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My apologies for not getting a post up last Monday, but that doesn't mean we can't still celebrate back-to-back home wins against South Dakota and UMKC. We'll do that first before talking about a 1-0 loss at Drake on Sunday, as well as next Friday's big match at Texas.
The 'Cats finally ended a four-match winless streak on Sept. 25, when they shut out South Dakota 2-0. Two days later, they knocked off UMKC by the same score on Senior Night. All four goals came in the second half as the defense held strong and Miranda Larkin made a few saves, most of them relatively easy.
Sophomore forward Tatum Wagner drew a foul 25 yards from goal in the 55th minute against South Dakota to set up a free kick goal from sophomore Kim Braddock on an absolute lazer off the goalkeeper's fingertips. Just five minutes later, Wagner scored a goal of her own by taking advantage of a bad touch by a South Dakota defender and dribbling around the goalie for an easy finish. You can watch game highlights here.
Senior Night honored only one senior, Ball State transfer Abbey Fiser, a defender with nine starts in 13 matches. She saw Ashley Zane score her first goal from close range in the 51st minute, and Laramie Hall scored her team-high tying third when she got behind the UMKC defense on a beautiful thru ball from fellow freshman Elizabeth Hernandez in the 82nd minute. Watch the two goals and some weirdly irrelevant highlights here.
Finally, K-State started its season-ending four-game road trip at Drake, the preseason Missouri Valley favorite as chosen by league coaches. The Bulldogs improved to 9-3-1 thanks to Tawny Carroll's goal on a cross in the 41st minute, even though Wagner just missed an equalizer for the 'Cats when she hit the left post on Kansas State's only shot of the second half.
Next up is Texas in what might be Kansas State's most challenging match and its only chance to see how it stacks up against Big 12 competition before playing a full league schedule next season. The Longhorns have lost three in a row to fall to 0-3-1 in conference and 6-6-1 overall.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. Friday and it will be broadcast on The Longhorn Network, if any of you actually get that. The 'Cats sit at 4-6-3, so they can't suffer any more losses if they want to finish with an improbable winning record in Year 1.