Jessica Bush is doing it all for the Kansas University soccer squad heading down the homestretch of the regular season.

Not only did Bush extend her streak of games with a goal in Kansas’ 3-0 victory over Texas Tech on Sunday, but she also played a little defense – blocking two consecutive shots on goal late in the second half.

“That was just my job, so I did it. I got some action on the line,” Bush said. “Julie (Hanley) and I were laughing because we could not clear the ball out of the box for the life of us, and it just kept coming. I just stood there, and it came at me twice, and I was just like, ‘Are you kidding me?’ I was just laughing the second time it came to me – it probably wasn’t something we should have been doing, but I just looked at Julie and we both started cracking up.”

Bush picked up her seventh goal of the season – and her fifth in the last four games – late in the first half off a feed by Holly Gault.

“Bushy’s been playing great. She’s very confident right now, which is good for the team,” KU coach Mark Francis said. “She’s holding the ball for us, she’s dishing the ball, she’s moving around off the ball a lot, and she’s doing her job. She’s doing great.”

Bush’s defensive effort helped Hanley pitch her third shutout in four games – she also shut out Missouri, but was pulled late in the game and wasn’t credited for the perfect game – translating to 346 minutes of scoreless play in goal.

“I was fortunate enough to have Jess – and also Monica (Dolinsky) in the first half saving one off the line for us, too,” Hanley said. “So I have to give all the credit to them for those. Today just wasn’t my best day, to say the least.”

After over a month of being shut down offensively, Gault finally broke through for a goal – to go along with her assist to Bush and another to Sara Rogers.

“I was happy for Holly today because she’s been hampered with injuries this season, and she’s been in and out of being able to practice from week to week, and that’s really hurt her sharpness,” Francis said. “But I thought she looked sharp today. She had a great assist on the goal Bushy scored and made a lot of things happen.

“I think Holly and Bushy, up front, have kind of figured some things out and playing together really well. I thought Monica Dolinsky did a great job today at attacking mid and combining with those guys. : I thought Holly and Jess Bush did a great job moving off the ball today.”

Though Francis was happy with the offensive showing Sunday, he said he felt the team was a little lackadaisical in the second half.

“I thought we kind of backed off a little bit. They got a lot more shots and opportunities in the second half than they did in the first half,” Francis said. “We made some changes, and some people came in and weren’t as warm and had to get into the game. So that kind of knocks you off a little bit until they get warmed up and get into it.”

The sudden surge from the soccer squad late in the season puts it in a prime spot for the Big 12 Conference tournament. With the victory over Tech, the Jayhawks are guaranteed no worse then the No. 4 seed in the tournament, which runs Nov. 1, 3 and 5 in San Antonio.

“You want to be playing well at the end of the season, and right now this is the best we’ve played all year,” Francis said. “So as a coach, you’ve got to be happy about that. : We’re where we want to be right now.”