MANHATTAN, Kansas – K-State opened a season at Buser Family Park for just the second time in its history, but the reigning Big 12 regular season champions Oklahoma State spoiled the Wildcats' 2020 opener with a 3-0 win on Saturday night.
Originally slated to play one another on November 6, the Wildcats and Cowgirls were able to move up the match to Saturday after their original opponents, Texas Tech and Oklahoma, respectively, were forced to postpone due to positive COVID-19 cases and limited rosters.
"It's a challenge for the preparation stage and that's kind of what we saw right now," said K-State head coach Mike Dibbini. "What you saw was an experienced team that came in and was prepared for us and, had we had another day or two to prepare, maybe the storyline is different.
"You've got seven underclassmen and four seniors out there starting the game, you know that there's going to be some mistakes when you have some youth and I think that's the big positive for us. Once the game settled and you watched the game of soccer and our brand of soccer, you saw some nice buildups on our part and you saw a nice attack. It just took that first ten minutes for us to realize we could do that."
The Cowgirls (1-0-0) scored just two minutes into the match, as Grace Yochum sailed a ball in from almost 30 yards to the shock of both squads.
Just moments later Oklahoma State upped its lead to 2-0, as Gabriella Coleman pounced on a loose ball at the top of K-State's six-yard box.
"I thought we were mentally scared, timid, the first five or ten minutes," said Dibbini about the quick start from the Cowgirls. "I think, you're playing a defending Big 12 champ, you're at home, you haven't played in six months, the nerves weren't settling, and we gave up goals that cost us the game. It's hard at this level when you're giving up goals that early to come back and compete. I thought the second half was much better, to be honest."
K-State (0-1-0) was able to settle into the match and mount a number of attacks. Senior defender Shelby Lierz produced a quality chance during the run but narrowly missed wide right.
"I think that coming back together as a team after that (second) goal, we talked as a team and had to get our energy back up," said Lierz about the team's mindset. "I think that we responded pretty well after that."
The Cowgirls added a third goal in the 32nd minute, as Olyvia Dowell received a pass from Camy Huddleston and took a side kick at the ball, which one-hopped in front of K-State goalkeeper Alaina Werremeyer and into the net.
Werremeyer was just the second true freshman goalkeeper to make her K-State debut between the pipes in a season-opener, joining Tania Chassot from the first match in program history on August 19, 2016, at Saint Louis. For the night, Werremeyer finished with two saves.
"There's a lot of anticipation going into the game," said Werremeyer about her first collegiate start. "I was really excited and my girls took care of me so I felt really settled in. They make it easy to play behind."
In the second half, the Wildcats registered a 6-5 advantage in total shots. Lierz attributed the second half to better communication.
"In the halftime talk, we were trying to figure out where the disconnect was between our teammates and just trying to get the ball and switching it so I think coming together at halftime and trying to get the whole team on the same page and having more fire in us. So I think that was part of the reason."
Joining Werremeyer in making their K-State debuts were seven Wildcats including Kyler Goins and Presli Pearson in the starting lineup. Marissa Gohr, Lily Hollis, Erin Morrissey, Lily Parker and Maddie Weichel all made their first appearance as Wildcats as substitutes.
Goins tied with senior Christina Baxter for total shot attempts with two.
K-State will make its first road trip of the 2020 season next week, as the Wildcats travel to Morgantown, West Virginia, to face West Virginia on Friday, September 18, at 6 p.m. (CDT). The match will air on 101.5 KROCK in Manhattan and for free at kstatesports.com.
What They Said
MIKE DIBBINI, HEAD COACH
On the game...
"Tough two halves. I thought we were mentally scared, timid, the first five or ten minutes. I think, you're playing a defending Big 12 champ, you're at home, you haven't played in six months, the nerves weren't settling, and we gave up goals that cost us the game. It's hard at this level when you're giving up goals that early to come back and compete. I thought the second half was much better, to be honest. I don't think that anything we did today was related to the actual soccer piece of it. I thought, soccer-wise, we were controlling the game, but the beginning part of the game, the first ten minutes, we just kind of sat there and reacted and I thought that cost us the game. I wish I could call a timeout and bring them in and say 'settle down' but, it's too late and that's what happened. But I think that having the opportunity to play today was massive for us because now we have something we can carry over to the next game. I don't think that score was an indication of how close that game was. They scored goals on a lot of our mistakes, mental mistakes, but we've got to get over that hump. We've got to mentally, physically be prepared. And I think, last but not least, I don't think we were physically prepared for this match more than anything else at the beginning just from the standpoint of, we haven't played a game for six months and you don't realize how fast they are, because you're training against each other, and it's very, very challenging when you're facing front runners. But as the game settled, I thought we played better."
