Last night, Kansas soccer held firm and found a 1-1 draw against Florida State, which ranks as the No.2 team in the nation.
"We needed to find extra effort to compete with this team," said head coach Nate Lie as the Jayhawks sit with an undefeated 3-0-2 record.
At a few points, especially in the first half did Kansas looked the less superior side. Lie’s team compiled eight shots compared to the Seminoles’ three. Yet this is why the game isn’t played on paper, as Jordynn Dudley was able to catch a sleeping Jordan Fjelstad on the ball just outside the box, before bodying Fjelstad off the ball, before weaving into the box and eventually ripping an effort to the sprawling Sophie Dawe’s top left and giving FSU an early lead, just 13 minutes into the match.
Kansas’ pressure did not fall, though, as the Jayhawks mounted half-chances time and time again, before evening the score at 1-1 thanks to a Mary Sola shot that was rocketed to the top right corner 25 minutes into the first half.
The rest of the first half saw both teams struggling to maneuver well in the box, thanks to both sides shutting up shop.
The second half presented both sides struggling to create momentum, while there were 11 shots between both sides, yet just three saves were forced between the teams during the second half.
Thanks to Kansas athletics, Lie later said, “Just very, very proud of our team. I can be tough on them, maybe a harsh critic at times, but as I just told them, it's because we have these kinds of performances in us. The way we play, the identity of our program, the tactics of our team are all about unity, are all about grit, and today it showed up."
Kansas’ next match is this upcoming Sunday as Lie’s team squares off against Drake at 6 PM CT. In the meantime, Kansas football is hours away from a week one matchup against FCS side Wagner at 6:30 PM CT.