For just the second time in school history, the KU women’s soccer team has won the Big 12 Tournament thanks to a 1-0 finish over the No. 1 seed TCU on Saturday night at CPKC Stadium in Kansas City.
The No. 6 seed Kansas Jayhawks upset the Horned Frogs thanks to a penalty kick from senior Makayla Merlo in the 66th minute of the match. The penalty came after KU forward Lexi Watts collided with a TCU defender in the penalty box. It was Merlo’s first goal of the 2024 season.
"It's an amazing feeling," Merlo said about her goal. "Just stepped up and hoped that it went in. Credit to Lexi for getting the penalty. All the work that she puts in really shows out on the field. Credit to her."
With the win, the Jayhawks have now punched their ticket to the NCAA Tournament for the 10th time in program history and the first since 2019 – the same year during which KU won its first Big 12 Tournament Championship.
The win was extra special for first-year head coach Nate Lie who became the first head coach in Big 12 history to win the conference tournament in their first year.
"I just told the team, amongst the celebration, that this is one of the more special moments in my career and my life in many ways," Lie said. "You get into this profession because you want to have an impact on people's lives and you want to be some sort of educator and see growth. I've spoken about it a lot, the growth in this group is pretty remarkable.”
The Jayhawks will await their NCAA seeding and matchup following the 2024 NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer Selection Show taking place Monday, Nov. 11, at 3 p.m. CT. The show will be streamed on ncaa.com.