Despite finally getting its first conference victory, the Kansas soccer team didn’t get exactly the weekend hoped for. The team went 1-1 for its first home Big 12 games, defeating Texas Tech 3-2 on Friday before a frustrating 0-1 loss to Colorado Sunday.

Kansas now sits at 10th in the Big 12 standings after its 1-4 start to conference play. But coach Mark Francis remained optimistic after his team’s play this weekend.

Photo Gallery

Kansas Soccer vs. Texas Tech

A photo gallery of the Jayhawks 3-2 come from behind victory against the Red Raiders of Texas Tech Friday afternoon at the Jayhawk Soccer Complex.

Photo Gallery

Kansas Soccer vs. Colorado

A photo gallery of the soccer game between Kansas and Colorado on Sunday, October 11, 2009 at the Jayhawk Soccer Complex. Despite outshooting the Buffaloes, the Jayhawks lost the game, 1-0.

“If we continue to play like that, we’re going to win more games than we lose,” he said after Sunday’s Colorado game.

The team’s play on Friday was enough to knock off Texas Tech (8-6-1 overall, 3-2-1 conference), which came into the game as the second-ranked team in the Big 12.

It didn’t look good for the Jayhawks after going down 0-1 in the first half after a goal from Lady Raider Dawn Ward. But the deficit only lit a fire under Kansas, which came out firing in the first minutes of the second half.

“We were all actually pretty pumped up to get it back and win the first conference game,” freshman forward Whitney Berry said.

Texas Tech got one back in the 89th minute with a goal from freshman Connor Williams, but Kansas still finished with the victory, breaking its three-game Big 12 losing streak.

“It’s kind of a relief. It’s about time,” said Williamson.

But frustration replaced relief when the team lost to the top team in the Big 12, Colorado (7-7 overall, 5-2 conference), on Sunday. The Jayhawks went down 1-0 in the first half after Colorado freshman Erin Bricker dribbled past the Kansas defense and finished with a low shot into the corner of the goal. The team never recovered.

“In the second half we came out on fire,” said senior Monica Dolinsky. “We just got unlucky in front of the goal.”

Unlucky seems a pretty accurate assessment of the second half, as Kansas outshot Colorado 14-2 in the period and hit the crossbar twice on shots from Berry and sophomore Emily Cressy.

The team members were frustrated after dropping their first home game of the season, but Francis stayed positive about his team’s performance nonetheless.

“That’s probably the best half of soccer we played all year,” he said about the second period.

Dolinsky agreed that the players weren’t too hard on themselves after the game.

“When you play like we did, you can tell it feels good,” she said.

Even with its 1-4 conference record, the team still has a 9-4-1 overall record and five games to play. Francis is keeping his players focused on their overall goal of doing well in the postseason.

“We can win the next five games,” he said. “I think we’re very capable of doing that. If we show up and play like this, we give ourselves a very good chance of winning.”

Kansas goes on the road for the final time this season to face Oklahoma on Friday and Baylor on Sunday.

Soccer notes

— Senior Shannon McCabe, last year’s co-leading scorer for Kansas, played for the first time since the second game of the season on Friday after sitting out with a knee injury. McCabe came on as a substitute in both games, playing 31 minutes against Texas Tech and 37 against Colorado. Coach Francis said McCabe was still working to improve her fitness level to play more.

— Redshirt freshman Kat Liebetrau started in goal for Kansas in both games this weekend. Liebetrau started the first five games of the season before losing the starting spot to senior Julie Hanley for the next eight games. She had six saves against Texas Tech and one against Colorado.

— Freshman Shelby Williamson tied redshirt sophomore Emily Cressy for most goals scored on the team with her game-winner against Texas Tech. Williamson now has six goals on the season, and the team record for goals by a freshmen is eight, held by both Cressy and Rachel Gilfillan, who had eight in 2001.

— Edited by Brenna M. T. Daldorph