It’s hard to tell which area had more action after the Kansas women’s soccer team’s most home game, a 5-1 win over Friends University at Rock Chalk Park — the pitch or the postgame ice bath.
On the field was where freshman midfielder Jillian Gregorski recorded the 11th hat trick in program history, scoring two goals in the first half and adding a third just after halftime.
But in the ice bath after was where Gregorski and her roommate, freshman Kate Langfelder, who assisted on two of the three goals, first began processing what had just happened and also where Gregorski fielded a phone call of congratulations from her older sister, Meghan, who she grew up idolizing.
“She was actually the first person who called me after the game,” Gregorski told R1S1 Sports recently while looking back on the milestone moment. “I didn’t read any texts, but I was walking to the ice bath and I got my phone — because my phone was gonna be my timer — and she was the one who called me. That was really cool because she was the reason I started playing soccer. It was probably fate that she was the first person I heard from.”
Gregorski and Langfelder also enjoyed a laughable moment during the recovery session before driving back to their apartment.
“We talked a lot about the goals in the ice bath because it was really cold,” Gregorski said with a chuckle. “I was like, ‘It was all you, it was all you.’ And she was like, ‘Noooo, it’s you.’”
In a very real sense, it was both of them. But history likely will remember Gregorski a little more prominently given her status as just the ninth player in program history to record a hat trick.
A native of Wethersfield, Connecticut, Gregorski guessed that she had recorded two or three official hat tricks during her youth career before coming to Kansas. But individual accomplishments like that aren’t really on her radar most days.
Throughout her career, Gregorski often led her prep team and club in goals, but she typically celebrated each one she scored as her doing her job rather than her doing something special.
“It’s mostly about the position I put myself in and the job my teammates do creating those chances for me,” the team-first freshman said. “As a pin, you’re responsible for getting into the box and putting the ball in the back of the net. If you don’t, you’ve got to find another position to play.”
Still, a hat trick in just the eighth game of your college career has to mean a little more, right?
“It’s cool if you think about it that way,” she said. “But I just don’t think about it that way. “(After the third one), I kind of had a reaction in my head, but I was mostly happy I could help the team and come out of halftime on a positive note.”
If it’s the team she’s most focused on — and that’s certainly the case — Gregorski’s goals were significant because they played a part in jump-starting an offense that had stalled of late.
Her three goals — all off of crosses from teammates — matched the team’s total in the previous five games combined.
KU's Jillian Gregorski during recent Jayhawk games at Rock Chalk Park. [R1S1 & Kansas Athletics photos]
Gregorski had a difficult time picking her favorite from the three goals against Friends because she said each one was meaningful in its own way.
“My first one and my third one were like statements – right out of the first half and right out of the second half. I really liked those,” she said. “I liked the second one a lot because we had worked a lot on that in practice, when pulling wide doesn’t work, so you go into the midfield and go back out wide and then beat the defender and get to the end line. We kept going over that in practice and in that moment I knew exactly what to do.”
Facing Friends University isn’t quite as challenging as the Big 12 slate she’ll see or the non-conference schedule up to that point, but breaking through with a big day by the offense was important for the Jayhawks and all kinds of people who have been a part of Gregorski’s soccer past.
She said she received calls or text messages from countless people back home and each one made her smile.
“I was really surprised because I didn’t expect to get this reaction,” she said. “To me, it’s just another day in the office. I’m just trying to help this team. But I heard from a lot of family, a lot of friends, people I don’t really connect with sent me texts, and I was like, ‘Wow, a lot of people heard about it.’”
She suspects her parents, grandparents and former coaches had something to do with getting the word out and added that she appreciated their support now as much as ever.
Lawrence is a long way from Wethersfield and Gregorski said she ended up here by chance.
Initially committed to Xavier out of high school, she switched her choice to KU when then-Xavier coach Nate Lie was hired by the Jayhawks.
“I’ve always known about Kansas,” she said. “Growing up, I knew about their basketball and this and that. But I wasn’t really looking to go to school here, though. I was originally going to Xavier with coach Lie. So, when they made the transition, I got the opportunity and decided to go with them.”
Playing for Lie and the type of program he runs obviously plays a big role in that line of thinking, but so, too, has her adjustment to life in Lawrence and her time at KU.
“It’s a long way from home,” she said. “But it doesn’t feel that way because this place has already become my home and it’s only been like a month and a half. I wear the Jayhawk with so much pride and to be a part of this team and program, I’m just so grateful. Coming here is probably the best decision I’ve ever made.”
The Jayhawks enter the week at 4-3-3 overall, with a home game against Big 12 foe UCF slated for Thursday
Gregorski currently leads the team with 5 goals and 11 points and also ranks second in shots (17) and shots on goal (8) through the first 10 games of the season.
Thursday’s match at Rock Chalk Park is scheduled to kick off at 6 p.m. and can be seen on ESPN+.
— For tickets to all KU athletic events, visit kuathletics.com
