After going down two goals to Oklahoma in a dire first half to open Big 12 Conference play, the Kansas soccer team converted its only two shots on target in the second period.
That included a close-range header by Olivia Page in the 85th minute for her first career goal, which sealed a 2-2 draw Thursday on the road at John Crain Field in Norman, Oklahoma.
The Sooners outshot KU 18-6 on the night and struck first on a Danielle Wolfe rebound off a Melania Pasar save, but Pasar was able to stop one of two penalty kicks in a four-minute spin to keep the deficit manageable at 2-0.
The Jayhawks waited until the 65th minute for their first shot of the second half but made it count, as Avery Smith redirected a Moira Kelley free kick with her head for the score. Then Page benefited from an errant header by an OU defender on a Kelley cross and knocked in a goal of her own at the far post to even the score late.
“”The team we were in the first half and the team we were in the second half were polar opposites,” KU coach Mark Francis said in a press release. “We changed the formation at half. We felt like it was going to give us a better opportunity and it worked. The formation worked, but the kids were the ones that made it work.
“I’m just really proud of how the girls came back. We showed a lot of character today.”
Pasar finished with four saves, including a diving stop her to left on a Wolfe penalty kick. Page and Smith had two shots apiece for the Jayhawks, while Kelley, the only KU player in for all 90 minutes, picked up her third assist of the year.
Wolfe took six shots for the Sooners and Emma Hawkins had five. Leonie Weber scored the successful penalty for OU.
KU (3-1-5, 0-0-1 Big 12) will continue its lengthy road trip to open conference play with a match at Oklahoma State on Thursday
Aiden Droge/Kansas Athletics
