The Kansas defense left too much space in the box for Oklahoma State’s Logan Heausler to head in an Alex Morris cross just a minute and a half into Thursday night’s game in Stillwater, and that was all the Cowgirls needed to earn a 1-0 victory.
KU (3-2-5, 0-1-1 Big 12) sustained its first loss of conference play. The Jayhawks had been able to rally for a road draw at Oklahoma a week earlier, but no such comeback arrived this time around as Kansas put just three of its 11 shots on target and all were saved by OSU’s Grace Gordon.
Brie Severns led the Jayhawks with five shots, including their lone second-half attempt on goal. She was in fact the only Jayhawk with a shot of any kind in the second half. KU keeper Melania Pasar’s seven saves were not enough.
“To be fair, from the edge of our box to 25 yards from their goal that’s some of the best soccer we played this year,” KU coach Mark Francis said. “Twenty-five yards from the goal and in we need more quality, but I can’t fault our fight today. We fought the whole game. We played some really good stuff. It’s just the final piece at the other end of the field that we were lacking today.”
The teams combined for 14 corner kicks, and Gordon easily wrapped up a Mackenzie Hammontree header on one such promising opportunity for KU in the first half.
The Jayhawks will conclude their five-game road swing with a first-ever conference matchup at UCF Sunday afternoon.