The Wildcats fell to the Jayhawks in the 2018 soccer Sunflower Showdown by a score of 0-2 Friday night at the K-State Soccer Complex.
The Wildcats won the first Sunflower showdown in Lawrence in 2016, but this one belonged to the Jayhawks.
The loss continued the Wildcats’ drought of goals, bringing it to three consecutive scoreless games and the seventh shutout of the season.
The Jayhawks dominated the first half, with eight shots to Kansas State’s four. Five of those shots were on-target.
The first goal came in at 21:02 mark in the first half, Kansas junior forward Katie McClure fired a shot into the left side of the goal past K-State’s sophomore goalkeeper Emma Malsy.
The Jayhawks added another goal at the 33:28 as Malsy tried to corral a save but mishandled the ball. Kansas junior forward Taylor Christie took put the ball in the back of the goal.
The Wildcats improved their play in the second half, as they held the Jayhawks scoreless. The Wildcats put up more noticeable offensive show with six shots.
With 29:33 remaining in the second half, junior defender Haley Sutter put up a shot that bounced of Kansas freshman goalkeeper Sarah Peters and rolled into the goal. However, officials recalled the goal, ruling that the ball went out of bounds.
“We needed one goal in that second half to get momentum,” head coach Mike Dibbini told K-State Sports. “I thought we had one there, but it was a tough call and unfortunately we didn’t get one. In soccer, momentum shifts can happen really quickly, and tonight we didn’t get one.”
In all, Kansas led in total shots, 14-10, and shots on goal, 6-2. However, K-State took the lead in corner kicks 7-2.
“We are competing well, the bottom line is we’re always finding new challenges that keep coming up as the program is learning more and more,” Dibbini told K-State Sports.
The Wildcats now are 4-7-2 overall and 0-4-0 in the conference. Kansas improved to 9-2-2 and 3-1-0 in the conference.
The Wildcats will now get ready to play the Texas Tech Red Raiders next Friday, Oct. 12 in Manhattan. The Red Raiders are are 9-3-1 overall and 1-2-1 in conference play.
The game will kickoff at 6 p.m. and on ESPN3 and 101.5 KROCK.
