MANHATTAN, Kan. – Second-half goals from seniors Katie Cramer and Laramie Hall propelled Kansas State to a 2-0 win on a sweltering Sunday afternoon at Buser Family Park.
“It was an emotional drain on Thursday night,” said K-State head coach Mike Dibbini about Sunday afternoon’s match. “For us to respond against this team in this grinder of a game. You know we kept plugging along and figuring it out, and we just needed to find separation. That Katie Cramer goal was the separation we needed, and then we felt a lot more comfortable. But you know it’s a difficult environment especially when you have a big high and that same high going against an opponent that’s really good, however we got the win.”
In the 47th minute, Kansas State (2-4-2) opened the scoring on a corner kick. Freshman Silke Bonnen took the corner for the Wildcats and drove a ball to the near post. Bonnen’s service found the head of Cramer, who was dashing to the post.
“I would say it was the setup of the play,” said Cramer about her goal. “(Assistant coach) Kat (Benton) is in charge of our attacking set pieces, she puts a lot of effort into it and honestly, right before we came back out she told me we’re going do this play and you’re going be in this position and I just went exactly where she told me to go. Silke was serving the ball and she gave me a dime, all I really had to do was touch it, so that girl had no idea where I was going. That’s a big shoutout to Kat and all of her hard work in setting us up for success. I’m glad we could finally put one in for her.”
The goal by Cramer was her third of the season, which is tied for the team lead with Hall. Cramer, a product of Wichita, Kansas, is tied for first in program history for career goals scored with seven and career game-winning goals with two. She holds the top mark for career points with 20.
In the 58th minute, the Wildcats pushed in an insurance goal. Redshirt sophomore Rachel Harris made a stop of a Tulsa attempt. Harris then sent a kick over the heads of every player on the field.
Hall chased the ball down behind the Golden Hurricane defense and was solo with the Tulsa goalkeeper, Mica Mackay. Mackay made a lunging attempt at the top of the 18-yard box to stop Hall, but Hall pushed the ball around her to the right and sent her shot into the wide-open frame. It was the first time in program history a goalkeeper has been credited with an assist on a goal.
Hall was excited to finish the unique play.
“Honestly, I don’t think it’s happened (assist from a goalkeeper) that often but it was super exciting and obviously she saw the early ball so she went for it and we did our job.”
Harris, who noted she had assisted on a goal before, saw Hall with an advantage and took the chance.
“The ball came to me and I just saw Laramie up there and my kicking game was a little off today but I thought ‘I’m just going to send it’ and their girl misjudged it and Laramie, she worked her butt off and scored a goal for us.”
The goal was also the third of the season for Hall. This was the fifth career goal for Hall, becoming the fourth player in program history to score five or more goals in a career.
Harris finished the afternoon with four saves on the way to her first shutout as a Wildcat. In her career, Harris has four shutouts, with the first three coming at Arkansas. Sunday marked her first shutout since August 24, 2018, against Omaha.
“It was exciting, it was definitely a team shutout,” said Harris about the clean sheet. “Emily (Crain) had my back on a ball that I let over my head. But we let up three on Thursday and not normally how the goals are supposed to be scored so we were happy to come out and get the win and get the shutout.”
Kansas State completed the afternoon with a 20-10 advantage in total shots and held a 12-4 advantage in shots on goal. K-State also outdid the Golden Hurricane in corner kicks, 8-2.
Kansas State will remain at Buser Family Park for its next match, as the Wildcats host 10th-ranked BYU on Saturday at 7 p.m. Saturday’s match is K-State’s annual “Cats for the Cure” match. K-State will celebrate cancer survivors during the game and fans will have the opportunity to learn about local cancer-fighting efforts. Fans who enter the match wearing pink can purchase a $3 general admission ticket at the gate. The first 200 fans will receive a pink jersey rally towel.
Saturday’s match will be broadcast on Big 12 Now on ESPN+ and available on 101.5 KROCK in Manhattan and for free on kstatesports.com.
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