'Have the memory of a goldfish'

She faced just four shots on goal all night and turned three of them away, with the only one that got by her coming off of the powerful right foot of national player of the year candidate Jordynn Dudley.

And her three saves were the product of athleticism meets preparation meets confidence meets desire.

KU goalkeeper Sophie Dawe was not the sole reason the still-unbeaten Kansas women’s soccer team played to a 1-1 draw with 2nd-ranked Florida State on Thursday night at Rock Chalk Park.

"I used to dwell on it if I got scored on. I’d be thinking about that the rest of the game. But I had a coach tell me, ‘Have the memory of a goldfish,’ like short-term memory, forget about it until the game’s over and then respond."

— KU goalkeeper Sophie Dawe after Thursday's 1-1 draw with No. 2 FSU

But her play in net might’ve been most symbolic of what this team accomplished in earning the tie.

Staring into the whites of the eyes of Seminoles players who were often bigger, faster and certainly more experienced, a scrappy and ascending group of Jayhawks, including Dawe, refused to back down and showed that they belong on the field with anybody in the country.

After the match, Dawe talked with R1S1 Sports about what it was like to face the 2023 national champions and their powerful offensive attack.

“I definitely have a lot of respect for them,” Dawe said after watching the Jayhawks out-shoot the Seminoles 14-8 overall. “They play very quickly. They can get the ball off their foot really fast. So, I had to stay engaged the whole time, to my positioning to my footing. It was really exciting, actually. I think it helped bring the energy and helped me stay locked-in, so, I was ready for anything they had coming my way.”

Dudley’s goal came in the 13th minute of the match and gave Florida State a quick 1-0 lead.

But Dawe and the Jayhawks refused to let that beat them. Thirteen minutes later, freshman Mary Sola tied the game with her first college goal — on her first college shot, no less — and the two teams played even-up the rest of the way.

KU coach Nate Lie said after the game that he felt like his team was proud of what they showed on Thursday night and content with the result but not in any mood to overly celebrate it.

Dawe went one step further, saying she thought the Jayhawks should’ve won. Nonetheless, she, too, was proud of the result, as much for the way it demonstrated her own personal growth as what it meant for the team.

“The biggest thing for me is, I used to dwell on it if I got scored on,” she said. “I’d be thinking about that the rest of the game. But I had a coach tell me, ‘Have the memory of a goldfish,’ like short-term memory, forget about it until the game’s over and then respond.”

And that’s exactly what Dawe did in this one.

She made a couple of highlight-worthy saves later in the night, including a big one midway through the second half on a shot to the right post that she had to dive with a full extension to her right to save.

Asked about that particular save after the match, Dawe merely shrugged.

“I think I just did my job, honestly,” she said. “I was kind of in the moment, but it felt like a pretty routine save for me. We face a lot of different types of shots in training. I don’t think I’ve faced a shot yet in a game that I haven’t seen at least once.”

“She took that touch, I knew she was gonna shoot and I got set and just reacted to the shot. I always want a shutout. But, if they get one past me, then you kind of just have to move on. The ball comes out of the net and you move on like it’s 0-0.”

Thursday’s result, which came in front of the third-largest home crowd in KU soccer history (2,108), moved the Jayhawks to 3-0-2 on the season.

All five of those outings came against teams that won 12 or more games last season and were regarded as contenders or favorites to win their league crown in 2025.

“Everyone we've played is legit,” Lie said. “I don't think that we probably got the credit we deserved for what we did before. It's OK. This is the kind of night you’ve got to show what you can do.”

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