THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MONDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2007
SPORTS
3B
SOCCER
Victories qualify team for Big 12 Conference Tournament
Kansas' strong performance against Nebraska, Iowa State, gives team 5-1-2 record during its last eight games
BY ANDREW WIEBE
awiebe@kansan.com
After staggering through a daunting preseason schedule that included loses to nationally ranked programs like Portland and Brigham Young, Kansas completed a remarkable turnaround this weekend by qualifying for the Big 12 Tournament.
Kansas' victories against Nebraska and Iowa State at the Jayhawk Soccer Complex gave the team five wins, two draws and only one defeat in its last eight games. This weekend's results meant Kansas would participate in its eighth straight Big 12 Conference Tournament, Nov. 7 to 11 in San Antonio, Texas, and moved the team into a tie for 5th in the Big 12.
Kansas used strong performances from junior forward Sara Rogers and senior midfielder Nicole Cauzillo to overwhelm last-place Nebraska Friday afternoon. Rogers came off the bench to contribute a brace, her first goals of the season, while Cauzillo scored her team-leading five goal to
power the Jayhawks to a 3-1 win.
KANSAS 3. NEBRASKA 1
Coach Mark Francis said the team started to show the form that fueled its current streak on a consistence basis. He said the biggest change from the beginning of the season was the way the team finished its chances.
"It gives the kids some confidence," Francis said. "Which at this point, I think, is 99 percent of the battle. We are starting to believe that we actually are good and we can win games and that's obviously shown in our results."
Rogers began the scoring in the 22nd minute after a smooth sequence of passes begun by a Cauzillo back-heel pass that allowed sophomore forward Kim Boyer to send a perfectly weighted through ball to Rogers on the right flank. The junior calmly finished the play to stake Kansas to an early 1-0 advantage.
Mindy Ricketts/KANSAN
"I got a really good ball played to me for the first one," Rogers said. "I just looked up and went near post with it."
The strong contingent of traveling Nebraska fans then watched
as Cauzillo and Rogers unleashed extraordinary long-range strikes after halftime to put the game out of reach. The first came in the 60th minute when Cauzillo bent a left-footed shot into the top-left corner from 35 vards out.
"I think I just took a touch and I saw that the keeper was off her line and I just went for it." Cazillo said.
A strong defensive performance was tainted when Nebraska scored three minutes later on a corner kick. Francis said he was happy with the team's overall performance but stressed that it must stay focused during the course of 90 minutes to prevent those kinds of soft goals.
The Kansas attack continued to yield results five minutes later when Rogers latched onto a flick from sophomore forward Monica Dolinsky at the edge of the penalty area. Rogers cut back past a defender and drove a shot into the bottom right corner. It was the first multi-goal game of the junior's career.
For the first 25 minutes, Iowa State and Kansas battled for possession in the midfield with offensive chances and significant buildup hard to come by. For the next 10 minutes, Kansas attackers began to generate a number of quality chances in front of the goal that eventually resulted in the lone goal and a 1-0 triumph.
KANSAS 1. IOWA STATE 0
The breakthrough came in the 37th minute when a corner kick taken by junior forward Jessica Bush sent on by freshman forward Kaitlyn Cunningham. The pass found freshman defender Katie Williams unmarked in the middle of the box where a powerful header past Iowa State goalkeeper Ann Gleason gave Williams the first goal of her career.
"It was more of a community goal." Williams said. "Kaitlyn Cunningham flicked it and I just happened to be there."
Nicole Cauzillo, senior midfielder, powers past Selenia lacchelli, junior midfielder, during Friday afternoon's game against Nebraska at the Jayhawk Soccer Complex. Cauzilla had a goal and an assist during the game.
Despite creating the bulk of the offensive chances throughout the game, the Jayhawks were forced to buckle down in the final 20 minutes as Iowa State sent waves forward in hopes of equalizing and earning a point.
The Cyclones' best chance came in the 76th minute when a loose ball
from a corner kick fell to an Iowa State player who drove a shot towards senior goalkeeper Colleen Quinn.
"I made the mistake to get the corner so I had to make up for that." Quinn said. "I don't want to go into overtime more than anybody else
does."
By preserving the shutout, Quinn earned her fourth shutout of the season and officially clinched a berth in Big 12 Conference Tournament play.
- Edited by Meghan Murphy
》VOLLEYBALL
Disappointment continues in five-game match vs. Missouri
BY RUSTIN DODD
rdodd@kansan.com
For two hours and 20 minutes on Saturday, Kansas played even with Missouri. Unfortunately it was the last 20 minutes that proved decisive. Missouri edged past Kansas 15-12 in game five, claiming a 3-2 (30-32, 30-22, 33-31, 26-30, 15-12) victory in the 2-hour, 40-minute marathon match at the Horejsi Family Athletics Center. Kansas was left emotionally drained and looking for answers after its eighth loss in nine matches.
