BROOKINGS, S.D. -- Third-seeded Oral Roberts used a pair of first-half goals to knock out sixth-seeded Kansas City, 2-1, in the second quarterfinal of the 2023 #SummitWSOC Championship played Friday at the Fishback Soccer Complex.
ORU scored first, taking advantage of an own goal by the Roos in the 16th minute, but that advantage would be short-lived. Kansas City quickly evened things up at 1-1 just 38 seconds later when Madison Page finished a well-played cross from Brianna Castleberry.
The score would remain tied until the 34th minute when freshman Abigail Hoffman tallied her first collegiate goal by drilling a one-timer from outside the box past a diving Riley Moore in goal for the Roos.
The Roos nearly pulled off another quick equalizer when Castleberry was fouled inside the box but Caijah Anderson sent the ensuing penalty kick just wide to keep ORU in the lead.
After Hoffman's goal, Moore was solid between the pipes, keeping Kansas City in the match the rest of the way as she made a combined seven saves. Two of those came in the closing 30 seconds of the first half when she thwarted a pair of point-blank attempts by the Golden Eagles to keep it a 2-1 contest at the break.
Both teams put shots off the cross bar in the second half but neither squad could find a tally in the closing 45 minutes.
Oral Roberts will play No. 2 seed South Dakota State in a semifinal match Sunday with kickoff set for 1 p.m. CT on the Jackrabbits’ home field.
Turning Point
- ORU freshman Abigail Hoffman one-timed an attempted clearance by the Roos from just outside the box in the 34th minute to give the Golden Eagles the lead for good.
Inside the box score
- ORU outshoot the Roos 17-7 edge in shots and an 8-2 advantage in corner kicks.
- Hoffman's 34th-minute goal was the first of the season for the freshman defender.
- KC goalkeeper Riley Moore made seven saves, while ORU goalkeeper Alexa Riefer had to make just one.
News & Notes
- ORU is making back-to-back semifinal appearances for the first time since the 2016 and 2017 tournaments.
- The Golden Eagles will face South Dakota State in the semifinals. ORU is 0-3 agains the Jackrabbits in three previous postseason matches, falling in the 2015 semifinals, 2016 championship and 2019 semifinals.
- The Golden Eagles defeated Kansas City 5-2 during their regular season matchup.
- Kansas City was making its first postseason appearance since returning to the Summit League prior to the 2019-20 season and first overall since the 2011 tournament.
#SummitWSOC
