Pepperdine and Kansas Box Score (Aug. 28, 2009) 
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Sophomore Michelle Spacciapolli (San Diego, Calif./Cathedral Catholic HS) scored her second goal in as many games but it wasn't enough as Kansas escaped Regal Soccer Stadium with a 2-1 victory over Pepperdine during Friday's first day of competition at the First Tennessee Lady Vol Classic.
The win was Kansas' first over Pepperdine in three meetings and kept the Jayhawks unbeaten at 2-0 while Pepperdine dropped to 1-1. The Waves play again Sunday at noon (PT) against host Tennessee.
Spacciapolli's goal was a rebound effort off senior Kelly Reilly's (Cardiff, Calif./La Costa Canyon HS) 25-yard strike that rattled the crossbar in the 75th minute. Reilly also assisted Spacciapolli's game-tying goal in Sunday's 2-1 overtime win over Marquette.
"Kelly fired a long distance shot that hit the underside of the crossbar and Spach followed through perfectly on the header with the goalkeeper out of position," head coach Tim Ward said.
With the Kansas lead cut in half, the Waves peppered the Jayhawk net with three more shots and two additional corner kick opportunities during the closing minutes but could not find their much-needed equalizer.
"It's unfortunate to lose a game like this because we had so many chances," Ward said. "Late in the game I think we had about three to four more solid chances to score involving a bunch of goal mouth scrambles."
One key moment took place directly prior to Spacciapolli's score, in which both she and senior Sophia Medina (Downey, Calif./Los Alamitos HS) hit the same exact post on back-to-back shots. After Spacciapolli posted her shot, Kansas goalkeeper Kat Liebetrau quickly spun around and smothered the ball.
Pepperdine dominated the team stats page, outshooting Kansas 20-12, and earned nine corner kicks to the Jayhawks' two. Each school placed six shots on frame but KU got one more to cross the stripe, including an own goal in the third minute.
According to Ward, the scene played out similarly to how Marquette scored its goal in the third minute of Sunday's game.
Pepperdine was stepping up the offensive pressure in the opening seconds when all of a sudden they were caught off guard and forced to chase back toward its net.
In this instance, Jayhawk Emily Cressy ran behind a defender and crossed the ball across the face of the net, which freshman goalkeeper Roxanne Barker (Irvine, Calif./Woodbridge HS) knicked with her glove and redirected off the ground. As the ball came back up it hit off redshirt freshman Kelsea Smith's (Camarillo, Calif./Oaks Christian) midsection and dropped over the goal line.
"Once again we gave away another early goal and it's tough to play when you're stuck in a 1-0 hole," Ward said. "We should know better, but I felt we responded well and by all rights we should have had two goals by the end of the first half. We had some good looks."
Kansas shifted the tempo at the start of the second half and added to their lead with a Cressy goal in the 53rd minute. Cressy was assisted on the eventual game-winner by Monica Dolinsky and Kim Boyer.
"Kansas crossed the ball over to the back post and the girl settled and hammered the ball home," Ward said. "I think our inexperience played a small role in allowing that goal. We had some of our defenders raising their hands in the air thinking they were offsides."
Barker made four saves in 90 minutes of play and also headed a shot in the closing the seconds following a corner kick, which sailed high.
Liebetrau was credited with five saves, picking off shots from Medina, Smith, Spacciapolli, Cammie Burke (Del Mar, Calif./Torrey Pines HS) and Anisa Guajardo (Clovis, Calif./Buchanan HS). Spacciapolli, Medina and Reilly led the Waves with three shots each.
