photo by: Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas midfielder Jillian Gregorski (34) celebrates with forward Norah Jacomen (28) after scoring a goal against Arizona on Sunday, Sept. 27, 2026 at Rock Chalk Park.

Jillian Gregorski scored two goals in the final nine minutes on Sunday afternoon to help lift the Kansas women’s soccer team to a 2-0 victory over Arizona in a Big 12 Conference match at Rock Chalk Park.

“It’s really hard when you want to get crosses and score and put us up, but I think the biggest thing was keeping the ball, and once that window opens, then we’ll exploit that window,” said Gregorski, who leads the Jayhawks in goals (6) and is tied with Caroline Castans for the team lead in points (12).

Kansas (8-2-1, 2-0-1) outshot Arizona 12-1 in the match, with the Wildcats going without a shot for the final 86:20 as Jayhawk keeper Sophie Dawe had to make only one save to give KU its sixth clean sheet of the season. The Sunday win also gave Kansas a weekend sweep at home as it prepares for a three-game road swing that includes two nationally-ranked opponents (No. 13 Colorado and No. 11 Baylor).

“We love the fans and we love playing at Rock Chalk Park,” Gregorski said. “We were grateful to be back. We’d been on kind of a long road (trip), so it was great. It set us up really good. We’re feeling a little confident. We’ve been starting to play a bit more like ourselves, and it’s awesome to see, and we’re getting the results, which is really helpful.”

The Jayhawks – who are now 5-0-1 in their last six matches – almost took the lead in the first half, when Sydni Fink was fouled in the penalty area and KU was awarded a penalty kick. However, Arizona (3-5-3, 0-1-2) challenged the call successfully and the foul was rescinded, denying Kansas the scoring opportunity.

Later in the half, another video challenge went against Kansas, as Jayhawks head coach Nate Lie attempted to challenge a non-call on a handball by a Wildcat player in the Arizona penalty area. However, that original call was upheld, and the match went into halftime tied 0-0, despite Kansas having the run of play for most of the opening 45 minutes.

Most of the match in the second half was spent in the Arizona third of the pitch as well, but Kansas was unable to find many quality shots. Finally, at 81:05, Livvy Moore sent a long pass into the penalty area, where Castans crossed it to Gregorski, who headed it into the back of the net to give the Jayhawks a 1-0 lead. Moore now has nine assists, which not only is first on the Jayhawks, but leads the nation as well.

Just 2:32 later, at 83:37, it was Gregorski again who gave KU an insurance goal to make it 2-0. Norah Jacomen took the ball on the left wing and crossed it to Gregorski, who turned and fired a shot into the upper right corner of the net to salt away the victory for Kansas.

“I’m really proud of getting six points on the weekend,” said Lie. “When you’re in conference, it’s a really hard thing to do. Two quality teams, two teams that challenge you in different ways, stress you and make you prepare. Whenever you can string two wins together, it’s really important.

“I wish we would’ve found that first goal earlier. I think we could’ve felt different. I think it felt like it was one of those days where everything was going against us, but the team kept knocking on the door, found the big goal with 10 minutes left. It was one of those games where you thought that would be enough. We were so in control at that point, but instead of backing off at that point, they stepped on the gas. The second goal is the one I loved. It’s the one that expresses our culture and our mentality and how we’re going to approach the game.”

Kansas’s road swing starts Friday night at Baylor. The Bears (9-1-1, 2-0-1) got past Cincinnati, 2-1, on Sunday afternoon. Kickoff for Friday’s match at Betty Lou Mays Soccer Field in Waco, Texas, is scheduled for 7 p.m.