Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowgirls Set For Fourth-Straight NCAA Appearance
November 11, 2009 | Cowgirl Soccer
Nov. 11, 2009
Oklahoma State (15-7-0)
at the NCAA Women's SOCCER Championship
Nov. 13 & 15 • Santa Clara, Calif.
Buck Shaw Stadium (6,800)
Oklahoma State
Oklahoma State earned an automatic bid to the 2009 NCAA Women's Soccer Championship by winning the Big 12 Soccer Championship last week in San Antonio. Coach Colin Carmichael's Cowgirls are 15-7-0 overall and enter the NCAA tourney on an eight-game winning streak. OSU will face Southern California in opening-round action Friday at 7:30 p.m. (CST) at Buck Shaw Field in Santa Clara, Calif. The Trojans defeated OSU by a 1-0 score earlier this season in Stillwater. Host Santa Clara will take on Michigan State in Friday's other opening-round match.
OSU, which has suffered six of its seven losses this season by one goal, has outscored its opponents 45-15 on the season, and 12 different players have collected goals. Annika Niemeier leads the scoring attack with 11 goals, while six different Cowgirls have recorded at least four goals. Freshman goalkeeper AD Franch leads the Big 12 with an OSU-record 10 shutouts. The Cowgirls also have a league-leading and school-record 13 shutouts in 2009.
Cowgirls At The NCAA Women's Soccer Championship
OSU is making its fourth consecutive NCAA Women's Soccer Championship appearance and the fifth in the program's 14-year history.
OSU has advanced to the second round of the NCAA Soccer Championship each of the last three seasons, and the Cowgirls are 3-2-2 all time in NCAA tourney play.
If the Cowgirls win their opening round game against USC, they would advance to play the Santa Clara-Michigan State winner on Sunday at 6 p.m. (CST).
On The Air & The Web
Fans wishing to follow OSU's matches at the NCAA Women's Soccer Championship can do so via Game Tracker live stats, which can be accessed via www.okstate.com by clicking on the Schedule/Results link. Stillwater Radio will also air Friday's match on KGFY 105.5 FM. Santa Clara will provide webcasts via its official athletics website, www.santaclarabroncos.com.
Another Championship Season
By capturing the Big 12 Soccer Championship title last week, Oklahoma State has won three conference championships in the last seven seasons -- two tournament (2003, '09) and one regular season (2008).
The Cowgirls were the fifth seed in last week's conference tourney and knocked off fourth-seeded Nebraska, top-seeded Missouri and second-seeded Texas A&M en route to the title. OSU lost to each of those teams during the regular season.
Five Cowgirls were named to the Big 12 Championship All-Tournament team - AD Franch, Melinda Mercado, Annika Niemeier, Siera Strawser and Kasey Langdon. Mercado was named the tourney's Defensive MVP.
The title secured OSU's fourth-straight bid to the NCAA Women's Soccer Championship, a NCAA berth which will mark the fifth in the program's 14-year history.
Last season, OSU set a school record with 18 wins, finishing 18-1-4, and won the first regular season Big 12 Conference championship in school history by finishing league play with a 7-1-2 mark.
The Defense Never Rests
One of the biggest reasons for OSU's increased success over the last several seasons are defenses that have been among the best in the Big 12 Conference.
The Cowgirls lead the Big 12 with 13 shutouts, which is also an OSU single-season school record. OSU has allowed only 15 goals and sports a 0.68 goals against average, both of which also lead the league.
In 2008, OSU allowed just 18 goals and recorded 10 shutouts. The Cowgirls ranked third in the Big 12 in goals allowed and goals against average (0.75).
The Cowgirls tied a school record with 12 shutouts in '06, and that total also tied OSU for the most blankings by a Big 12 team. Opponents attempted just 255 shots against the Cowgirls and only 16 of those found the back of the net. OSU ranked first in the league in goals allowed, and its 0.66 goals against average was also tops in the conference.
OSU recorded 10 shutouts in 2007, which once again tied for the most in the Big 12, and the Cowgirls ranked among the conference's best in goals allowed (20), goals-against average (0.84) and save percentage (82.1).
