K-State battles to disappointing draw against Arizona

VAR denies Wildcats once again in physical match versus Arizona.

Photo courtesy of Collegian Media Group

On a rainy night and in a slick Buser Family Park Thursday night, the battle of the Wildcats ended in a 1-1 draw, and K-State was left wondering what could have been.

The opening half featured several controversial moments despite no goals. The Wildcats appeared to have strong claims for two penalty kicks, both coming from potential Arizona handballs inside the box. The second one appeared to be definitive given the reactions from players on both teams.

K-State challenged both plays, but after VAR checks at the monitor, officials upheld the no penalty call on both occasions, drawing a frustrated response from the home crowd and head coach Colleen Corbin. Despite controlling much of the action and pace of play, the Wildcats entered halftime deadlocked with no score.

Breaking through in the 55th minute, senior forward McKinnan Braswell sent a pass over the top toward the penalty arc to junior forward Gabby DeMers. DeMers settled the ball and fired a shot from 20 yards out that nestled inside the bottom left corner, giving K-State a 1-0 lead and marking her team-leading fifth goal of the season.

The lead lasted just three minutes, however, as Arizona substitute Lainey Swanson found Allyson Brown, who fired just inside the left post to even the match at 1-1.

K-State played aggressively, looking for a winner in the last half hour, and despite several chances, it would not come. The Wildcats finished with a 20-10 advantage in shots and a 9-3 edge in shots on goal, and Arizona goalkeeper Sofia Cortes-Browne came up with seven key saves to preserve the draw.

For K-State, senior forward Rilyn Rintoul led the team with six shots, while Braswell recorded four and the assist on DeMers’ goal. Maddie Sibbing had two saves on 10 shots to help keep the game level. 

The result moved the Wildcats to 5-1-4 on the season (0-1-1 in Big 12 play). K-State returns to action at noon on Sunday, hosting Arizona State at Buser Family Park on ESPN+.