Anderson nets a pair in exhibition win

  BROOKINGS, South Dakota – Trailing after the first 79 minutes of action, K-State rallied with two quick goals from freshman Adah Anderson to capture a 2-1 exhibition win at South Dakota State on Thursday night.

"It's always good to get out and get everybody an opportunity to showcase their abilities," said K-State head coach Mike Dibbini about the first exhibition action of the season. "I felt like in the first half it was a combination of nerves, getting used to the surface and getting the jitters out a little bit. We found some rhythm once the game settled. The second half is when we actually took control of the match and did a nice job of playing to our skill sets and playing to our attacking style. It showed as we had a lot of opportunities. 

"We converted on two set pieces that we've been working on. Everybody contributed when they came on off the bench and changed the game at different moments. It was a fun match to be involved in and played against a really good team, that's always in contention for an NCAA appearance. We showed a lot of character."

Trailing 1-0, K-State earned a corner kick in the 80th minute. Freshman Riley Baker repositioned herself to in front of the South Dakota State goalkeeper Taylor Lock on the goal line just before the attempt was taken. 

As the ball was kicked, Lock hauled down Baker attempting to draw the foul on Baker. The official instead awarded a penalty kick to the Wildcats and Lock was shown a yellow card for the infraction. Anderson stepped to the spot and buried the attempt to square the match at one.

Dibbini had seen Anderson convert her penalty kicks during the last 10 days of training leading to the moment on Thursday evening. 

"In training, we have worked quite a bit on the 'big moments,' and she definitely had it in her hands to step up in an exhibition match when it was needed. She stepped up and buried it like she has in training."

Just 30 seconds later, Baker outmaneuvered the South Dakota State defense but her cross was deflected  out of bounds by a Jackrabbit defender. K-State's ensuing corner kick crossed to the far post. An attempted bicycle kick from junior Jesse Loren was deflected and fell to the feet of Anderson. Anderson calmly finished her attempt from the doorstep to put K-State in front.

Dibbini was pleased with how his team executed on both corner kick chances late in the match.

"We always talk about the first ball and second ball and they stay true to understanding that most opportunities are going to come from the second ball. If you notice in both set pieces, everyone was in the right position, ready for the second ball and the second time we scored one, and then obviously got fouled for the penalty kick on the other one and so they executed their chances, and they did a good job of it and they stay focused. I'm very happy that we came out here to get this opportunity and hopefully we can continue with this momentum."

South Dakota State broke through late in the first half, as Cecilia Limongi raced past the K-State backline and scored from inside the 18-yard box in the 43rd minute.

K-State will conclude its two-match exhibition slate on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m., as the Wildcats host Wyoming at Buser Family Park.