Terrific Trio
OSU's 2009 senior class -- Siera Strawser, Kasey Langdon and Bridget Miller -- has had quite a successful career during its time in Stillwater. On the current list of the winningest senior classes in Division I soccer, OSU's trio is 14th with a record of 64-17-10 (.758). Among Big 12 Conference teams, only Texas A&M's senior class has more wins over the last four seasons with 67.
Five Stars
OSU had five players earn 2009 All-Big 12 honors, including placing a league-high three players -- midfielder Annika Niemeier, defender Melinda Mercado and goalie AD Franch -- on the All-Big 12 First Team.
Forward Kasey Langdon earned second-team honors, the second time in her career she was an All-Big 12 selection.
Franch, along with freshman defender Carson Michalowski, was named to the Big 12 All-Newcomer Team.
Records Are Made To Be Broken
A pair of Cowgirls are climbing the OSU career charts and are on the verge of vaulting to the top of several of those lists.
• Siera Strawser has 32 career goals, three shy of OSU's all-time mark, which is held by Yolanda Odenyo and Jolene Schweitzer.
• Strawser is OSU's career leader in shots with 276.
• With 18 career assists, Strawser needs just two more to move into the top five on OSU's all-time list.
• Kasey Langdon is second on OSU's career assists list with 27.
• Langdon has 24 career goals, tying her for fifth the Cowgirls' career list.
• Strawser and Langdon rank fourth and fifth on OSU's all-time scoring list with 82 and 75 points.
1-2 Punch
Seniors Kasey Langdon and Siera Strawser give OSU one of the top scoring duos in the Big 12.
Last season, Langdon and Strawser combined for 24 goals and 21 assists, accounting for 34 percent of OSU's scoring. They have combined for 11 goals and eight assists this season.
Both players rank in the top five on OSU's career charts in goals, assists and points.
Importing Offense
Junior Annika Niemeier leads the Cowgirls with 11 goals, seven of those game winners. The German also leads the squad with 26 points and is tied for second with four assists.
With 20 career goals, Niemeier ranks eighth on OSU's all-time list, and she is tied for seventh with 14 career assists.
Niemeier led OSU with 11 points in league play as she recorded four goals and three assists against Big 12 Conference foes. Three of those goals were game winners.
During OSU's current eight-game winning streak, Niemeier has racked up seven goals and three assists.
Niemeier was named a 2009 All-Big 12 First Team midfielder.
Dominant Defender
Few freshmen step into a starring role early in their collegiate careers, but Melinda Mercado has done just that in her first two seasons as a Cowgirl.
A native of Sapulpa, Okla., "Minnie" started every game at defender for the OSU in 2008 and was a key part of a defense that recorded 10 shutouts and allowed just 18 goals.
Mercado's stellar play did not go unnoticed as she earned third-team Freshman All-America honors from Soccer Buzz and a spot on the Big 12 All-Newcomer team.
Following the season, Mercado joined the OSU basketball team and appeared in 29 games on the hardwood for the Cowgirls. She does not have plans of continuing her basketball career this season, however.
Mercado's spring was also highlighted by her participation in the U.S. Soccer Under-20 Women's National Team Domestic Training Camp in April.
There has been no sophomore slump for Mercado this season as she has anchored an OSU defense that has recorded a school-record 13 shutouts. She was named All-Big 12 First Team and was the Defensive MVP at the Big 12 Soccer Championship.
More On AD
Freshman goalkeeper AD Franch is having a record-setting rookie season in goal for the Cowgirls.
A native of Salina, Kan., Franch already owns several OSU records and is on the verge of adding to that list. Among them:
• Franch owns the OSU record for most shutouts in a season with 10.
• Franch's current goals against average of 0.63 would stand as the best ever in a season at OSU. Stigler's 0.71 mark in 2006 currently tops the list.
• With 10 shutouts, Franch already ranks fourth on OSU's career shutouts list. Stigler owns the all-time mark with 21.
• Franch has recorded 51 saves, which ranks seventh on OSU's career list.
• OSU's previous record for shutouts by a freshman was two by Bettina Grossman in 2005. The school record for goals against average by a freshman is 1.37, set by Breanna Truelove in 2004.
