Kansas concluded its soccer season last week, after losing in the first round of the Big 12 tournament to Missouri and failing to repeat last year’s berth in the NCAA Tournament. In case you missed it, The Kansan recaps a wild season for the Jayhawks.

Three Season

Storylines

1. Freshmen leaders

It didn’t take long for freshmen Whitney Berry, Shelby Williamson and Sarah Robbins to begin contributing to the team. Berry and Williamson earned a starting spot at the beginning of the season and became two of just four team members to start every single game during the year. Robbins earned her spot in the starting lineup in the fifth week and played significant minutes the rest of the year.

Thanks to her six goals and eight assists, Berry earned All-Big 12 Second Team and All-Big 12 Newcomer Team selections. Williamson scored seven goals and helped senior Monica Dolinsky control the midfield. She received the Big 12’s Newcomer of the Week award Nov. 3 after her goal against Missouri. Robbins logged one goal from the defensive midfield position, filling the spot left last year by Missy Geha and aggressively breaking up opposing offenses. All three played more than 1,000 minutes, a mark met by only 10 players on the team.

1. Knee trouble for McCabe

Last year, senior forward Shannon McCabe co-led the team with nine goals, but this year she only managed one. This wasn’t because of any drop-off in skill, but rather a lingering knee injury that kept her out most of the year.

McCabe sustained the injury during a team exhibition game in Brazil last May, but felt ready to go this season. But in the second game of the season, she aggravated the injury.

After rehabilitating her knee for most of the season, however, McCabe started playing again on Oct. 9. She slowly built back her fitness and logged more minutes. But at the climax of the regular season – Senior Day against Missouri on Oct. 30– she injured her knee once again during warm-ups and had to be helped off the field. The injury kept her out for the remaining two games.

1. Season-ending chaos

The final six days of Kansas’ season sent the team on an up-and-down ride bookended by close, hard-fought matches against border rival Missouri. The Jayhawks needed a victory against the Tigers, among other things, to get into the Big 12 Tournament. The pieces fell into place when they defeated Missouri, Colorado beat Texas Tech, and Baylor tied Oklahoma. That night, the Big 12 ruled that Kansas had made the Big 12 tournament after a four-step tiebreaker between Texas Tech, Kansas and Baylor.

But the next day, the Big 12 changed its decision because of disputed language in the rule book and announced that Kansas and Texas Tech would face off in a play-in game Nov. 2 in San Antonio. Kansas won that game in a dramatic penalty shootout and earned the last spot in the Big 12 tournament. Two days later, Kansas lost to Missouri 3-2 in overtime in the first round of the tournament. After that loss, the Jayhawks lost any hope of making the NCAA Tournament.

Season Highs

1. Sept. 18 vs. San Diego – Kansas rebounded from a winless weekend in Colorado to defeat then-No. 18 San Diego 5-0. Five different players scored in the match, which helped give the Jayhawks a 7-1-1 record in non-conference play.
2. Oct. 30 vs. Missouri – On a chilly, wet Senior Day when Kansas desperately needed a victory, Emily Cressy scored two goals and Shelby Williamson added a third, dealing the Tigers their first Big 12 loss of the year. The 3-2 victory also kept Kansas’ hopes of a Big 12 tournament hopes alive.
3. Nov. 2 vs. Texas Tech – In an unprecedented Big 12 Tournament play-in game, Kansas stayed equal with Texas Tech for 110 minutes. In the penalty shootout, both teams hit all their shots, until Kansas goalkeeper Kat Liebetrau stopped Texas Tech’s fifth shot to send her team through to the tournament.

Season Lows

1. Oct. 4 at Texas – Two Big 12 losses had put a damper on Kansas’ early season success, and any opportunity to win on the road was huge for conference play. But the Jayhawks squandered a one-goal advantage and gave up a penalty kick in the 78th minute, resulting in a 2-1 loss in Austin, Tex.
   
2. Oct. 18 at Baylor – Kansas needed to turn its season around after a 2-4 start to Big 12 play, and a victory against Baylor in Waco, Texas, would have gone a long way. But an own goal and a free kick in the 106th minute gave Baylor the 2-1 victory in overtime.
3. Oct. 23 vs. Nebraska – After losing to Baylor, Kansas hoped for victories from its next three games at home. But Nebraska ruined that plan, picking apart the Jayhawks’ defense en route to a 7-4 victory – the highest-scoring game in Kansas Soccer history.

— edited by Brenna M. T. Daldorph