The Kansas State women’s soccer team has returned home to play in the K-State Soccer Complex once again to host the University of Missouri-Kansas City Kangaroos on Friday.
It will be the first time K-State has played in Manhattan since it beat Drake on August 23. Since then, the Wildcats have lost one match and tied another.
The Kangaroos are 4-2-0 this season and are an undefeated 2-0-0 in road games. K-State is 3-1-1 and is an undefeated 3-0-0 at home.
The Wildcats and Kangaroos have several opponents in common already this season, as both schools have played the University of Oakland, St. Louis, and Drake.
UMKC is 2-1-0 in those matchups, while those three schools represent all of K-State’s three wins this year.
The Kangaroos beat Oakland 2-1, the Wildcats won their game with Oakland 4-0. K-State beat St. Louis 1-0 in the season opener, UMKC lost to them 0-2. UMKC beat Drake 2-0, who K-State beat 1-0.
Senior forward Kelsie Mothershead leads UMKC with six of its 11 goals this season. She has scored those six goals on ten shots on goal and 16 overall shots. Senior midfielder Lexie Howard leads the team in shots 24 shots, 10 on goal.
Howard is the Western Athletic Conference’s Preseason Offensive Player of the Year and is four goals away from breaking the all-time record at UMKC.
UMKC has played two goalkeepers this season, senior Anna Lillig and freshman Afton Fennewald.
Lillig has played four games and given up all six of the Kangaroos goals allowed this season. Fennewald got her debut against Western Illinois and has led her team to two shutout wins. It is unclear who will start Thursday night.
The Wildcat offense has been led by junior forward Katie Cramer, who has scored two goals on five shots on goal. Freshman forward Chloe Fisher leads K-State with six shots on goal.
K-State’s sophomore goalkeeper Emma Malsy has shutout all but one of K-State opponents, then-No. 9 Santa Clara University.
“[The defensive backline] have done a nice job. We are plugging up the holes. If teams want to score on us they have to go around us or they have to score from distance,” head coach Mike Dibbini told K-StateSports after the Wildcats’ last match in San Jose, California.
The game will be streamed on K-StateHD.TV and Facebook at 7 pm Friday. Wildcat fans who want to listen on the radio should tune to 101.5 KROCK.
