Defenders rarely find themselves with a chance to score in soccer, so they need to make the most of the opportunity.
Senior Anna Caniglia, a defender who recently shifted to midfielder, made her attempts count in the Cornhuskers' 7-4 win at Kansas on Friday.
The third-leading scorer on the team finished with three goals – including a dramatic bicycle kick – to spark the rout for the 10-4-4 Huskers.
Caniglia opened the scoring with a 35-yard goal from near the sidelines in the 10th minute, firing the ball over the goalkeeper and into the far side of the net. Goals by sophomore Molly Thomas and freshman Jordan Jackson pushed NU to a 3-0 lead before the Jayhawks scored with three minutes remaining in the first half.
When KU cut the lead to 3-2 in the 51st minute, Caniglia answered with an exclamation point of a goal with her bicycle kick just eight minutes later.
Caniglia finished the 26th hat trick in Husker history in the 80th minute to follow second-half goals by junior Michaella Fulmer and senior Carly Peetz. With an assist on Peetz's goal, Caniglia finished the game with seven points, nearly outscoring KU by herself.
"I think our team really enjoyed ourselves while we were playing," Caniglia said. "We have a lot of Kansas and Missouri players, so it was really good for us to pull out a win, especially for the players from those areas."
Caniglia, who had played as an outside back the past three seasons, moved to outside midfielder to help cement a position that had dealt with some injuries. Originally a free-kick specialist, Caniglia said she has enjoyed assuming more of an offensive role this year, setting career highs with five goals and a team-leading eight assists.
"My role is just to push our offense forward and make sure we're getting things done," she said. "Being in the midfield, I kind of am able to work on connecting the defense to the offense."
The Huskers fell to No. 23 Missouri 5-0 on Sunday despite matching the Tigers in nearly all statistical categories. MU clinched its first-ever conference regular-season championship with the victory, as the win upped the Tigers to 6-0-2 in Big 12 play.
An early goal started NU on the wrong foot before Missouri scored in the 39th minute to take 2-0 lead at half. Two early second-half goals pushed Missouri on for the victory despite the teams being nearly identical on the number of shots and corner kicks.
"Missouri came out to play harder than we did on Sunday," Caniglia said. "If we were to match up with Missouri in the future, I don't think the score would be the same. We did learn a lot because we do know that there's a long way to go before we hit our max."
With just one game remaining before the conference tournament, NU is currently sixth in the Big 12 and just one point away from third place. And with a chance to improve their seeding in the Big 12 Tournament, Caniglia said anything short of a win would not be acceptable for the Huskers.
"The seniors we have now, you can tell there's an extra spark inside them," she said. "There's definitely pressure on us to perform, but other than that, I think the seniors want it. They want the test and the competition, and they're ready to take it on because it's all they have left."
Compiled by John Schreier
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