Friday, October 10, 2008
Coach Mark Francis took his team back to the most simple of soccer concepts this week of practice: scoring.
After splitting another two-game weekend — the fourth-consecutive time Kansas has done so — the Jayhawks reemphasized the idea of finishing scoring chances.
“It’s not like we have to reinvent the wheel,” Francis said. “We just have to fine-tune a few things.”
OKLAHOMA
Record: 1-11
Big 12 Record: 0-3
Player to Watch: Sophomore forward Whitney Palmer.
Palmer has easily been the Sooners’ biggest threat on offense. She leads the team in goals, with five, and shots on goal. In fact, no other Sooner has more than one goal on the season.
Key Stat: 8
That’s the number of goals Oklahoma has scored in 12 games this season. Opponents, on the other hand, have tallied 34 goals.
Breakdown:
No game in the Big 12 is a guaranteed victory. Oklahoma, however, is about as close as it comes. The Jayhawks should cruise past the Sooners before returning home for four games.
The majority of that process, though, revolved around capitalizing on opportunities. And it’s not that the Jayhawks haven’t had chances. In fact, they’ve had plenty.
Take last Sunday’s game against Colorado. The Jayhawks outshot the 15th-ranked Buffaloes 18-9, but failed to record a goal before losing 2-0.
“At the beginning of the season, we had games where we didn’t play as well, but we found a way to win,” senior Jessica Bush said. “It’s just finding that way to win again.”
Kansas started the season 6-0, scoring 18 goals in that stretch. In the eight games since that quick start, however, the Jayhawks have managed just 11 goals.
But the Jayhawks insist it’s a minor problem. A few adjustments here and there, they say, are the difference.
“We’re making a lot of scoring opportunities,” senior midfielder Missy Geha said. “It’s just a matter of finishing them and a matter of time. We’re getting through it.”
Still, the Jayhawks understand the importance of quickly making those changes. That means more time spent working on offense in practice. But it also means focusing on more than just mechanical fine-tuning.
“You’ve got to play harder,” Geha said. “It’s really about who has the will to win and who doesn’t.”
Never is that more true than in conference play. Now in the thick of their Big 12 schedule, the Jayhawks travel to Oklahoma to take on the two in-state schools: 13th-ranked Oklahoma State on Friday followed by Oklahoma on Sunday.
“You take it to heart more,” Geha said of conference play. “You play these teams in every other sport, and now it’s your sport. It’s a competition you’ve always had with these teams.”
With the Big 12 season slowly winding down and the conference tournament on the horizon, the Hawks need to develop consistency in an often-tricky league.
“On any different day, any team can beat anybody,” Bush said. “You’ll see scores all over the place. The team that finishes at the bottom can beat the team at the top. It’s just crazy on any weekend.”
— — Edited by Adam Mowder
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