Despite a strong defensive effort, Kansas State soccer fell short of No. 19 Colorado, 1-0, in the Wildcats’ conference opener Thursday night at Buser Family Park.
Thursday opened the new-look Big 12 season, with new member Colorado (7-1-0, 1-0-0 Big 12) joining along with Utah, Arizona and Arizona State. The Buffaloes left the Big 12 for the Pac-12 back in 2011, five years before the Wildcat soccer program was founded.
The two school did not play as non-conference members, making Thursday’s K-State (3-4-1, 0-1-0 Big 12) loss the first meeting between the two schools.
“I thought we had a great performance tonight, and it was going to come down to who was going to execute their chance,” head coach Mike Dibbini said in a written statement. “And (Colorado) did. I thought we had good opportunities. It just didn’t bounce our way. But overall performance defensively, I thought we did a really good job. Offensively. We had created some good chances, but we just couldn’t execute.”
Senior defense Kenzie Gillispie and junior midfielder Paige Dickson, two key parts of a K-State defense that came into match allowing 5.5 shots on goal per match so far this season, both left the game with injuries midway through.
The Buffaloes scored the only goal of the night at the 48:17 mark of the second half. Claire Curran laced a pass just outside of the 18-yard box to right of the goal where Jace Holley was waiting unguarded. Holley hit a low shot past Wildcat keeper Murphy Sheaff into the left corner of the goal, giving Colorado the 1-0 advantage.
Both teams were fairly equal in total shots, with Colorado recording three more tries (23) than K-State (20). But the shots on goal were lopsided as the Buffaloes put up 13 to just five for the Wildcats. Colorado also had 10 corner kicks to just six for the Wildcats.
“We’ve just got to keep going,” Dibbini said. “I think we’re creating a lot more chances than we ever have. We just got to keep going and stay consistent doing it.”
Sheaff ended the game with 12 saves on those 13 shots on goal. The Australia native tied her career-high in saves and registered the second-most by a Big 12 goalkeeper this season.
The Wildcats will hit the road next Thursday to take on West Virginia (5-2-1, 1-0) in Morgantown. The match is scheduled for 6 p.m. CST and will be broadcast on ESPN+.
