Kansas soccer upsets top-seeded TCU to clinch first Big 12 Tournament title since 2019

For the first time since 2019 — and just the second time in program history — Kansas soccer has won the Big 12 Tournament.

Which means for the 10th time in program history, the Jayhawks are headed back to the NCAA Tournament.

The No. 6-seeded Jayhawks (13-5-4) clinched their spot in the NCAAs on Saturday with a 1-0 win over top-seeded TCU at CPKC Stadium in Kansas City.

Lenexa native and junior forward Lexi Watts had just stolen the ball in the box in the 66th minute before she was brought down by TCU’s Maddie Mooney. Graduate midfielder Makayla Merlo scored the ensuing penalty kick for the match’s only goal.

That was enough to silence the Horned Frogs, who hadn’t lost since Sept. 5. It was Merlo’s first goal of the season.

As the Jayhawks now turn toward the NCAA Tournament, they’re doing so under first-year head coach Nate Lie. Lie was named the successor to 25-year KU coach Mark Francis, the winningest coach in program history, and immediately faced a road of adversity with a selection of 12th in the Big 12 preseason poll.

Now, he’s the first head coach in Big 12 soccer history to win the conference tournament in his first year.

“I just told the team, amongst the celebration, that this is one of the more special moments in my career and my life in many ways,” Lie said. “You get into this profession because you want to have an impact on people’s lives and you want to be some sort of educator and see growth.”

The Jayhawks finished sixth in the regular-season Big 12 standings, but rode into the tournament with a four-game win streak. In their tournament path, they faced the top three seeds.

“I’ve spoken about it a lot, the growth in this group is pretty remarkable,” Lie said. “(I’m impressed with) the way that they came together, whether it was earlier in the season in our moments of adversity or just continuing throughout this tournament.”

Kansas now awaits its first-round tournament matchup. The selection show will be streamed Monday at 3 p.m. on ncaa.com. The tournament kicks off with the first rounds on Nov. 15-17.