Hallie Klanke continued her red-hot start to the 2023 season with a goal just after halftime, but Kansas City equalized two minutes later and held Kansas to a 1-1 road draw at Durwood Soccer Stadium Thursday night.
KU coach Mark Francis and assistant Kelly Miller each coached their 500th game at KU Thursday night, but it was Jess Smith, the former Jayhawk now at the helm of the Kansas City program, who led the Roos to their first ever result against KU.
Brianna Castleberry, running to her left just outside the box, sent a lofty shot back to her right and over the outstretched arm of KU goalkeeper Melania Pasar, earning her first career goal, Kansas City’s first-ever regular-season goal against KU and, eventually, the Roos’ first result against a power-conference opponent since 2018.
“Credit to UMKC,” Francis said in a release. “They wanted it more than us today. We finally woke up the last 15 minutes to create more chances. We need to do a lot of simple things better than we did tonight. We have to recover. We have a tough game on Sunday and have to learn from this.”
Kansas City goalkeeper Riley Moore made five saves as KU totaled 13 shots overall, with a team-high three coming from Lexi Watts. Watts also assisted on Klanke’s goal with a long-distance through ball from midfield.
Raena Childers and Montelene Dymond took late shots on target for the Jayhawks, who remained undefeated at 3-0-4 despite the disappointing draw.
KU will now travel to Pullman, Washington, to face Washington State, the No. 15 team in the country on Sunday, as it looks to get through nonconference play unscathed ahead of its Big 12 Conference opener Thursday. Both matches are part of a four-game cross-country road trip.
Missy Minear/Kansas Athletics
