Huskers Drop 1-0 Decision to Kansas

Lincoln ? The Nebraska soccer team picked up its only loss of the home season and its first loss in school history to the Kansas Jayhawks in a 1-0 setback in front of 765 fans at the Abbott Sports Complex on an unusually warm Sunday afternoon.

The loss drops the Huskers to 10-4-1 on the season and 5-2-0 in the Big 12, while KU improved to 12-4-1 and 4-3-1 in the conference.

"It was a pretty even game," Coach John Walker said. "The game could have gone one way or the other, and it can come down to one play. We can’t complain. We did a lot in the last 20 minutes, but once they got the goal, they could afford to be a little more defensive. It’s a very disappointing loss."

Kansas’ Caroline Smith took a pass from Stacy Leeper just beyond midfield and beat the NU defenders to go one-on-one with goalkeeper Brooke Bredenberg and slipped the ball into the right back corner of the net at the 56:16 mark. Smith’s goal was her 15th of the season and proved to be the game-winning goal, when Nebraska’s scoring opportunities proved futile in the remaining 33 minutes.

Offensively, the Huskers played well, but came up just short on numerous opportunities, including a shot by Kari Hogan at the 81:32 mark that she tried to bend inside the far post, but narrowly missed to keep the scoreboard at 1-0. Nebraska outshot Kansas, 22-14, on the day, but the two teams both managed five shots on goal each.

Freshman Jessie Bruch and sophomore Vern Fitzgerald led the Huskers with six shots each, including several close misses by the both.

It looked like the Huskers would get a chance on a set play off of a corner kick like they were able to on Friday night against  Oklahoma State, but the ball never bounced the right direction for the Huskers. NU posted five corners to Kansas’ two on the contest.

Bredenberg posted four saves on the afternoon, giving up one goal, while KU goalkeeper Meghan Miller recorded five saves and did not allow a goal.

Nebraska will try to recover from the loss on one of the toughest road weekends of the season when the Huskers face Texas A&M and Texas on Friday and Sunday, respectively. The game against Kansas marked the Huskers’ final regular season home appearance of the year and will go on the road the next two weekends, before traveling to San Antonio, Texas, in search of the Big 12 Tournament title.