You can’t win if you can’t score, and no college soccer team in the country has been stingier at surrendering goals than Kansas University.
KU leads NCAA Division One with a minuscule goals-against average of 0.31. The Jayhawks have surrendered only five goals in 16 games. Senior Meghan Miller has been in the net for 11 shutouts.
“Meghan has done a great job,” Kansas coach Mark Francis said, “but our defensive players have been playing really well and making her job easier. But Meghan has had some big saves, too.”
The Jayhawks’ starting defenders are senior Stacy Leeper, sophomores Nikki Alvarez and Holly Gault and freshman Afton Sauer.
Now ranked sixth nationally, the Jayhawks will face perhaps their toughest test tonight when they tangle with No. 9 Texas A&M. Game time will be 7 p.m. at the Aggie Soccer Complex in College Station, Texas.
A&M (12-4-1 overall) leads the Big 12 Conference standings with a 7-1 record. Kansas (14-2) is a half-game behind at 6-1.
“We hold our destiny in our hands,” Francis said. “If they win the rest of their games, they’ll win the league. If we win the rest of our games, we’ll win the league.”
A&M’s lone league defeat was a 2-1 decision to Missouri last week. The Jayhawks’ only conference loss was to Nebraska by a 1-0 count. If the Aggies win tonight, all they would need is a victory Sunday at Iowa State to lock up the outright championship and the No. 1 seed in the Nov. 3-7 league tourney in San Antonio.
After tonight, Kansas will have two games remaining — Sunday at Texas and the home finale against Iowa State a week from today.
During a six-game win streak, the Jayhawks have outscored their opponents, 17-2. They haven’t lost since bowing to Nebraska on Sept. 24 at Jayhawk Soccer Complex. KU’s only other defeat was a 1-0 decision Sept. 14 at Illinois.
Junior Caroline Smith, who scored a school record 19 goals last season, leads the Jayhawks with seven goals and five assists for 19 points. Nicole Cauzillo, a transfer from West Virginia, has four goals and six assists for 14 points. Also in double-points is senior Rachel Gilfillan with six goals and one assist for 13 points. Gault and midfielder Amy Geha have eight points apiece.
At this stage of the season, Francis doesn’t think his players will be fazed by playing back-to-back road games this weekend.
“We’ve won as many games on the road as we have at home,” he said. “The kids have handled the hostile environments well. I think they’re used to it. I think it’s a challenge we’re looking forward to.”
Kansas University’s men’s basketball players can make one of their dreams come true tonight at Allen Fieldhouse.
The Jayhawks (23-2 overall, 12-0 Big 12) can claim at least a share of the Big 12 Conference championship with an ESPN Big Monday victory against Iowa State (11-15, 3-9). Tip is 8:05 p.m. at Allen Fieldhouse.
No current KU player has earned a Big 12 title ring, the Jayhawks last claiming the crown during the 1997-98 season.
“It’s almost impossible to not think about it. It’s a big-time goal,” KU junior guard Kirk Hinrich said. “Hopefully we’ll take care of business.”
In an interesting twist, the two-time defending conference champion Cyclones provide the opposition tonight against the Jayhawks, who could climb to No. 1 in today’s Associated Press poll after top-ranked Duke’s loss to No. 3 Maryland on Sunday.
The Jayhawks did grab the No. 1 slot in the USA Today/ESPN coaches’ poll on Sunday.
Iowa State has won two straight games and played the Jayhawks tough in an 88-81 loss on Jan. 23 in Ames, Iowa. ISU, of course, won’t want to see the Jayhawks assure themselves the top seed in the Big 12 tournament KU holds the tiebreaker over Oklahoma tonight.
“I try to not look too far down the road, (but) it’d be a conference championship, my first championship since I’ve been here. It’d be special for me,” said senior Jeff Boschee, who was part of a postseason tourney champion team his freshman season.
A win tonight would be special for everybody wearing KU jerseys.
“That’d be beautiful, man,” frosh guard Aaron Miles said of winning the title. “But it doesn’t stop there for this team. Winning the Big 12 is one of our goals. Still a bigger goal in our mind is winning the NCAA (national championship). We also want to win the conference tournament.”
Added fellow freshman Wayne Simien, “We want to try to put our name in the (record) books and cut some nets down around here.”
A victory over the pesky Cyclones Iowa State has won the past two meetings in Lawrence would give the Jayhawks the right to clip the nets tonight if they so desire as they would claim at least a tie for the league crown.
Oklahoma technically still would remain in the running to tie atop the Big 12, but Kansas beat the Sooners head-to-head. KU also definitely would clinch the No. 1 seed in the postseason tourney with a victory.
“I don’t know how it’d happen,” KU’s Hinrich said. “We’ve not done it before. We’ll see, I guess.”
KU coach Roy Williams, who never takes victory for granted, said he had no policy on clipping nets after assuring a tie and/or No. 1 seed. He said he had “no idea” of a possible scenario after the game.
Of perhaps claiming at least a tie, the coach said, “We’re really trying to just focus on playing Monday night. Anything else that happens, that extra stuff on the sideline or extra stuff away from the actual play of the game we have to get out of our mind and play.
“Iowa State played us a great game up there. It’ll be a test for us to say the least.”
Iowa State is led by sophomore guard Jake Sullivan, who hit five of seven threes and scored 27 points versus KU in Ames.
“He made a couple way out there at their place,” Williams said of Sullivan’s deep threes. “I hope he doesn’t do it this time.”
Sullivan has hit 13 of 20 threes against KU in three games. He’s hit 17 of 31 shots overall against the Jayhawks, good for an average of 19.6 points a game. For the year, he is second in the country in three-point shooting (53 of 106, 50 percent).
Sullivan also has swished 104 of 116 free throws for 89.6 percent.
“He has been hot,” Hinrich said. “Hopefully we can keep it out of his hands a little bit. His range is really good. When a guy is in a zone like that, give him a shot at daylight and he will score.”
Added fellow Iowa native Nick Collison, “We’ve got to do something (against him). He’s been unbelievable especially against us. We’ll definitely have our eyes on him and probably Pearson.”
ISU center Tyray Pearson scored 17 points with eight boards in the Cyclones’ first meeting against KU.
“The Iowa State team we play makes big plays,” Hinrich said. “I know they’ve lost a lot of close games. They are really competitive. We’ll have to be ready to play. They play with a lot of energy and a lot of emotion.”
KU junior Drew Gooden showed some emotion in Ames, spiking the basketball in joy after KU’s win snapped a three-game losing streak at Hilton Coliseum and five-game losing streak overall versus the Cyclones.
He was asked if he’d bounce the ball again tonight if KU wins.
“Nah, I probably won’t,” Gooden said. “I don’t know. It depends how I feel.”