It took until the 76th minute for the Kansas soccer team to score on Sunday afternoon, but the Jayhawks put in a pair of goals late and won on the road at Utah, 2-0.
The Utes didn’t have a shot on target for the first 73 minutes, at which point a match that looked headed for what would have been a frustrating scoreless draw for the Jayhawks took a dramatic turn. Utah’s Lilliah Blum popped the ball between KU’s Livvy Moore and Emily Tobin, retaining possession and earning space to take a shot off her left foot, but goalkeeper Sophie Dawe knocked it down.
Shortly afterward, Jocelyn Herrema earned a corner kick for KU. The ball played in by Livvy Moore hit the back of Utah defender Ryann Cull’s right arm, and much to the Utes’ chagrin, officials awarded KU a penalty kick upon review, which Moore converted for the go-ahead goal.
Lexi Watts took a pass from Caroline Castans and blew past a pair of defenders for her team-leading ninth goal of the season soon afterward to seal the result.
The Jayhawks picked up the second win of their two-game road trip through Utah, spoiling another school’s senior day in the process, and improved to 12-3-3 overall and 6-3-1 in the Big 12. They tightened their grip on a top-16 place in the national RPI rankings and clinched a spot in the league tournament that begins Monday, Nov. 3, at TCU, against an opponent yet to be determined. KU’s seeding will depend on the results of the final matchday, set for Thursday, although the Jayhawks cannot move up higher than fifth place.
KU outshot Utah 15-4 on the whole and put seven shots on target, five of which were saved by goalkeeper Erin Gibbs.
She actually had herself a fairly easy first half, as the only save she had to make was a punch on a corner kick after KU defender Olivia Page headed the ball up in the air. Beyond that and three shots in a two-minute span, the Jayhawks didn’t manage much before the break, and even their shots on target afterward — one effort by Lydia Viets, another header from Page — didn’t make life too difficult on Gibbs.
After the penalty kick was when the floodgates opened, with Watts’ goal to start, and then Watts almost earned herself a brace with a similar shot from inside the box less than a minute after her goal, but it was lower and more easily cleaned up by Gibbs.
The Jayhawks attempted nine corner kicks to Utah’s zero.
KU will play its final regular-season match on Thursday at 6 p.m. at Rock Chalk Park against Colorado. The Buffaloes ranked several spots ahead of the Jayhawks in RPI as of Sunday, and they beat Arizona 1-0 that same day.
