The Kansas City Roos Women’s soccer team made a short trip out to Lawrence, Kansas to face the Kansas Jayhawks Thursday evening, where they lost by a margin of 0-3.

  Kansas City looked uncomfortable on the offensive side of the ball early on, as they were consistently playing within their back half of the field throughout the first half.

  The Roos first and only goal-scoring opportunity of the match came in the 35th minute, as a short-range shot from graduate forward Katie Stephens sailed well over the crossbar.

  With multiple defensive stops to end the first half & three saves from junior goalkeeper Mackenzie Caldwell, Kansas City’s “bend, don’t break” attitude looked to be a formidable tactic against the Jayhawks. Still, throughout the second half, this approach to the game was put through the wringer.

  It didn’t take long after the halftime break for Kansas to find paydirt, as in the 55th minute, the Jayhawks would find the back of the net, as a goal from sophomore midfielder Raena Childers would put them up 1-0, with the assist coming from former Roo and older sister in super-senior midfielder Rylan Childers.

  Kansas responded just minutes later with another goal. In the 61st minute, junior forward Shira Elinav would make it 2-0, with the assist coming from Rylan Childers once again.

  It wouldn’t take long for Rylan Childers to enter the scoresheet herself. In the 74th minute, she put away the game with an unassisted goal of her own in the bottom left corner, cementing the win for the Jayhawks with a final score of 3-0. 

  While the result was not what she wanted, Roos head coach Jess Smith spoke after the game on how special it was to be coaching against her alma mater.

  “[It is] an incredible opportunity to be able to come back ‘home’ in many regards and play in a great facility and line up against a great team,” said Coach Smith. 

  After holding her last three opponents scoreless going into halftime, Smith realizes the potential this team still has, despite the rough start to the season. 

  “There’s a lot for us to be proud of, but we’ll look at it and see defensively where we need to get better at, but this is just another moment that’s gonna help us when we get into the conference season.”

  Although the Roos (0-5-1) still remain winless on the 2022 season, they will look to right the ship this Sunday at 2:00 p.m., as they head to Springfield, Missouri to face Missouri State.

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