The University of Kansas women’s soccer team is heading to the Big 12 Conference tournament quarterfinals after beating 11th-seeded Arizona State 2-1 on Wednesday at CPKC Stadium.
A pair of All-Big 12 first-teamers — junior forward Lexi Watts and sophomore defender Caroline Castans — scored for the sixth-seeded Jayhawks, who advance to face West Virginia in Saturday’s quarterfinals.
“Like most of these games, (I’m) emotionally exhausted,” KU coach Nate Lie said. “It feels like you’re hanging on … it takes the clock forever to hit zero.”
Arizona State’s goal came after Watts and Castans had found the net, increasing the pressure on Kansas to finish strong.
“Huge credit to Arizona State,” Lie said. “I thought we were pretty good in the first half and controlled a lot of the action, and they came out incredibly better dressed in the second half ….
“I thought our team did a really good job of getting our feet underneath us and calming the game down, figuring out the right times to hit space, the right times to keep the ball.”
Watts, a St. James Academy graduate, got the scoring started in the 16th minute. It was her eighth goal of the year as a 19-game, full-season starter for the Jayhawks.
Watts was assisted on the goal by midfielder Jillian Gregorski and Saige Wimes, who played at St. Teresa’s Academy in high school.
Castans — the reigning Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week after scoring twice against K-State in KU’s regular-season finale — recorded her third goal of the year in the 57th minute.
Two KU midfielders — freshman Kate Langfelder and graduate Makayla Merlo — were credited with assists on Castans’ goal.
The Sun Devils responded less than a minute after Castans scored, when Big 12 Freshman of the Year Kierra Blundell found the net. Blundell’s was one of just four shots on goal for ASU all night.
KU’s tournament quarterfinal against No. 3 seed West Virginia is scheduled for 8 p.m. Saturday at CPKC Stadium. The Jayhawks will be looking to avenge a 3-2 September loss to the Mountaineers in Morgantown, W.Va., and advance to the tourney semifinals.
Here’s the quarterfinal for all of Saturday’s quarterfinal games at CPKC Stadium:
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No. 4 BYU vs. No. 5 Oklahoma State, 11:30 a.m.
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No. 1 TCU vs. No. 9 Colorado, 2 p.m.
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No. 2 Texas Tech vs. No. 10 Baylor, 5:30 p.m.
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No. 6 Kansas vs. No. 3 West Virginia, 8 p.m.