By Jimmy Adeniran
The Sunflower Showdown on the pitch belonged to the Jayhawks Thursday night, as Kansas secured a decisive 4-1 win over Kansas State at Rock Chalk Park. The victory gave Kansas its second conference win of the season, improving to 2-2 in Big 12 play, while the Wildcats fell to 0-3.
Kansas State struck first when forward Andra Mohler found the back of the net early, giving the Wildcats an early 1-0 advantage. Mohler nearly added another minutes later, but her shot came up just short. Forward Ava Garrett also had a look for the Wildcats, but Kansas’ defense kept them out of the net.
Momentum shifted midway through the first half when defender Lily Hendrickson drew a foul that set up a penalty kick for midfielder Jillian Gregorski. She capitalized, evening the score 1-1.
Kansas State wasted little time trying to answer back. With just two minutes left in the first half, forward Becca Smith buried a shot to give the Jayhawks a 2-1 lead heading into the locker room. Kansas dominated the stat sheet in the opening frame, outshooting Kansas State, 9-3.
The Jayhawks carried that energy into the second half. Kansas forward Jocelyn Herrema nearly added to the lead, but goalkeeper Maddie Sibbing made a clutch save. Even so, Kansas kept firing away, eventually building a 14-4 shot advantage.
The breakthrough came in the 67th minute, when midfielder Livvy Moore finished off an assist from forward Saige Wimes to push the lead to 3-1. Just minutes later, Smith struck again for her second goal of the night, all but sealing the Sunflower Showdown in Kansas’ favor.
Kansas’ defense shined down the stretch, swarming the Wildcats every time they tried to push forward. Despite late pressure from Kansas State, the Jayhawks held firm to close out a 4-1 win.
Smith’s brace led the way for Kansas, with Moore and Wimes adding to the attack. On the back line, goalkeeper Sophie Dawe had a strong showing, even shaking off a tough fall after saving what would have been a game-tying goal.
The victory extends Kansas’ all-time edge in the series to 7-2-2, and gives the Jayhawks bragging rights in another edition of the Sunflower Showdown.
Kansas will travel to Iowa State on Friday, Oct. 10 at 6 p.m. as Big 12 play continues.
This article was edited by Eric Lucio. Contact him at ericlucio12@ku.edu for feedback or errors.