SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS ? When Kansas University soccer coach Mark Francis informed senior forward Amy Geha that she had received first-team All-Big Conference 12 honors, she thought he was joking.
“She’d never made it before in four years, and she’s very humble, so when I told her, she didn’t believe me,” Francis said. “She’s very deserving. She’s been very consistent for us all year.”
Geha proved more than consistent Wednesday for the Jayhawks, recording her first two-goal performance and sparking top-seeded Kansas (17-3) to a 4-1, first-round victory over eighth-seeded Iowa State (8-12) to open the Big 12 tournament.
“This is the Big 12 tournament, and we came to win, so to score two goals is awesome,” Geha said.
In Friday’s semifinals, Kansas, ranked No. 7 nationally, will face fourth-seeded Texas at 5 p.m. in a game that will be telecast live on Fox Sports Midwest (Sunflower Broadband Channel 36). UT blanked Nebraska, 2-0, Wednesday.
Texas shut out the Jayhawks 1-0 this season, and junior forward Caroline Smith knows motivating her team for Friday’s match will not be difficult.
“It’s good to get another crack at a team that has beat you,” said Smith, who opened the Jayhawks’ scoring Wednesday. “We’ve seen them before, and we know what to expect. We know what we have to do.”
Smith’s score came in the form of a penalty kick just five minutes after the opening whistle. Rachel Gilfillan eluded a pair of Iowa State defenders and passed to fellow senior forward Monica Brothers at the top of the 18-yard box. Brothers passed the ball off to Smith, and as she turned to head for goal, she was tackled from behind inside the penalty area. Smith opted to take the penalty kick and buried her shot inside the lower-left corner to put Kansas up 1-0.
“I’ve taken penalty kicks in high school and club, so I was confident in this situation,” Smith said about her second successful PK of the season.
Fifteen minutes later, Geha nabbed her first goal of the day. Gilfillan served a long cross into the box as Geha started her run, and she was able to tuck her header in-stride between the near post and Iowa State keeper Joanna Haig’s outstretched fingers.
Iowa State cut Kansas’ lead in half with 14 minutes remaining in the first half when freshman forward Stephanie Kaphingst headed in a Jess Villhauer corner kick. The goal energized the Cyclones, and they attacked the Jayhawks’ defensive third for the remainder of the half.
“After we went up 2-0, we really let down; our intensity went down,” Francis said. “At halftime I ripped (the players) a little bit. I told them just because we beat them 4-0 (Oct. 29) and just because we were winning today, the game’s not over. Iowa State never quit. They never stopped fighting.”
The Jayhawks took a renewed focus into the second half, and it paid off in the 60th minute. Geha dribbled into the 18-yard box, recovered her initially blocked shot and slotted the ball into the far corner to give Kansas a 3-1 advantage.
Sophomore defender Holly Gault added another insurance goal in the 74th minute. Sophomore midfielder Michelle Rasmussen, who missed the first 10 games of the season due to injury, corralled a loose ball at the top of the 18 and found Gault out wide. Gault dribbled into traffic and cracked a far-post shot past a diving Haig to close out the scoring.
“It was hard to come back against them today since we just beat them on Friday,” said Gault, who has scored four goals from her right back position. “We had to mentally re-focus. It’s a big relief to get the win today.”