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

Kansas forward Norah Jacomen (28) celebrates a goal on Thursday, Sept. 3, 2026 at Rock Chalk Park in Lawrence.

Following a four-game road stretch in which it dropped two tough matches, the Kansas soccer team has stacked back-to-back home victories following a 3-0 dominant win over the Kansas City Roos on Thursday night.

The Jayhawks outshot the Roos 32 to 0 in the match, with Kansas never having to defend on its side of the field during the contest.

“It’s always great getting to play a local, rival school,” Kansas head coach Nate Lie said. “First time we have played Kansas City since I have been here and I really appreciate them coming to Rock Chalk (Park) – and we’re returning next year – I think it’s extra special with their head coach being a KU soccer alum.”

Three Roos coaches have ties to the Kansas program. Head coach Jess Smith played and served as an assistant coach for the Jayhawks, assistant coach Maddie Dobyns spent four years as a Kansas goalkeeper from 2013 to 2017 and assistant coach Mark Sheldon served as a volunteer assistant coach from 2000 until 2001.

The game was the seventh for Kansas in its last seven available play slots. Lie said the Jayhawks are looking forward to the weeklong break they get before heading to St. Louis for their next matchup.

“We have to be one of very few teams in the country who have actually done that,” Lie said of Kansas’s schedule to start the year. “Now we have a double bye – rest up – we’re missing a bunch of kids tonight so it stinks.”

The Jayhawks received two goals in the 13th minute, with the first one coming from senior forward Norah Jacomen right in front of the goal. Senior defender Caroline Castans tallied Kansas’s second goal of the night just 46 seconds later.

“I found myself central, which doesn’t happen often,” Castans said. “I saw the goalie coming at me so I just kind of blindly flicked it over (and I) didn’t know if it went in.”

The Jayhawks got out to a strong start, dominating the game from kickoff. Kansas recorded its first shot in the ninth minute before getting on the board four minutes later.

Kansas’s two goals in the 14th minute kept the momentum solely on the Jayhawks’ side, with Kansas adding ten more shots before halftime.

The second half started the same way the first ended, with the Jayhawks firmly in the driver’s seat. Kansas failed to convert on multiple opportunities right in front of the Roos’ net, something Lie mentioned as a focus heading into the Jayhawks’ double bye.

“I think this team still needs to score more goals for the amount of chances that we create,” Lie said. “Good job in playing downhill most of the night, good job getting into dangerous spaces – I think we have to be a lot more clinical with those chances because they’re going to be much more limited as we close out nonconference play.”

The Jayhawks got their third goal in the waning minutes of the match courtesy of senior forward Jocelyn Herrema weaving through defenders to deposit the ball in the back of the net. It was her first goal of the season and third in four years at Kansas.

Heading into Thursday’s match, Kansas City sophomore goalkeeper Anika Patton had recorded eight saves during three starts for the Roos in 2026. By the end of the night, Patton had added 13 more to her season stats.

The Jayhawks will get that much-needed rest before heading to St. Louis to take on Saint Louis University on Sept. 12.