THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2013
SOCCER
PAGE 78
Kansas looks to remedy away game losing streak
STELLA LIANG sliang@kansan.com
Last weekend's results were ones the Kansas soccer team hopes to learn from, but not repeat. Kansas suffered a 4-0 defeat to Arizona State last Sunday after playing to a 1-1 draw with Arizona. The lay-
hawks have the chance to put that weekend behind them when San Francisco, San Diego and Nebraska travel to Lawrence for the Kansas Invitational on Sept. 13-15.
"I don't expect anything but our best Friday, especially coming off Sunday."
"I think it was
good that that happened at this point in the season," senior forward Caroline Kastor said. "It was a good wake-up call. It lets everyone on the team, especially the younger girls, know that you can't just take a game off. Every game is important."
When asked what happened on Sunday, Kastor said the team didn't show up and didn't play its best game.
In their last match, the Toreros earned a 2-1 victory over Missouri in overtime. Sophomore defender Caitlyn Kretzschmar scored the winning goal in the 10th minute of extra time. The goal was assisted by sophomore goalkeeper Michelle Craft, who launched a long pass to Kretzschmar. Before that
This weekend, the Jayhawks will match up against San Diego on Friday and San Francisco on Sunday. San Diego has a 4-2 record, including a 0-1 record on the road.
CARONLINE KASTOR Senior forward
match, they lost 6-1 against Texas A&M.
San Francisco enters the Kansas Invitational with a 4-1 record, but has never been tested on the road, as all of their matches have been at
we have been at home. The Dons rely heavily on their defensive effort, and they have won their four matches by scoring a total of six goals. Last weekend, they beat Harvard 1-0. Freshman forward Lexie Krueger leads the team with two goals including a last-minute game-winning goal earlier in the season against San Jose State.
Before these games this weekend the jayhawks are looking to prepare and alter their game to improve their performance.
"we changed things around a little bit, and they've been open
to that," coach Mark Francis said. "The attitude has been really good."
The team is taking this time to make some changes and tweak some of its game-play. Francis said there will be some changes to personnel and tactics. The main goal is to create more offense.
"We are just revisiting a few things we had gone over in preseason and making sure they understand some of those things," Francis said. "We have really gone back to basics. It's nothing complicated. It's just making sure they are all on the same page."
Kansas is led in scoring by Kastor, who has three goals and two assists. Junior midfielder Jamie Fletcher is next with one goal and two assists. Junior goalkeeper Kaitlyn Stroud has had 28 saves and seven goals scored against her.
This is the first weekend of the season the Jayhawks will not be on the road for at least one of their games. The game on Friday is at 4:30 p.m. and will be shown on Metro Sports and ESPN3. Sunday's match against San Francisco is at noon.
"I don't expect anything but our best Friday, especially coming off Sunday," Kastor said. "I think we've seen some glimpses of a lot of great things that we can do as a team."
Edited by Jessica Mitchell
Sophomore forward Courtney Dickerson tries to get the ball through two Denver defenders in a Sept. 14, 2012, game. The Jayhawks host San Francisco, San Diego and Nebraska Sept. 13-15 for the Kansas Invitational.
FILE PHOTO/KANSAN
MLB
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Kansas City Royals' Alex Gordon runs the bases after hitting a solo home run off Cleveland Indians starting pitcher Scott Kazmir in the first inning of a baseball game Wednesday in Cleveland.
Alex Gordon hits homer on first pitch, Royals win 6-2
ASSOCIATED PRESS
CLEVELAND — Alex Gordon homered on the game's first pitch, James Shields dominated after a shaky first inning, and the Kansas City Royals beat the Cleveland Indians 2- on Wednesday in a matchup of teams fighting for an American League playoff spot.
Kansas City took two of three in the series between clubs that are in contention for the second wild card spot in the AL. The Royals, who entered Wednesday trailing Tampa Bay by three games, moved a game closer to the Indians. Cleveland was 1½ games behind the Rays.
The Royals had a home run. a triple and a single on the game's first seven pitches to take a 2-0 lead.
Shields (11-9) gave up two runs,
two hits, and hit a batter in the bottom half before taking control
Michael Brantley had a two-run single in the first, but Shields didn't allow another hit until Jason Kipnis' leadoff single in the ninth. He retired 16 of 17 going into the ninth, but was removed after allowing singles to Kipnis and Carlos Santana.
Shields allowed four hits, struck out seven and walked one. Greg Holland retired the last three hitters for his 42nd save.
