Friday, November 21, 2008
Kansas’ six seniors finally made it to the promised land.
Down to their final opportunity, Missy Geha, Jessica Bush, Jenny Murtaugh, Kristin Graves, Sara Rogers and Stephanie Baugh did what seemed close to impossible. They did what three consecutive senior classes before them had failed to do. They led the Jayhawks (13-8-2) to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2004.
Freshman forward Emily Cressy (back left) and senior midfielder Jessica Bush (back right) hug junior midfielder Monica Dolinsky after she scored Kansas' first goal of the season. The team's seniors are finding it hard to believe that their season is over and are proud of making it the the tournament.
“They have been like my big sisters ever since I got here,” junior midfielder Monica Dolinksy said. “They put it in so much time and effort. They work so hard, and it was great to see that happen for them.”
After beating Denver in the first round, Kansas fell to No. 3 Stanford 5-0 last Sunday to bring a close to the careers of six seniors who finally made it. Bush said she still had trouble wrapping her mind around the fact that her career in crimson in blue has come to a close.
“At different times it has hit me,” Bush said. “It’s sad. It’s like a part of me is done.”
Until that loss, she never gave up hope. Down and out more than once, Kansas and its six departing seniors never gave up. Not when Loyola Chicago spoiled a 5-0 start with a 2-1 victory at the Jayhawk Soccer Complex. Not when Nebraska and Oklahoma State snatched important road victories from Kansas’ grasp in overtime. Not even when arch rival Missouri won 6-0 on the final day of the season.
Through it all the Jayhawks never wavered. The NCAA Tournament was the goal, and anything less would be unacceptable. Two late season victories against Texas A&M, both following devastating weekend results, showed just how short Kansas’ memory had become.
“I thought we bounced back from losses pretty well,” junior forward Shannon McCabe said of Kansas’ ability to cope with setbacks. “Getting beat 6-0 by Missouri was kind of heartbreaking. To come back and beat Texas A&M 4-2 just showed we could come back from adversity.”
But more than that, doubling the program’s all-time victory total against the Aggies and making the NCAA Tournament helped give the program the momentum it lacked after three consecutive seasons without any tournament experience. It gave Kansas something to build on. Predictably, Francis’ message to his team following the loss to Stanford was straight to the point.
Just making the tournament is no longer a goal at Kansas. It’s an expectation.
“Just seeing your name pop up on the screen in a bracket was a something different that none of us had experienced,” Dolinsky said. “A lot of us want that feeling again.”
— — Edited by Ramsey Cox
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