Santa Clara, Calif. ? Sophomore Liana Salazar’s free kick from 19 yards out pulled Kansas University’s soccer team to within a goal of No. 20 Santa Clara with just 16 minutes remaining, but that was as close as the Jayhawks would come, falling to the Broncos, 3-2, on Friday night.

The Jayhawks fell to 5-5-1 after their final match of nonconference play. Santa Clara moved to 5-3-1.

“I was really pleased with the way we played and competed tonight,” KU coach Mark Francis said. “Santa Clara is a very good offensive team, and I thought we played them pretty evenly for most of the game. I was proud how the kids battled tonight especially after we gave up that goal so quickly. The way we played today shows that we can compete with anyone in our conference and that’s really encouraging moving forward.”

With KU down 1-0, sophomore Courtney Dickerson passed to senior Caroline Kastor, who tapped in her fourth of the year.

Kastor’s goal was the 24th of her collegiate career and moved her up to No. 3 alone on KU’s all-time goal-scoring chart. The senior just needs three more scores this season to pass Rachel Gilfillan for second on the career list.

KU will begin conference play on Friday when it travels to Ames, Iowa, to take on Iowa State.