LAWRENCE, Kan. — On Sunday afternoon at Rock Chalk Park, the Texas Tech Red Raiders defeated the Kansas Jayhawks 2-1. Texas Tech’s Ashleigh Williams had a pair of goals to lead Texas Tech.
“It’s disappointing,” Head Coach Mark Francis said. “The game was back and forth, and to be fair it could have gone either way. It was disappointing after we scored to let them come back so quickly. That was really frustrating. On the second goal, their kid hit a good shot and Hayven (Harrison) made a good save, but we didn’t react to it very quickly and their kid got to it first. That ended up being the difference in the game.”
Both offenses came out and scored quickly. In the fifth minute, junior midfielder Kate Dreyer sent a ball down the left side of the field for junior forward Shira Elinav. Elinav was able to race down the ball and get behind the defense to finish it off into the right corner of the net to give KU a 1-0 lead. The goal was Elinav’s team-high eighth of the season.
Less than a minute later, Texas Tech was able to respond. A cross into the box went off the head of a KU defender and went straight to Williams at the right post. Williams was there for a tap in goal. The score was even 1-1 at halftime.
Texas Tech was then able to capitalize on an opportunity in the 58th minute. Gisselle Kozarkski took a shot from about 35 yards out that forced Hayven Harrison to make a save. The rebound bounced into the box and Williams was able to control the rebound and finish it for her second goal of the match. The goal made the score 2-1 and ended up being the game-winner.
Super-senior Rylan Childers had four shots on Sunday with three of those shots on goal. Kansas held a 5-4 edge for shots on goal. KU now falls to 8-8-1 this season and 1-5-1 in conference, while Texas Tech improved to 8-3-5 on the year and 4-1-2 in Big 12 play.
Kansas is still fighting for a spot in the Big 12 Tournament and Francis has faith in his group.
“We still control our own destiny,” Francis said. “We have two games left. Take care of business in those and we’re still playing on Sunday in the conference tournament. That’s what we have to do.”
Kansas will travel to Manhattan next Friday (Oct. 21) to play Kansas State at 7 pm CT. The match will be broadcast on Big 12 NOW on ESPN+.
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