The Kennesaw State women’s soccer team played twice last week, losing to No. 25 Oklahoma State 3-0 on Thursday, Sept. 19, before heading to No.14 Kansas on Sunday, Sept. 22, and losing 3-1.
On Thursday, KSU traveled to Stillwater to face a Cowgirls team that played aggressively from the beginning, scoring three goals in the first half.
“Hats off to Oklahoma State, they have a great team,” head coach Benji Walton said. “I thought our ladies came out and played well within the game plan that we had laid out. Unfortunately, we made some mistakes and got punished for them.”
OSU forward Charme Morgan scored on seven minutes to make it 1-0. Morgan made a run up the right wing and weaved through two KSU defenders before placing a shot to the far post.
A shot by Hannah Webb was parried by junior Tiffany Sornpao, who could not fully control the ball. Grace Yochum was quickly there to score and double OSU’s advantage on 24 minutes.
Four minutes later, Yochum found the net again off a through ball from midfielder Jaci Jones to make it 3-0.
The Owls came out of halftime with a more offensive mentality with several good attacks. KSU was no match for the Cowgirls’ defense, which allowed just three shots on goal.
KSU continued its road trip with a visit to Kansas on Sunday. Like the game against OSU, the Owls came up short. Two quick first-half goals from the Jayhawks allowed them to get ahead of the Owls early on, as Kansas held on for a 3-1 win.
The Owls started the game slowly and were trying to set the tempo of the match by attempting to control possession. Kansas countered KSU’s pace by scoring two goals in the opening 17 minutes.
Freshman Camryn Simmons would help the Owls avoid another shutout, scoring her first career goal on 74 minutes from a counter-attack, assisted by junior Erin Harris. Harris set Simmons up for an easy tap in goal after the two linked up a string of passes.
While the Owls showed that the ball could be passed effectively, KSU was not able to get into the attacking third for much of the game. The Jayhawks outshot KSU 19-5, with 10 shots coming in the second half alone.
Despite conceding three goals, Sornpao came up with a few big saves. She would end the game with three total saves as well as multiple interceptions from crosses.
“It was a tough weekend, but we learned a lot about our team,” Walton said. “Now our focus turns to conference play and we are excited to get started.”
The Owls will play their first Atlantic Sun Conference game of the season away at Lipscomb University Thursday, Sept. 26.
