Flurry of late goals gives KU soccer first win of 2023

By Henry Greenstein Aug 21, 2023

Kansas freshmen Montelene Dymond and Jocelyn Herrema celebrate following Dymond's go-ahead goal on Aug. 20, 2023 at Loyola Chicago.

The Kansas soccer team needed 149 minutes to get its first goal of the 2023 campaign; it needed just 28 to get three more.

After falling behind 1-0 at Loyola Chicago on Sunday afternoon following a long-distance free kick from Amanda Cassidy that just barely clipped the hand of goalkeeper Melania Pasar, KU was undaunted. Head coach Mark Francis said the players told him in the huddle, ‘We’re in this, let’s just keep going.’

“Within two minutes, we equalized, so that was a great response,” Francis said in a press release.

Sophomore Lexi Watts slipped a ball in at the near post off a cross from Hallie Klanke to even the score in the 59th minute. By the time the match concluded, the Jayhawks had poured in three more goals against Loyola Chicago’s Naya Lipkens, producing their first half with at least four goals since 2019 — also against the Ramblers — and claiming a 4-1 win at Loyola Soccer Park.

KU emerged unscathed with a 1-0-1 record from its season-opening two-game trip, after its draw at Wisconsin last week, and will return to Lawrence for a home opener against Vanderbilt this Thursday.

“The mentality of this group – you saw it on Thursday (at Wisconsin) – I think the difference today was that we ended up getting the result and the win,” Francis said. “Our grit is creating opportunities as well, not just making it difficult for opponents. I thought defensively we did the work, especially for a Sunday game and made it difficult for them.”

Pasar saved three shots as the Ramblers put just four on target. KU, meanwhile, sent 10 of its 22 shots on goal, and Montelene Dymond, Klanke and Magali Gagné talled once apiece in the second half.

All three goals were long-awaited. The freshman Dymond and the transfer Klanke scored their first-ever goals as Jayhawks, and Gagné netted for the first time since Sept. 19, 2021 against Harvard. Both Klanke and Gagné missed all of 2022 due to injuries.

Redshirt junior forward Brie Severns led all players with five shots, including four on target, and assisted Klanke as she sharply struck the ball from the right side of the box all the way to the underside of the crossbar in the top left corner and in.

Dymond had the go-ahead goal, popped in off a bounce as she beat Alaina Abel to the ball. Gagné scored with her left foot in the 87th minute on the final shot of the game for either team.

Eighteen players saw action for KU, with defenders Caroline Castans and Moira Kelley playing all 90 minutes. Leawood native Mackenzie Hammontree made her collegiate debut after suffering a season-ending injury as a freshman last year.

From left, Kansas’ Shira Elinav, Magali Gagné, Hallie Klanke and Raena Childers celebrate. KU beat Loyola Chicago in Chicago on Aug. 20, 2023.

Kansas’ Raena Childers and Hallie Klanke embrace during the game against Loyola Chicago in Chicago on Aug. 20, 2023.

Defender Siera Herbert of the Kansas Jayhawks takes a shot during the game against Loyola Chicago in Chicago on Aug. 20, 2023.

Kansas’ Hallie Klanke charges forward against Loyola Chicago in Chicago on Aug. 20, 2023.

Kansas forward Maree Shinkle takes a touch against Loyola Chicago in Chicago on Aug. 20, 2023.

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Written By Henry Greenstein

Henry is the sports editor at the Lawrence Journal-World and KUsports.com, and serves as the KU beat writer while managing day-to-day sports coverage. He previously worked as a sports reporter at The Bakersfield Californian and is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis (B.A., Linguistics) and Arizona State University (M.A., Sports Journalism). Though a native of Los Angeles, he has frequently been told he does not give off "California vibes," whatever that means.