and the players have been more aggressive and played with more confidence, she said.
“This year is the most competitive year I’ve ever been a part of,” she said. “It’s going to be a battle for every position this year, and only time will tell who gets to step out onto the field as the starting 11 at the beginning of the game. Right now we’re all battling.”
Notes:
Columbia, Mo. ? There’s a chance Caroline Smith will be able to take aim at a familiar target when Kansas University’s soccer team plays Illinois State in an NCAA Tournament first-round game today.
Andrea Shaw, Illinois State’s backup goalkeeper, is Smith’s best friend. They were teammates on a club team in their hometown of Edina, Minn.
Shaw hasn’t seen much action for the Redbirds this season, but that doesn’t mean the two haven’t talked some good-natured smack.
“We’ve been talking a little trash,” Smith said. “I told her even if she doesn’t get in I’m going to kick one at her.”
The showdown begins at 4 p.m. at Walton Soccer Complex on the Missouri campus. MU will face Eastern Illinois at 7 p.m. in the second game. Today’s winners will play at 1 p.m. Sunday for the right to advance to the NCAA Sweet 16.
While Smith, the Big 12 Conference’s leading scorer, plans to fire more shots with her foot than her mouth against the Redbirds, KU coach Mark Francis said he expected his team to hear plenty of taunting from the stands.
There’s likely to be plenty of black-and-gold-clad Mizzou fans packing the stands early and making life difficult for No. 16-ranked Kansas, the 13th seed in the field of 64.
“Whenever you go to Columbia you’re never too welcome, (when) you go into restaurants and stuff like that,” said Francis, whose team toppled MU, 2-0, in Columbia earlier this season. “Our guys are used to that. We were there a month ago, so I don’t think it’s going to be anything they haven’t already seen this year.”
Illinois State (11-5-3) is only the second team Kansas has faced in an NCAA Tournament. In 2001, the Jayhawks dropped a 1-0 decision to BYU in their only previous appearance.
At 16-5-1, Kansas has shown the potential to make a postseason run. It already has its most wins, highest Big 12 finish and highest national ranking in the program’s nine-year history. KU’s 10 shutouts also are the best in school history.
“We’ve set a lot of different records with wins and all kinds of different things this season,” Smith said. “This team has never shied away from trying to do what nobody else has done.”
Kansas doesn’t know a lot about the Missouri Valley Conference champions, other than that they use a four-defender, four-midfielder, two-forward formation. They’ve also scored just 18 goals this season, compared with KU’s 40, and never had more than two in a single game.
Not that past numbers matter at this stage of the season.
“It only takes one goal to win the game,” Francis said. “Offensively, we’ve got some very dangerous players, and we’ve done a good job of sticking balls in the back of the net, so I think it’s not really any different from any other game.”
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