KU soccer battles back to tie Missouri

By Henry Greenstein     Sep 4, 2023

article image Angilo Allen/Kansas Athletics
Kansas' Hallie Klanke charges forward against Loyola Chicago in Chicago on Aug. 20, 2023.

Just as soon as Kansas earned an equalizer more than an hour in the making off the head of Kate Dreyer, Missouri took back its lead.

Kylee Simmons threaded a pass through to Jessica Larson in a threatening position, and Larson took a touch out to her right before slicing the ball past goalkeeper Melania Pasar for her first career goal, which put the Tigers back ahead 2-1 with precious little time remaining Sunday night.

But KU still had one more charge left.

Redshirt junior Hallie Klanke, who of late has produced numerous goals with her passing, took the shot herself this time, capitalizing on an error in the middle of the Missouri defense for an immediate high-arcing strike that curled over Bella Hollenbach and into the net. That 86th-minute score sealed a 2-2 draw at Rock Chalk Park and kept the Jayhawks unbeaten at 3-0-3.

“It was a really gutsy performance by the group to dig down deep,” KU coach Mark Francis said in a press release. “Especially the last 15 (minutes), when they came back with the goal, and for us to battle back and tie it again, especially physically how tired we were with the lack of subs that we had today. It was a gutsy performance by the group.”

Through Dreyer and Klanke, the Jayhawks scored on their only two shots on target all night (they had as many overall shots, five, as times caught offside).

Pasar made six saves on Missouri efforts. The Tigers earned their first goal in the ninth minute when an uncomfortable chip shot by Leah Selm hit the post as Pasar was running to retrieve it, then bounced off Pasar and in. But the super-senior keeper managed five saves after that, including one on Grace Pettet in the 89th minute.

Freshman Siera Herbert led KU with a pair of shots. Dreyer, Caroline Castans and Moira Kelley played all 90 minutes.

Klanke said that everybody on the team stepped up to earn the result.

“It doesn’t matter who you are or how many minutes you’re playing, you’re going to get the absolute best that you have, and they’re going to give everything for the team,” she said in the release. “I think that’s why we have had so much success this season.”

Simmons paced Missouri with four shots, and Larson and Shania Spriggs put two on target apiece.

KU now takes its unbeaten record on the road after a four-game homestand, though the Jayhawks won’t be going far to face Kansas City on Thursday.

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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.