On the team's performance without Brookelynn Entz and Rachel Harris....
"You've got two experienced leaders missing, two captains, it definitely sets us back a little bit. But I'm still pleased with the way we performed against the defending Big 12 champs. Had we had them, would it have been a different story? I don't know, I can't answer that question. I think that, more from the leadership and the mentality standpoint, it would've helped us at the beginning of the game."
On why Entz and Harris were out tonight…
"Rachel [Harris] is out for the season. She has an injury so she's out for the season. And Brookelynn [Entz] is nursing an injury but she'll be back, hopefully by next game, that's what I'm hoping for. It's unfortunate that we didn't have them and, you guys know, you've been around, they're two important pieces to the puzzle. But we have a lot more depth, a lot more weapons, especially in the attack, a lot more quicker players up top. I just thought that we lacked a little bit of leadership in the first ten minutes and that's what it came down to."
On how Alaina Werremeyer did as a freshman goalkeeper…
"I thought that it was a combination of our whole team leaving her on an island. I don't think that it had anything to do with her mistakes. I think that maybe one goal she had a routine save, the third goal, but other than that I thought the first two goals was that she was left on an island and as a team we didn't mentally prepare and physically prepare to defend the right way."
On the moment of unity before the game...
"The unity message is out there and that was created by our athletic department and the Big 12. We're in support of it, as you can see we unified together locking arms as a team. Each program and each team is going to be different. They unified by having a few players kneel and that's their choice and she has a right to do that. I think that as long as we are on the same page and we're all unified, I think that's the message right there."
SHELBY LIERZ, SENIOR DEFENDER
On her shot in the first half...
"I saw that it was a great ball in and I tried to take a big first touch towards the goal. I knew that girl was coming right on my back so I tried to slide and get a toe on it or anything to get it redirected toward the goal. I'm disappointed that it went wide but I'm glad that I got that good chance in for my teammates."
On the team's energy after the two quick goals from Oklahoma State...
"I think that coming back together as a team after that goal, we talked as a team and had to get our energy back up. I think that we responded pretty well after that."
On team's confidence going into the game without Brookelynn Entz and Rachel Harris...
"I think that was in the back of our minds, but we just wanted to come out hard and come out as a team. We've been practicing so hard for the last month and a half getting ready for these games so we definitely missed their presence on the field but we did what we could with what we had and we played hard and competed against this team."
On the loss after an eventful week…
"It was a quick 24 hour turnaround to find out that we had a game today but I think that we responded well and we were prepared, no matter what, we spent this whole last week preparing for a scrimmage and we came out for a game. We came to compete and worked hard, definitely a lot to learn from this game. I think that overall, a lot of good things from it, a lot of good teamwork and chemistry from the months of the offseason."
On improving after the half…
"In the halftime talk, we were trying to figure out where the disconnect was between our teammates and just trying to get the ball and switching it so I think coming together at halftime and trying to get the whole team on the same page and having more fire in us. So I think that was part of the reason."
ALAINA WERREMEYER, FRESHMAN GOALKEEPER
On playing her first Big 12 game…
"There's a lot of anticipation going into the game. I was really excited and my girls took care of me so I felt really settled in. They make it easy to play behind."
On the early goals...
"They were great plays. We weren't expecting it, we came out a little slow. You just have to put it behind you and play the rest of the game."
On what it's like to have her first game be a loss…
"Soccer's always been a mentally challenging sport, especially as a goalkeeper, so being able to put it behind us and being able to build off of this and play our game the way that we want to. It's all the mental side now."
On what the team can do better in the next game…
"We just need to play our game. We play really pretty soccer if we wake up early and we get going at the first whistle then we play the best soccer."
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