Under cloudy skies at Buser Family Park, K-State women’s soccer used an early red card and a dominant sequence of offensive adjustments to stay undefeated, taking down South Dakota State 2-0 on Sunday afternoon.
With the victory, K-State moves to 4-0-0 on the year, matching the 2025 squad for the best four-game start in program history.
The Wildcats faced a physical, fast-paced Jackrabbit squad that dictated tempo out of the gate, forcing junior goalkeeper Maddie Sibbing into a bottom-left save in the eighth minute.
In the 20th minute, K-State shifted the momentum when forward Allison Marshall aggressively pushed the attack on a breakaway run, drawing a foul from SDSU starting goalkeeper Mallorie Benhart at the edge of the box. Following a brief challenge review, Benhart earned a straight red card at 19:57, leaving the Jackrabbits down a player for the final 70 minutes.
“The maturity of our group to score early, again, continue to put us on the front foot, which is great,” head coach Colleen Corbin said. “I mean, the moment from Allison Marshall drawing the red card from their goalkeeper like that was an individual choice to go in and gamble and take risk, and that’s obviously kind of what our season’s been about so far.”
(Ashton Todd)
K-State took immediate advantage of the lead, adjusting into a 3-5-2 formation to match SDSU’s setup.
“We switched formations about 10 minutes in … and that helped us match their formation,” senior midfielder Langley Mayers said. “We knew that we could take their athleticism. … So I think once we did that, we were able to find a mojo and a tempo.”
The breakthrough came at 28:03. Off a transition sequence with clean passing from Chloe Dillbeck and Rilyn Rintoul, Mayers finished to put K-State ahead 1-0. The goal marked Mayers’ first since returning from a long recovery process following a concussion that sidelined her for the entire previous season.
“I never knew really when I was going to get back just because it was a concussion, so you don’t really know a timeline,” Mayers said. “Having those goals in the back of my mind was kind of what helped me through the recovery process. Being able to score and assist and help my team win tonight just helps me get excited for the rest of the season.”
K-State carried the 1-0 edge into halftime before doubling the lead early in the second half. At 51:33, Lauren Moylan and Mayers connected to feed sophomore forward Gabby DeMers, who converted inside the box to notch her second goal of the season.
The Wildcats held a 22-5 edge in total shots — 8-1 in shots on goal — keeping the Jackrabbits pinned back for long stretches of the second period despite a chippy, physical finish.
Defensively, K-State held SDSU without a single shot on frame in the final 82 minutes. The clean sheet marked a historic milestone for Sibbing, who secured her 11th career shutout to break the K-State program record for career shutouts.
“I actually didn’t know until I got to warmups and one of the camera people came up and told me,” Sibbing said of the milestone. “I think it means a lot to me just because I’ve had such a long college soccer journey, but I think it’s also a testament to our entire backline … They’re incredible, doing everything they can to keep the ball away from me.”
K-State continues its homestand on Aug. 30, hosting Nebraska at 6:30 p.m. at Buser Family Park, where a victory would give the Wildcats the first 5-0-0 start in program history.