OSU Game Notes

Oklahoma State (9-7-2, 2-3-2)

at Oklahoma (9-6-3, 2-2-3)

Fri., Oct. 30 • 7 p.m. • Norman, Okla.

John Crain Field (3,500)

 

Oklahoma State 

     Oklahoma State concludes the 2015 regular season with a trip down I-35 to take on Bedlam-rival Oklahoma Friday at 7 p.m. in Norman. Winners of four of their last five games, the Cowgirls are 9-7-2 overall and tied for seventh place in the Big 12 Conference standings at 2-3-2.

     OSU is coming off a 2014 season in which it earned a spot in the NCAA Women's Soccer Championship for the second-straight season. The Cowgirls compiled a 10-10-1 overall record, which included a 5-2-1 mark and second-place finish in the Big 12 standings.

     The Cowgirls return 10 starters and 17 letterwinners from 2014, including four All-Big 12 performers in forwards Courtney Dike and Madison Mercado, midfielder Allie Stephenson and defender Natalie Calhoun.

     The 2015 season marks the 20th in the history of the OSU women's soccer program. Over their first 19 seasons, the Cowgirls compiled a 229-132-42 (.620) record, and head coach Colin Carmichael entered his 11th season at the helm with a 146-52-29 mark. The Cowgirls have earned a berth in the NCAA Women's Soccer Championship in seven of the last eight years and have claimed Big 12 titles in four of the last seven seasons.

About The Opponent

     Oklahoma is 9-6-3 overall and fifth in the Big 12 standings at 2-2-3. Caren Nelson leads OU with five goals, while Kaylee Dao has four goals and an assist. Goalie Kassidie Stade ranks second in the conference with seven shutouts.

     OSU is 20-5-3 all time against Oklahoma. The two teams played a non-conference match in Stillwater on Aug. 28, with the Sooners earning a 2-0 win. The Cowgirls are 8-3-0 all time in Norman.

On The Air & The Web 

       Fans wishing to follow Friday's match can do so in a variety of ways. Sooner Sports TV will air the game live on FOX Sports Southwest, FOX Sports Oklahoma Plus and FOX College Sports Central, and the broadcast will also be available via the FOX Sports Go app. Live stats will be available at oustats.com, and Stillwater Radio will also carry the game on KGFY 105.5 FM with Bill Van Ness calling the action.

Winning Is A Habit

    The 2015 season marks the 20th in the OSU program's history. During the second decade, the Cowgirls have reached unprecedented heights.

     • OSU has earned a berth in the NCAA Women's Soccer Championship eight of the last nine years (beginning in 2006).

     • From 2006-11, the Cowgirls earned six-straight NCAA tourney bids and advanced to at least the second round each time, including back-to-back Elite Eight appearances in 2010 and 2011. 

     • From 2008-11, OSU celebrated four consecutive Big 12 championships — two regular season (2008, '11) and two tournament ('09, '10).

     • In 2011, OSU set a school record with 22 wins. The Cowgirls finished the '11 regular season 17-0-2, joining the 1996 Nebraska team as the only Big 12 Conference teams in history to go unbeaten during the regular season. OSU was 6-0-2 in conference play to claim its second regular-season Big 12 title and in doing so became the first Big 12 team since Texas A&M in 2002 to complete the league schedule without a loss.

Home Sweet Home

     The Cowgirls are 6-2-2 on their home field in 2015. OSU is 70-11-9 (.828) at the Cowgirl Soccer Complex since 2008 and is 128-35-16 (.760) all time on its current home turf. 

Shining Stars

     Four Cowgirls earned all-conference honors from the Big 12 in 2014, and each of those is now a multiple season all-league performer. Even better, all four are back for 2015.

     Senior midfielder Allie Stephenson was named to the 2014 All-Big 12 First Team after earning second-team plaudits as a sophomore. Defender Natalie Calhoun and forward Courtney Dike have both earned All-Big 12 Second Team honors in their first two collegiate seasons, while senior forward Madison Mercado was an All-Big 12 Second Team selection in 2014 and as a freshman in 2012.

