The Kansas University women’s soccer team were crowned Big 12 Conference champions over the weekend.
The sixth-seeded Jayhawks upset top-seeded Texas Christian University 1-0. It’s the program’s second Big 12 Championship title. They first won since 2019.
Makayla Merlo scored her first goal of the season on a game-winning penalty kick in the 66th minute.
Before they got there:
Oct. 30
No. 5 Oklahoma State celebrated a come from behind 3-2 win against No. 12 Cincinnati. Cincinnati, in the second half, scored twice, one each from Rylee Felton and Jada Arthurs, to take the lead. They couldn’t hold on, though as goals scored by Reganne Morris and Alex Morris sent Oklahoma State to the win. Oklahoma State scored three times in the final 13 minutes.
No. 9 Colorado played No. 8 Utah. They also rallied from behind for the 2-1 victory. Goals were scored by Hope Leyba and Ava Priest. Katie Callaway was the lone goal scorer for Utah.
No. 10 Baylor faced No. 7 Arizona. Baylor got on the board first with a goal from Callie Conrad. Arizona tied it up with a goal by Narissa Fults but late in the second half, Caroline Staubach scored to give Baylor the 2-1 win.
No. 6 Kansas took on No. 11 Arizona State. The Jayhawks won 2-1 with goals by Lexi Watts and Caroline Castans. Kierra Blundell scored for Arizona State.
Nov. 2
No. 4 BYU took a 5-0 win against Oklahoma State. During this dominant performance, Mika Krommenhoek and Allie Fryer both scored twice while Mackenzee Vance scored one.
No. 1 TCU played Colorado where they won 3-1. Hope Leyba put Colorado on the board first but then Camryn Lancaster, Seven Castain and Carolina Kelly all got goals for the TCU win.
No. 2 Texas Tech faced Baylor. Taylor Zdrojewski and Storie Sexton led TTU to their 2-1 while the only goal scorer for Baylor was Tyler Isgrig.
No. 3 West Virginia lost to Kansas 1-0. Lexi Watts got the lone goal in sudden victory to send Kansas to the semifinals.
Nov. 6
TCU beat Baylor 2-1. Vance scored, but then Kelley and Castian scored for TCU, sending them to victory lane.
Kansas beat Texas Tech 2-1. Raena Knust and Olivia Page scored for the Jayhawks as Ashleigh Williams got a goal for TTU but it wasn’t enough to stop Kansas.
Nov. 9
During the Championship, the Jayhawks beat the Horned Frogs 1-0. The goal came off a penalty kick for Makayla Merlo in the middle of the second half. Goalkeeper Sophie Dawe held strong with four saves to get the shutout victory.
Kassie Vasellas is a Female Athlete News student-intern at Penn State University.
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