Gordon jumped on a 90 mph fastball from Scott Kazmir (8-8) and lined it into the seats in right field for his 13th career leadoff homer. Eric Hosmer and Lorenzo Cain added RBI singles.
Chicago on Thursday. The Indians and Royals meet again in Kansas City for a three-game series next week.
The Indians won the first game of the series and finished 5-4 on their homestand, but failed to gain ground in the playoff chase for the second straight day. Cleveland will begin a seven-game trip in
singled to center to make it a Kazmir retired the next two hitters, but Justin Maxwell singled and Cain lined a single to center for the third run. The Royals then pulled off a double steal, but Jamey Carroll popped up to end the inning.
Kansas City went 26-18 in a stretch of 44 games in 44 days. Emilio Bonifacio followed Gordon's homer with a triple. Right fielder Drew Stubbs attempted to make a diving catch, but the ball rolled past him, allowing Bonifacio to end up at third. Hosmer singled to center to make it 2-0
Kansas City went 26-18 in a stretch of 44 games in 44 days.
827 MASSACHUSETTS
The 14th Oldest Jewelry Store in the Country
A TRADITION OF EXCELLENCE SINCE 1880
785-843-4266
RINGS, WATCHES, CRYSTALS
DIAMONDS, LOOSE & MOUNTED
WEDDING BANDS, JEWELRY,
IN HOUSE WATCH AND CLOCK REPAIR,
FINANCING, SPEED, SERVICE &
CUSTOM DESIGN
www.markersdesign.net
Heaps
WE ALL NEED EACH OTHER. United Way
www.marksjewelers.net
2013 United Way Campaign Kickoff Party September 17, 5:00-6:30, Theatre Lawrence 4660 Bauer Farm Drive, Lawrence, Kansas
Heaps wasn't too mad.
"Obviously you want statistics to reflect how you personally feel that you played, but I'm not too concerned with it." Heaps said. "Every time it
The missing link: several drops by Kansas wideouts. Heaps' first stats collected as a Jayhawk were ugly early because of numerous drops spread across the Kansas wide receiver crew.
United Way of Douglas County
GUEST SPEAKER SHANE LOPEZ "MAKING HOPE CONTAGIOUS"
Wide recievers crucial for Rice game this weekend
It would have been easy to come to two different conclusions on Kansas quarterback Jake Heaps' first game. If you watched the game, you probably were impressed. If you looked at the box score, you probably weren't.
unitedwaydgco.org
FOOTBALL
CHRIS HYBL
chybl@kansan.com
nappened I just went up to them and let them know that I'm coming right back at them."
"Every player has had an off day and everybody has those moments so I definitely don't think it's something that people should
Dropped passes were one of the biggest concerns for the team in its home-opener victory against South Dakota State last Saturday.
be concerned about," said senior
Ford
ideout Josh Ford. "We're going to get it right. You'll see a better result this week."
Kansas needs to be able to call the pass play with confidence. They can already do so with the run game, but if they can't do the same sort of damage in the air, Kansas may not be able to distinguish this year's team from last year's team by season's end.
It Kansas was confident in its passing game, it certainly wasn't reflected in last week's play calling. Of Heaps' 20 attempts, 15 were thrown in the first half, and 11 were thrown in the first quarter. Kansas was noticeably more comfortable running the ball, which it did 50 times.
"I think in order for us to win the game we're going to have to be balanced." Heaps said. "We've got great backs and we feel confident in our passing game so we're going to have to have that 1-2 punch."
Ford even believes that the wide receiving crew is actually one of the team's advantages this weekend against Rice on the road.
"Our receivers are bigger than their corners." Ford said. "I'm
pretty sure we're faster too. I think with me Justin [McCay], Christian [Matthews], and Tre Parmalee, I think we definitely outmatch their secondary if we play to our ability."
"No," said Heaps.
"No," said Ford.
This game is huge for Kansas. A loss to a non-conference opponent with a schedule where victories will be hard to come by would be devastating for the Jayhawks. Avoiding it is simple. Kansas wide receivers need to catch the ball. Is it a problem fans should be concerned about this weekend?
The Rice secondary tormented Dayne Crist last year, allowing him to complete only 16 of 28 passes. Rice cornerback Bryce Callahan had two interceptions. A defense with 10 returning starters should never be taken lightly, and Kansas doesn't intend to do so.
Heaps acknowledged the fundamental identity of the Rice defense multiple times. Not many fundamental defenses get beat solely by a running-oriented offense, so Kansas will have to resort to the air.
Edited by Hannah Barling