Women's Soccer Drops Hard-Fought Squeaker To No. 25 Kansas

[PonyPride]

Women's Soccer Drops Hard-Fought Squeaker To No. 25 Kansas
No. 5 Notre Dame up next for Mustangs


DALLAS (SMU) - The SMU women's soccer team battled nationally-ranked Kansas to a near-draw on the stat sheet, but fell, 1-0, to the Jayhawks Sunday afternoon at SMU's Westcott Field.

The Mustangs had 11 shots, compared to 12 for the Jayhawks, but the extra shot turned out to be the difference. Forward Courtney Klifton collected a pass from Monica Dolinsky and scored from short range in the 26th minute to provide the final margin on the scoreboard.

The Mustangs played their best game of the season against Kansas, which is ranked No. 25 in the nation in the current National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) poll, and created several scoring chances in the game.

"I thought we controlled the game," SMU head coach Brent Erwin said. "We made a mistake in the first half, and they scored a good goal, but overall, I thought we controlled the game. We created a lot of chances, and as we mature, we'll start putting those away."

Junior Kim Peabody had three shots and senior Carley Phillips had two to pace the SMU offense. Senior goalkeeper Ashley Gunter turned away five of the Jayhawks' six shots on goal.

The Mustangs (1-2-1) now embark on their first road trip of the season, traveling to face No. 5 Notre Dame at 7 p.m. Friday and then to Muncie, Ind., to face Ball State at noon Sunday.

[FragileBill]

Nice performance and a fun game to watch. These will start landing in the win column soon.

[PonyPride]

Agreed. If the team had played all four games like it did today, SMU would have a win over Ole Miss and maybe Oklahoma State. Ponies looked vastly improved today. Coach Erwin talked about the ongoing growth/maturity process of a team with 17 (count 'em - 17) freshmen, and said today was a visible step in their development. Unfortunate to lose, but they went toe-to-toe with a nationally ranked team and didn't blink.

Can't say Kansas was lucky, either - their goal was nice, and Ashley Gunter didn't have a chance because it was so close in. Gunter made some very good saves on other shots.