Kansas had more digs, the same number of assists and only four fewer kills than Missouri, but still came away empty-handed.
games four and five.
HISTORY REVERSED
The loss dropped Kansas to 10-13 and 3-10 in the Big 12, while Missouri improved to 13-9 and 6-7 in the Big 12.
After winning game one, Kansas dropped games two and three. The match began to look eerily similar to Kansas' 3-2 win against Missouri earlier this year in Columbia, Mo., when Kansas trailed 2-1 before rallying to win
"We just had too many hitting errors," coach Ray Bechard said, attributing his team's low .147 hit percentage to youthful inconsistency. "But we can't use that excuse much longer. These guys have played twenty-plus matches."
On Saturday, Kansas managed to win game four, 30-26, but Missouri made sure to grab hold of game five early and hold on tight. With Kansas trailing 6-3 in the decisive game five, Bechard called timeout and a kill from senior right side/setter Emily Brown on the ensuing point started a 4-1 Kansas run that gave Kansas a 7-6 lead. But Missouri responded with its own 4-0 run and took a 10-7 lead.
"You just can't overcome that in a short game." Beckard said.
GAME ONE
Things looked promising early for the Jayhawks, who took game one in wacky fashion. Brown and junior middle blocker Natalie Uhart controlled the net in game one, with Kansas leading 29-28 on the scoreboard, Uhart finished a kill to give Kansas what looked to be a 30-28 win. But after a few minutes of discussion, officials announced that the score was actually 30-29, meaning Kansas had to come back out to finish game one. Missouri took the next point to tie the game at 30-30, but sophomore outside hitter Flavia Lino finished a kill on a less-than-perfect set from Brown to give Kansas a 31-30 lead. Kansas won the game 32-30 on the next point.
"I kind of wish now that they had counted that as winning twice," Brown said.
Bechard was pleased with the way his team handled the strange situation.
"I've never had a team have to change sides and finish a game," Bechard said. "It was the correct thing to do. But I thought we responded extremely well."
GAMETWO AND THREE
But Bechard was disappointed with the way his team played game two. Missouri controlled game two from the start and won 30-22.
Missouri also won game three despite some late-game heroics from Kansas.
Trailing Missouri 27-21, Kansas went on a 6-0 run to tie the score at 27-27. Then Kansas saved three Missouri game points, the first on a Uhart block assist that tied the game at 29-29, the second on a kill from freshman Karina Garlington tying the game at 30-30 and the third on Brown's block assist to square things at 31-31. But the comeback was wasted when Missouri won the next two points to win the game 33-31.
"We fought really hard tonight, because on points like that, it's easy for a team to play scared, and say, 'Hey, they're only one point from winning the game,'" Brown said.
UP NEXT
Kansas has seven games left on its schedule. The Jayhawks travel to Baylor
on Wednesday for a 6:30 p.m. match, and Bechard said his team could learn from this game.
"I told the team that if we continue that type of fight and perseverance then there is opportunity to have success for
the rest of the way out," Bechard said.
- Edited by Matt Erickson
785-864-5823 www.ContinuingEd.ku.edu
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Vollevball notes
LOFTY NUMBERS
Kansas put up some of its biggest offensive numbers of the season during the five-game match. Senior right side/setter Emily Brown scored her sixth
triple-double of the season with 17 kills, 29 assists and 15 digs. But Brown still didn't lead Kansas in any of those categories. Sophomore setter Katie Martinicchied kel Kansas with 32 assists, while freshman libero Melissa Manda had a career-high 30 digs. Manda is eighth in the Big 12 with 3.93 digs per game. Junior middle blocker Matella Lei kansas us?
Manda
game: Johnson mocks Ezekiel
Natalie Uhart lifted Kansas with 19 kills.
FEELING BETTER
Uhart, who missed 10 games earlier this season for treatment for a congenital heart defect, said she's still not feeling 100 percent. But Uhart had one of her best
"She was great tonight," Bechard said. "And she was very good during timeouts
games in a kansas uniform with 19 kills and 12 blocks. Bechard said Uhart had been impressive on and off the court.
With Uhart missing 10 games, and sophomore middle blocker Brittany Williams out for the season since Sept. 24 with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in her knee, it's easy to think about how the season might have turned
out differently with a completely healthy team. "Yes, well like to have a couple of other players out there," Bechard said. "But Missouri's missing a kid. too. It's the way of the world in the big 12."
Rustin Dodd
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