Kent State frustrated the Kansas soccer team for much of the match on Sunday afternoon, but Jillian Gregorski scored two goals in the span of three minutes to break the ice and the Jayhawks picked up a 3-1 win at Dix Stadium in Kent, Ohio.
KU was able to rebound after suffering its first loss of the season at Ohio State on Thursday. Caroline Castans added the third goal, which was also her third of the year, exceeding her total from 2025.
“We challenged them, one, coming off a tough match and tough result, to bounce back, and two, find a way to have the right level of urgency and sharpness on a day that it’s not going to come as naturally on the road, on a kind of smaller turf field, windy and against a very good opponent,” KU coach Nate Lie said in a video posted on social media. “Kent State gave us all we could handle today.”
He said that the Golden Flashes — picked fifth in the MAC this preseason — “didn’t let us get to the spaces that we usually want to get to.” The Jayhawks took 14 corner kicks and outshot Kent State 17-2, forcing six saves by Emma Klein along the way, but didn’t score until the 75th minute.
“So we had to be patient, and as we were trying to be patient, sometimes that kills your speed of play and kills the energy that you have,” Lie said. “And so I thought the second half, we found that right mix about being calm and clinical but also playing on the front foot and finding urgency.”
Gregorski recorded the third brace of her career, heading in a corner kick by Livvy Moore and then getting on the end of a bouncing ball from Castans for a long-distance shot over Klein.
Castans’ goal initially looked to have been cleared off the line by a Kent State defender before the officials ruled it was in fact the third for KU.
The Jayhawks brought in a slew of young players with late substitutions before conceding late to Samantha Miller, who provided the Golden Flashes’ only two shots in rapid succession, breaking up Dawe’s clean sheet.
“We got a lot of people experience,” Lie said. “The last 10 minutes, I don’t think we saw it out the way we would like to. That’s why you get these players experience, and hopefully that’s valuable going forward … We can’t give up a goal like that in the end going forward.”
KU improved to 3-1 and will play on the road at Utah Valley on Thursday at 8 p.m. Central time. The Jayhawks beat the Wolverines 3-2 in Lawrence last season.
