photo by: Parker I. Johnson/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas head coach Nate Lie on Thursday, Sept. 3, 2026 at Rock Chalk Park in Lawrence.

The Kansas soccer team earned perhaps its biggest victory of the season thus far on Sunday afternoon when it took down No. 24 Colorado 1-0 at Prentup Field in Boulder, Colorado.

Sophomore midfielder Marit McLaughlin won it for KU in dramatic fashion in the 84th minute when her outside-the-box strike deflected off CU defender Emma Thielbahr and past goalkeeper Brooke Goerish. CU attempted to challenge for a possible foul in the lead-up to McLaughlin’s shot — apparently for the slide tackle by Jordan Rowan that gave McLaughlin possession — but was unsuccessful, and neither team put a shot on target in the final six minutes.

In fact, the teams only managed three shots on target apiece, and in something of a rare accomplishment for a KU opponent this year, the Buffaloes actually outshot the Jayhawks 13-12.

Neither goalkeeper was needed for a save in the first half, but defender Caroline Castans made a heroic play for KU late in the half, getting her head on a shot by CU’s All-American striker Hope Leyba to deflect it off the crossbar and out. That play was also upheld on review.

KU’s Sophie Dawe was not significantly tested in the second half, although she did stop a long-range effort from Sloane Phillips in the 59th minute. Goerish, meanwhile, made her only two saves on two attempts by Castans in the span of a minute later in the match.

Castans led all players with four shots. KU’s Jillian Gregorski and CU’s Reagan Kotschau, Faith Leyba and Hope Leyba each recorded three.

The result went down as the Jayhawks’ first ranked win of the year and improved them to 10-3-1 (4-1-1 Big 12), in a tie for second place in the conference. They will host Iowa State (4-6-4, 0-4-2), which lost 2-1 to Arizona on Sunday, at Rock Chalk Park on Friday at 6 p.m.

VOLLEYBALL OVERCOMES UCF

The KU volleyball team got a bit of a challenge from struggling UCF, which entered Sunday on a six-match losing streak, but still managed to take down the Knights 3-1 (25-13, 19-25, 25-15, 25-22).

The Jayhawks went down 20-15 in the fourth set after allowing an 8-3 run but responded with six straight points, including kills by Aisha Aiono and Reese Ptacek. Kiki Horne evened the score at 21 for UCF, but a key service error returned the advantage to the Jayhawks, who eventually finished off the match at 25-22 with kills by Grace Nelson and Taylor Stanley.

Stanley led the way for KU with 21 kills on .390 hitting and added five aces, half the team’s total. Nelson (10 kills, 11 digs) and setter Reese Messer (40 assists, 16 digs) posted double-doubles, while libero Olivia Hasbrook was one assist shy.

Avah Armour recorded 12 kills for UCF.

The Jayhawks, who are now 11-4 (4-1 Big 12), will travel to Manhattan to face rival Kansas State on Thursday at 6:30 p.m.