Sports THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Soccer team falls in Texas Record drops to 0-3 in Big 12 following two weekend loses. SOCCER|5B
MONDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2009
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Sooners lose again in upset Difficult schedules lead to losses for conference: BIG 12 FOOTBALL | 3B
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Club hockey goalie Brent Pitts lunges for a save during the first period of a game against Missouri State last semester at Pepsi ice Midwest. At Friday evening's game against Missouri, played in the same stadium, the Jayhawks fell to the Tigers, 5-4.
Ryan Waggoner/KANSAN FILE PHOTO
Rising heat on ice boils into brawl
Penalty-ridden Jayhawks lose to Tigers in skates
BY ETHAN PADWAY epadway@kansan.com
Passions ran wild on the ice as jayhawk hockey players were sent to the penalty box — the so-called "sin bin" — one after another in Friday's game against Missouri. The tensions escalated into a brawl behind the net midway through.
For 14 minutes of the first-period at the Pepsi Ice Midwest Center in Overland Park, the Jayhawks played shorthanded while a player, or occasionally two, waited in the penalty box. The Jayhawks never recovered from the difficult beginning; tired out by constantly being on the penalty kill, they fell to rival Missouri 5-4.
"Penalty killing is the most tiring part of the game because you are always moving and never have a chance to get on the attack and score," forward Price Duncan said.
During the first-period onslaught, the layhwaks surrendered 18 shots, but goaltender Lukas Renard gave up only one goal in the period.
"Every game this year we have had penalties, so I knew that if I could just keep us in there, we would have a shot." Renard said.
The Jayhawks evened the score
early in the second period as defender Grant Worden stepped out of the penalty box and quickly repented by catching a long pass and beating Tiger goaltender Aaron Dewitt low glove side.
Later in the period, as the Jayhawks led 2-1, the rivalry exploded into a brawl behind the net.
Forward Ryan Dunn was one of
guy," Dunn said. "Then everyone started pushing and things got out of hand."
the key players involved in the skirmish.
"We have to stay out of the box."
"One of their bigger guys came over and checked one of our guys and in hockey you have to defend your teammates, and we went over to back him up and I checked the
The Tigers took a two-goal lead at 10:15 in the third period after back-to-back goals. Dan Kootman
TIMVEACH Assistant coach
The Jayhawks never gave up and a few minutes later
Dunn got a rebound out in the slot and did a quick turnaround before putting the puck into the back of the net.
"It was a nice shot down low from Kevin Kiske," Dunn said. "I just turned around quickly to
catch the goalie by surprise and put it in."
The Jayhawks were able to compete and even outplay the Tigers at 5 on 5 but then ran out of steam, tired out from a rough beginning and often playing down a man.
"We have to stay out of the box," assistant coach Tim Veach said. "Even strength, we were just as good if not better. But, as a coach, you can't be more proud of your team when they fight back like that. We could have folded when we went down by two in the third, but we never quit."
The Jayhawks hope to rebound on a road trip through Illinois from Oct. 15 to Oct. 18.
SOFTBALL
Edited by Brenna M. T. Daldorph
Jayhawks snag two of three weekend games
Team shakes nerves and inconsistencies in fall play
BY BRIANNÉ PFANFENSTIEL
bpfannensteil@kapsap.com
bpfannenstiel@kansan.com
Third baseman Mariah Montgomery makes a throw for a force out Saturday in Kansas' game against the University of Central Missouri. Kansas finished the Jayhawk Fall Invitational with victories against Central Missouri and Washburn lost to Emmawgr.
"We anticipated to have a roller-coaster ride today, which is exactly what we got," coach Megan Smith said. "We knew it'd be up and down and it was."
This weekend's Jayhawk Fall Invitational softball tournament was a rollercoaster ride for the Jayhawks, but it was one that ended with a winning record of 2-1 to start the fall season.
After Saturday's games, Smith said she challenged the team to stay focused on each pitch and to keep every play intense during Sunday's coming game against Washburn University. It was a challenge, she said, that the team readily accepted. The Jayhawks shut out Washburn for a 7-0 victory Sunday afternoon.
