By K-State Athletics
HILLSBORO, Oregon (KStateSports.com) – K-State bookended halftime with a pair of goals from sophomore Ryann Reynolds to secure a 2-0 win at Portland State on Thursday afternoon at Hillsboro Stadium.
HOW IT HAPPENED
– K-State (1-1-0) took the lead in the 43rd minute of the first half. Sophomore Anna Pagano gathered a loose ball around 35 yards away from Portland State’s goal. As she advanced the ball to around 22 yards, she was taken down and K-State was awarded a free kick outside the left post.
– Reynolds stepped over the ball and curled her attempt just inside the right post and into the corner for her first goal of the season.
– Seconds into the second half, Reynolds struck again. Senior Riley Baker slid a pass into the Portland State (0-3-0) 18-yard box to Reynolds, cutting across the formation. Reynolds gathered and calmly beat Portland State keeper Natalie Cunningham with a deposited shot into the lower right corner.
– Portland State held a 16-8 edge in shots and a 6-4 advantage in shots on goal.
– Sophomore Murphy Sheaff pocketed six saves to register her first shut out this season, her fifth with K-State and the 10th of her collegiate career.
QUICK FACTS
– K-State is 4-4-1 all-time in road-openers including an active four-match winning streak.
– The Wildcats are 2-1-1 all-time in matches against Big Sky Conference members.
– K-State snapped a six-match road losing streak and a seven-match road winless stretch (0-6-1).
– The Wildcats are 13-11-6 in matches played in the month of August.
– K-State is 22-7-1 in its history when leading at halftime.
– The Wildcats are 29-0-11 when registering a shutout.
– K-State improves to 24-26-5 in its history and 1-1-0 this season when holding the advantage in corner kicks.
PLAYER NOTES
– Reynolds scored her first goals as a Wildcat and the third and fourth of her collegiate career, after scoring two last season with Oregon.
– Reynolds is the 7th Wildcat to register two or more goals in a match and the first since Jazmin Brown scored two at Green Bay on Aug. 17, 2023.
– The game time duration between goals of two minutes and 41 seconds was the second fastest consecutive goals scored by one player in school history, trailing the record mark of two minutes and 26 seconds by Kyler Goins against Colorado State on September 15, 2022.
– Baker carded her fourth career assist. She ranks tied for ninth in school history for career assists.
– With her assist, Baker became the 12th player in program history with 10 or more career points. She is tied for ninth in school history for career points (10), joining Maddie Souder (2017-20), Christina Baxter (2017-20) and Aliyah El-Naggar (2020-23).
– This was Sheaff’s fourth career win between the pipes for K-State. She moves into a tie for fourth in program history for career wins with Peyton Pearson (2020-21).
– Sheaff tallied five or more saves in a match for the first time this season and the ninth time during her time at K-State.
– Senior Kenzi Gillispie recorded 84 minutes, improving her career total to 4,816. Thursday marked her 57th career match played, which is tied for 10th in school history. Gillispie made her 56th career start, which moves her into third in school history for career starts.
– Senior Adah Anderson played in her 57th career match, which is tied for 10th in school history.
– Freshman Hannah Palmer made her collegiate debut off the bench. Of the 23 field players to make the road trip, 22 saw action in the first half and all 23 played by the conclusion of the match.
FROM THE HEAD COACH
K-State Head Coach Mike Dibbini
On early counter attacks …
“It started from our defending. We defended their initial attack and then quickly countered. We knew that we were going to win the ball in pockets and areas of the field. It was going to open up because they get in their big shape. We just couldn’t to execute on those chances, even though we had some good efforts. We ended up with our opportunities when Ryann came on the field and punched one away for us. That gave us a lot more confidence the rest of the way.”
On Reynolds scoring the free kick goal…
“We needed that. We needed to relieve some pressure. I mean, they were very physical. They tackled hard, and it was challenging for us because they weren’t allowing us to get comfortable. Once we scored that one, it kind of gave us that separation we needed to control the rest of the game.”
On the early chemistry between Riley Baker and Reynolds…
“It’s great for us, and shows that we’re kind of deep at certain positions, and it shows that they’re both capable of being dangerous and spinning around the goal. And we’re excited to build off of it and to continue moving forward.”
On playing every position player on the road trip…
“A combination of planning to play everyone and the physicality of the match. We have depth but the field was a little bit larger than we’re used to. Plus the combination of the travel from yesterday, obviously, you saw a little bit of that at times where they needed to catch their second wind. At the end of the day, we hung in there, and grinded it out, and it was a good result for us on the road to start the road trip.”
UP NEXT
K-State completes its road trip on Sunday, August 25, as the Wildcats visit Spokane, Washington, to face Gonzaga. Match time is set for 2 p.m. (CT) and can be watched on ESPN+.
