Jensen’s PK Pushes Roos over South Dakota in Home Opener

Friday, February 19

Kansas City, Mo.

11:00 AM

Kansas City

2-2-0, 2-1-0

University of South Dakota

0-1-0, 0-1-0

Team	1	2	Final F
South Dakota	0	2	2
Kansas City	1	2	3

Jensen’s PK Pushes Roos over South Dakota in Home Opener

2/19/2021 2:59:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score Final Box

Clutch performances give Kansas City the 3-2 conference victory

Kansas City (2-2, 2-1) opened on the new pitch in Durwood Soccer Stadium with a hard-earned victory over South Dakota (0-1, 0-1). Emily Jensen stepped to the penalty mark with two minutes remaining in regulation and calmly sent it past the South Dakota keeper to secure the 3-2 win.

Despite being out-shot 19-7 and South Dakota controlling possession for much of the game, the Roos found a way to overcome adversity and make the most of their chances.

"I'm incredibly proud of the resilience of our group," said head coach Jess Smith. "It took everybody on the bench and everybody on the field to get a win today. We never quit."

The first half was characterized by close calls and physical play. South Dakota came out as the aggressors off the bat, but the Roos and keeper Mackenzie Caldwell were up to the challenge.

"We had to weather the storm that whole first half," said Smith. "We had to match their physicality. When you play with a team that is as organized and as physical as South Dakota is, they're going to create things."

Sophia Limongi got things started for Kansas City as she headed one past the defense off a double assist by Hayden Burnett and Emma Wilson. The goal at the 15-minute mark proved to be the only goal in the first half as Kansas City took that 1-0 lead into the break.

Kansas City came out in the second half with the goal to attack early and put the game out of reach. It looked like that may be the case as Bela Gonzalez won a one-on-one matchup with the Coyotes goalie to put the Roos up 2-0 early. Although with two unanswered goals from South Dakota at 66' and 83', it was suddenly a tie game.

Even with that, Smith's message to the team was very simple: Just keep going.

"Continue to go and attack. We changed our personnel a little bit and kept playing our game. We created more in the second half and told our team to keep going and it would come."

And it came in a big way. Jensen made her way into the goal box and drew a foul, resulting in a penalty kick with a little over two minutes to go. As she lined up for the shot, Jensen's composure kept her focused in the clutch moment.

"I knew I had to just put it away and take the lead for our team," said Jensen.

And that she did. The goal put Kansas City back up 3-2 with 2:22 left to play. They would not relinquish that lead as they held on for the win. Caldwell stepped up for a huge save with 39-seconds remaining in the game when she jumped up and punched one over the goal to give Kansas City fans a sigh of relief. Caldwell ended the day with five saves, a season average thus far in her freshman campaign.

The second game of the series between Kansas City and South Dakota will be Sunday at 1 p.m. back at the Home of the Roos. The game will be streamed on the Roos Sports Network at KCRoos.com.