Milestone For Carmichael

    Oklahoma State head coach Colin Carmichael recorded career win No. 150 on Sept. 18 against Arizona State. Now in his 11th season as the Cowgirls' head coach, Carmichael has been on the OSU coaching staff since the program's inception in 1996.

Stat Speak

    Oklahoma State ranks second in the Big 12 in goals (34), shots (304) and corner kicks (107). Of OSU's 304 shots this season, 131 have been on goal for a .431 shots on goal percentage; its opponents own a .323 shots on goal percentage.

She Shoots, She Scores

     Courtney Dike quickly established herself as a prolific scorer at the collegiate level as a freshman in 2013, and she has continued that scoring production for the Cowgirls.

     The forward from Edmond, Okla., ranked second in the Big 12 in 2013 with 13 goals and 30 points and earned All-Big 12 Second Team and All-Newcomer Team honors. Her 13 goals tied for the fourth most in a single season in OSU history, three shy of Yolanda Odenyo's record 16, while her 30 points was the eighth highest single-season total all time.

     Dike recorded three two-goal performances — vs. Vanderbilt, Oklahoma and Missouri State — which marked the most multi-goal games by a Cowgirl since 2010, and of her 58 shots, 30 of those (52 percent) were on goal. She was named the Big 12 Offensive Player and Newcomer of the Week on two occasions in 2013.

     In 2014, Dike recorded three goals, two of them game winners, and three assists in 19 games. This season, she ranks in the top seven in the Big 12 in goals (5), assists (7) and points (17).

     Dike's 21 career goals is tied for 10th on OSU's all-time list, and she is just outside the career top 10 in assists (14) and points (56). 

Senior Scoring Sparks

     Two key members of OSU's offensive attack the last several years are back for their senior seasons in 2015. That duo of Allie Stephenson and Madison Mercado has combined for 35 goals and 26 assists in their careers.

     Stephenson has started 79 career games and has racked up 18 goals and 13 assists. As a junior, she led OSU's attack as she played a role in nine of the Cowgirls' 22 scores (41 percent). The midfielder recorded six goals — two via penalty kick — and three assists and ranked in the top 10 in the Big 12 in goals, points (15) and shots (60). She led the squad with 23 shots on goal.

     Mercado has notched 17 goals and 13 assists in her first three-plus seasons. She has recorded four or more scores every year, and she ranked second in the Big 12 with seven assists as a sophomore in 2013.    

The Going Gets Tough

     In 2014, OSU's schedule ranked as the second toughest in the NCAA, which helped the Cowgirls finish 34th in the RPI, and the Big 12 ranked as the second-highest RPI conference in the nation a year ago.

     Things won't be any easier in 2015 as OSU will face a dozen teams that made the NCAA Soccer Championship last season, including seven in non-conference play. Of the Cowgirls' 18 opponents, three are currently ranked in the national polls — West Virginia (2), Florida (6) and Texas Tech (18) — and OSU is 1-3-1 against ranked foes on the year.

New Faces

     Only five newcomers joined the OSU roster in 2015, but four of those have become immediate contributors. 

     Freshmen forwards Marlo Zoller and Haley Woodard have combined for seven goals and three assists, while JUCO transfer Christina Jean-Charles has started all 18 games and is second on the Cowgirls with four assists. Another freshman, Morgan McDougal, has seen action as a reserve in 13 matches.

Scoring & Sharing The Wealth

     Through 18 games this season, OSU has recorded 34 goals and 23 assists. In 21 games in 2014, the Cowgirls had 22 goals and 15 assists. 

     Fourteen different Cowgirls have collected goals in 2015, with six of those having three or more scores, and nine different OSU players have collected assists. 

     OSU has scored multiple goals in 10 matches this season, easily surpassing its total from 2014. A year ago, the Cowgirls did not score more than two goals in a game — they've done it four times this season.