Border War to be rekindled when Missouri, Kansas play in NCAA women’s soccer tournament

In the days after the NCAA Tournament field was announced, Kansas women’s soccer coach Mark Francis scoured the Internet for some old videos. His Kansas team was slated to face Missouri in a first-round game on Sunday in Lawrence, and Francis realized that much of his roster knew little about the history of the Border War.

Francis remembered the impassioned speeches that former Kansas football coach Don Fambrough used to give the football team before the Missouri game each year. A Kansas legend, Fambrough passed away in 2011. So Francis went looking for one of the old speeches, a little extra motivation before his team’s first postseason game since 2011.

“We had great battles with them over the years,” Francis said this week.

For a day, the rivalry will be rekindled. No. 19 Kansas, 15-5, will play host to Missouri, 11-6-3, at 1 p.m. on Sunday at Rock Chalk Park, the Jayhawks’ first-year stadium in west Lawrence. Francis is hoping for something close to a full house, which would provide more evidence of a program trending upward.

After a disappointing performance last year, the Jayhawks are in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2011, the same year they last faced Missouri.

Led by junior midfielder Liana Salazar (11 goals), the Jayhawks rode a rejuvenated offense to the program’s best season in years. With two victories, they can advance to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2003. But the road begins against Missouri, and even after three years, that still means something, especially with a roster full of local players.

“You can’t go to Kansas without knowing that we’ve got beef with Missouri,” said senior defender Caroline Van Slambrouck, an All-Big 12 selection. “It’s something they teach you at orientation, so you just kind of know.”

Seeing the matchup only heightened the excitement for Missouri, which was relieved to make the tournament after sitting on the bubble.

“We were all really excited and pumped just because it’s a big rivalry and we haven’t played them in a while,” said MU freshman midfielder Savannah Trujillo, a St. Teresa’s graduate. “It’s time to get the Border War back at it.”

Of course, there’s another element to the matchup, especially for seniors like Missouri midfielder Kaysie Clark, a Liberty graduate who played in the Tigers’ 3-2 comeback win against the Jayhawks in the final game as a member of the Big 12.

She certainly doesn’t want Kansas to end her college career.

“That would be really sad, honestly,” Clark said.

Missouri and Kansas played three common opponents this season and the results were identical.

The Jayhawks and Tigers both knocked off Southern Methodist and Cal State-Northridge but lost against West Virginia.

This story was originally published November 15, 2014 at 3:59 PM with the headline "Border War to be rekindled when Missouri, Kansas play in NCAA women’s soccer tournament."