Kansas soccer wins 2OT thriller to advance to Big 12 Championship Semifinals

The Kansas Jayhawks’ postseason dreams live on after an exciting finish against No. 3-seeded West Virginia Saturday night in the Big 12 Championship quarterfinals at CPKC Stadium – home of the Kansas City Current.

Competing in a rainy, windy contest, there were no goals scored between the two squads in regulation. After a scoreless overtime, the game went to a second before KU finally was able to take advantage.

KU junior forward and 2024 First Team All-Big 12 selection Lexi Watts punched in the game’s only goal at the 101-minute mark in double overtime after an assist from sophomore midfielder and Kansas City, Missouri, native Saige Wimes.

Watts – also a Kansas City area native from Lenexa – scored her second goal of this year’s Big 12 Championship after scoring once against Arizona State in the first round of the tournament this past Wednesday.

Saturday’s goal by Watts marked her fifth game-winning goal of the season, leading all Big 12 players. It was also her team-high ninth goal of the season, which is a single-season career high for Watts.

The win marked the sixth straight victory for Kansas soccer – the first time that’s happened since 2019. That was also the last year the Jayhawks won double-digit games prior to this season as KU currently sits at 11-5-4. And 2019 was the last year that KU reached the Big 12 tournament semifinals – until now.

The Jayhawks entered the postseason conference tournament as a No. 6 seed and will face No. 2-seed Texas Tech in the semifinals at CPKC Stadium on Wednesday, Nov. 6, at 7 p.m. CT.

The Jayhawks are the only team ranked outside of the top four in this year’s tournament to reach the semifinals after upsetting West Virginia. No. 1-seed TCU will face No. 4-seed BYU at 4:30 p.m. CT prior to KU’s match against Texas Tech.

If the Jayhawks are able to upset the Red Raiders (ranked No. 17 in the country), that would go a long way toward making KU eligible for this year’s NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2021.

Fans can buy tickets to see the Jayhawks in person for as low as $25 or stream the game on ESPN+.