Sometimes a tie isn’t like kissing your sister.
Kansas University’s 2-2 soccer deadlock with Oklahoma State, for instance, was against a ranked team, and the Jayhawks have struggled this season.
Nevertheless, KU coach Mark Francis wasn’t jumping for joy.
“They’re a top-25 team,” Francis said after Friday’s match at the Jayhawk Soccer Complex ended knotted after two overtimes, “but we’re still disappointed.”
Oklahoma State came in with an 8-3-1 record, while the Jayhawks were 3-8-2. On paper, then, the Cowgirls had to be favored.
But Kansas struck quickly, grabbing a 1-0 lead in the 15th minutes when Shannon McCabe left-footed a Nicole Cauzillo pass into the goal mouth.
Oklahoma tied it on a Siera Stawser goal 15 minutes later, and the score stood 1-1 after 45 minutes. Once again, Kansas grabbed the advantage after the break, with Cauzillo busting an almost perfect indirect kick from Monica Dolinsky into the OSU net.
“She played a great ball to me,” Cauzillo said of Dolinsky’s pass that split two OSU defenders. “I tried to get my head on it, but I couldn’t, and I hit it in with my shoulder.”
Thirteen minutes later, OSU’s Yolanda Odenyo dented the Kansas net to square the count again. Neither team scored in the last 19:44 of regulation nor in either of the two 10-minute overtimes, and the lack of resolution left Francis with a hollow feeling.
“We’re disappointed we didn’t win,” he said, “especially when you’re ahead twice. Defensively, we made mistakes that cost us.”
Offense had been the Jayhawks’ most glaring weakness early in the season, but KU has counted eight goals in the last three games after collecting only three goals in its first 10 outings.
“Offensively, I think a lot of individual players have stepped up,” Francis said.
One is Cauzillo, a senior midfielder from Northville, Mich., who took over the season lead in team points with four goals and two assists.
“We’re starting to click as a team,” Cauzillo said. “It was frustrating today because we were connecting more offensively, but I don’t think we should hang our heads about it.”
Kansas (3-8-3 overall, 1-1-2 Big 12) will entertain Oklahoma (5-6-2, 1-4) at 1 p.m. Sunday.
