photo by: Chance Parker/Journal-World photo

Kansas super-senior goalie Melania Pasar passes the ball against Vanderbilt during the home opener at Rock Chalk Park on Friday, Aug. 24, 2023.

Despite promising early chances from Lexi Watts and a flurry of late corner kicks, the Kansas soccer team took its first loss of the season Sunday, 1-0 at Washington State.

The 15th-ranked Cougars controlled the flow of play in the early going, but then had to avoid going down in the 11th minute when defender Reese Tappan cleared a shot from Watts off the line. They scored the eventual game-winner off the right foot of Rajanah Reed, from a tough angle on the left wing, with five minutes to go in the first half.

Washington State goalkeeper Musuai Isaia then recorded two additional saves after the break to preserve her clean sheet at Lower Soccer Field in Pullman, Washington.

Melania Pasar tallied six saves and Watts racked up four shots for the Jayhawks (3-1-4), whose coach, Mark Francis, was pleased with their performance in the loss.

“The biggest thing today was we needed to come out and get back to competing again,” Francis said. “We did that today. Other than the first (eight to 10) minutes, I thought we went toe to toe. They had a couple of good chances and Melania (Pasar) made a couple of good saves, but we had some good opportunities too. I could not have asked for more from the group today.”

Margie Detrizio led all players with six shots for the Cougars, who outshot KU 21-10 on the day.

The Jayhawks begin their Big 12 Conference slate Thursday at Oklahoma (4-3), which will enter off a longer break after beating Murray State 5-1 last week.

“Coming out of nonconference with one loss against the competition that we played, I’m really happy with the group,” Francis said. “We made progress over these eight games and now we’re getting ready for Big 12 play.”