The layhawks lost to Emporia State 6-5 before returning to beat the University of Central Missouri 7-6 Saturday afternoon.
thought it would be, and today they answered back," Smith said. "It looked really good today. Obviously we still have some things to work on, but this weekend was a great opportunity for
"Yesterday was exactly how I
Follow Kansan softball writer Brianne Pfannenstiel at twitter.com/briaaanne
us to see them in action, see them in different positions and see how the freshmen respond to the college-level game."
Smith said f res h m a n infielder Mariah Montgomery and freshman pitcher Alex Luna ans
Smith said the tournament was more about preparation and having fun than anything else. She said that it allowed freshmen to take what they had practiced and
"Obviously we still have some things to work on, but this weekend was a great opportunity for us to see them in action."
ball is like until you finally step on the field wearing that Jayhawk jersey, it's just like, a completely different atmosphere," Jones said. "So these games, even though they're not against conference teams or anything, it's just the experience that helps in the long run."
Alek jones espe cially stood out to her during the weekend games.
"Not knowing at all what college
MEGAN SMITH Softball coach
Montgomery said she was glad to have had the opportunity to compete in this weekend's tournament to release some of her nerves
apply it in a live situation and that it also allowed returning players to get used to playing with a new lineup.
about playing at the collegiate level for the first time.
"Right when the last out of the
game before ended, she came up to me and goes. 'Are you nervous?' just shaking like crazy," Jones said of Montgomery. "But you obviously couldn't tell by the way she played."
Montgomery, who sent a ball soaring over the left field fence for a home run during the seventh inning against Washburn, said she was looking forward to next weekend's tournament. the
KU Fall Invite.
"Next weekend we're going to come out no nerves, everything's good, everything's new," she said.
The Jayhawks will play host to Johnson County Community College, Butler County Community College and Cowley County Community College at the KU Fall Invite Oct. 10 and 11.
Edited by Amanda Thompson
COMMENTARY
Weekend damages Big12
Long-time South Florida backup quarterback Grant Gregory finally got the call to the field this weekend, two weeks after the Bulls' Matt Grothe suffered a career-ending knee injury.
That the rebuilding Wildcats stood alone atop the conference this weekend is representative of the kind of weekend that was seen by the Big 12.
But the sixth-year senior ended his campaign of riding the pine in Arrowhead Stadium as a Wildcat, leading the team he transferred to this year to victory against Iowa State in the first game of Big 12 play.
The weekend was one plenty of member teams will happily put behind them, save for Kansas State. The Wildcats may want to remember this one a long time — especially if they don't pick up a victory again this year.
Last season, the Wildcats were ineffective and unspectacular. They were worth little aside from a few bags of cash to former coach Ron Prince. The Big 12 came out strong in 2008 before mostly fizzling during bowl season. This year, it must be taking the opposite approach.
Kansas was among the five Big 12 teams on bye this week, although you could have seen a couple of former Jayhawks Sunday. Aqib Talbit notched three interceptions for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Derek Fine has started at tight end for Buffalo in recent weeks.
But I digress. The story around the Big 12 was Oklahoma's one-point loss in Miami Saturday night. Hell of a game. One beffitting of an extra quarter and reminiscent of the program's past historic tilts.
That's not to say Texas won't challenge for the BCS title, but senior quarterback Colt McCoy is going to have to clean up his game. Nine touchdowns versus five picks won't get it done in December.
I'm just hoping McCoy brings back the hilarious mustache he sported in the preseason to answer Landry Jones' epic strip. We're two more Sam "Why Did I Stay In College"? Bradford missed start and two weeks of facial-hair negligence away from the Red River Rivalry becoming the Red Tickler Rivalry.
The Oklahoma loss capped a weekend damaging to the Big 12's credibility. Don't expect any further Big 12 vs. SEC musings this year.
Meanwhile, you have to think the bye week was a welcomed occurrence for the jayhawks. For one it was a chance to take a breath before conference play and an opportunity to not get booked for a DWL.
But furthermore, the Saturday of inactivity actually bumped the Jayhawks two up spots in the Associated Press poll, from 18 to 16. They are now 15th in the USA Today poll. I can still remember when Kansas was actually an underdog during its own bye weeks.
That love extended to ESPN's bowl projections as analyst Mark Schlabach now has Kansas pegged in the Fiesta Bowl against Boise State. You can bet I have my preseason prediction column cut out and set aside for review in December. A Kansas upset in Arlington and a trip to Gelndal still sounds crazy enough to happen.
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Edited by Amanda Thompson
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