Soccer advances to NCAA Tournament second round

By Andrew Wiebe

Friday, November 14, 2008

Kansas beat Denver 2-1 Friday night in at Cagan Stadium in Palo Alto, Calif., to claim its first NCAA Tournament victory since 2004.

Sophomore defender Katie Williams relieved some early jitters with her third goal of the season, and junior forward Shannon McCabe added the game-winning goal seconds before halftime to stake the Jayhawks to a lead they didn’t relinquish.

Denver (18-3-2) began the game on the front foot, putting Kansas’ defense under pressure, but Williams’ goal ignited coach Mark Francis’ team for the rest of the half.

Williams rose above the Pioneer defense to clang a header in off the crossbar from junior midfielder Monica Dolinsky’s corner kick.

“It was a really big goal,” Dolinksy, who leads Kansas in assists with 10, said. “Especially considering the beginning of the game was pretty hectic. It let us relax a little bit more, and it was a shot to the heart for our team.”

The Jayhawks outshot the Pioneers 14-7 in the first half, and found the all-important second goal when McCabe got behind the defense 15 seconds before halftime. Senior midfielder Missy Geha slipped McCabe through on goal and the junior made no mistake, slipping a shot into the bottom corner from the top of the penalty area.

The beginning of the second half wasn’t so kind as Denver pulled a goal back when two-time Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year Taryn Hemming headed past junior goalkeeper Julie Hanley.

“We had some mental errors in the first 10 minutes of the second half,” McCabe said. “That ended up being our downfall because they scored. But I think we stayed composed, played good defense and were able to find a way to win at the end of the day.”

Denver had a two late chances from set pieces but Kansas held on to give Francis his fourth tournament victory. Hanley is the second Kansas goalkeeper to win an NCAA Tournament game. Meghan Miller won the previous three.

Kansas will need to channel that same composure when they face No. 1 seed Stanford on Sunday to play for a spot in the Sweet Sixteen. Dolinsky said she was a little nervous at first on Friday but settled in and focused on extending her season for two more days.

“There is a little bit more pressure because it is the NCAA Tournament,” she said. “But when you look at the bigger picture, its just another game. We all knew we had to come out ready to play.”

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