Greenville, S.C. ? Kansas University’s soccer team picked up arguably its biggest victory in the program’s 10-year history Saturday when it pummeled No. 7 Clemson, 3-1, in the championship game of the Furman Tournament at Stone Soccer Stadium.
It was KU’s first-ever win against a top-10 team. Clemson (5-1) already owned early season wins at then-No. 5 Texas A&M and then-No. 13 Texas.
The 21st-ranked Jayhawks dominated the contest from start to finish and controlled the pace. Clemson outshot Kansas 18-16, but KU was far more accurate with its shots with a 10-7 shots-on-goal advantage.
“I thought that we played pretty well today,” KU coach Mark Francis said. “We had a good gameplan coming into the match, and we were able to follow through on it. We had some really good challenges in the match, and our girls did a good job of battling out there. I feel like overall this was a really good game for us.”
Senior midfielder Lauren Williams gave KU a 1-0 lead at the 31:43 mark when she scored from 26 yards out on a perfectly placed free kick to the upper-left-hand corner of the goal.
Junior Nicole Braman bumped the lead to 2-0 six minutes later when she found net from 16 yards out off passes from senior Monica Brothers and sophomore Jessica Kilpatrick.
Senior goalkeeper Meghan Miller’s school-record streak of five straight shutouts was snapped when Lydia Vandenbergh buried a shot from 17 yards out in the 43rd minute that pulled the Tigers within 2-1 at halftime. Miller didn’t allow another shot past, however, and finished the day with six saves.
Senior forward Rachel Gilfillan pushed the Kansas lead to 3-1 in the 57th minute when she scored from eight yards out off a pass from junior Jessica Smith.
