Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowgirls Put Impressive Streak On Line
August 27, 2009 | Cowgirl Soccer
Aug. 27, 2009
#21 Oklahoma State (0-1-0)
vs. SMU (0-1-0)
Friday, Aug. 28 • 7 p.m.
Cowgirl Soccer Complex (1,450)
...
vs. Louisiana-Lafayette (0-1-1)
Sunday, Aug. 30 • 1 p.m.
Cowgirl Soccer Complex (1,450)
Oklahoma State
Oklahoma State returns to action with a pair of home games this weekend at the Cowgirl Soccer Complex, where the Cowgirls will take on SMU Friday at 7 p.m. and then face Louisiana-Lafayette at 1 p.m. on Sunday. OSU is coming off a 1-0 loss at 17th-ranked Colorado in its season opener.
OSU has not lost a home match against a non-conference opponent since Oct. 6, 2000, when Creighton defeated the Cowgirls, 1-0. Since that loss, OSU is 35-0-2 against non-Big 12 foes in Stillwater.
SMU
SMU dropped its season opener at Oral Roberts by a 1-0 score. OSU is 2-0-0 all time against the Mustangs, including a 3-0 triumph in Dallas to start the 2008 season.
Players To Watch: F Logan May, F Lauren Shepherd
Louisiana-Lafayette
Louisiana-Lafayette is coming off a 3-1 loss to Stephen F. Austin. The Ragin' Cajuns opened the season with a 1-1 tie vs. McNeese State. ULL plays at Tulsa Friday night before traveling to Stillwater. The Cowgirls are 3-0-0 all time against ULL, the last win coming during the 2005 season in Lafayette.
Players To Watch: MF Courtney Hofland, MF Chelsea Balestra
In The Polls
OSU is ranked No. 18 by TopDrawerSoccer.com, 21st in the NSCAA/adidas poll and 22nd by SoccerTimes.com. Neither SMU nor Louisiana-Lafayette is ranked.
On The Air & The Web
Both games this weekend will be carried live by Stillwater Radio with Bill Van Ness calling the action. Friday's game will air on KGFY 105.5 FM and Sunday's on KSPI 780 AM. Links to the radio broadcast, as well as GameTracker live stats, can also be accessed via the internet at the official OSU Athletics website: www.okstate.com. Those links can be found under the Schedule/Results link on the soccer home page.
A Championship Season
The 2008 season was one for the OSU soccer record books.
The Cowgirls 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.
OSU, which climbed to as high as No. 7 in the national polls in '08, ranked sixth nationally with an .870 winning percentage.
The Cowgirls placed three players on the All-Big 12 team -- first teamers Kasey Langdon and Yolanda Odenyo and second teamer Siera Strawser -- and Odenyo was named the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year.
Head coach Colin Carmichael was named the Big 12 Coach of the Year and also earned Central Region Coach of the Year honors.
Becoming A Trend
For the third-straight season, Oklahoma State is nationally ranked in the preseason polls, earning a spot as high as No. 11 in the NSCAA/adidas poll. That ranking marks their highest ever in the preseason polls.
Along with being nationally ranked, OSU was picked by the Big 12 Conference's head coaches to finish fourth in the league race.That could be a good omen as last season the Cowgirls were also picked fourth in the preseason poll and then went on to claim their first-ever regular season conference championship.
In 2007, the Cowgirls began and finished the season in the national rankings, the first time that has happened in OSU soccer history. The Cowgirls ended the season ranked as high as 17th.
The '07 season came on the heels of a 2006 campaign that saw OSU achieve its highest national ranking ever -- No. 7 -- and earn a spot in the final national polls for the first time in the program's history.
That's Offensive
OSU is coming off a season in which it shattered numerous school scoring records and established itself as one of the top scoring offenses in all of college soccer.
The Cowgirls netted a school-record 74 goals, a total that ranked third nationally, and no team was more prolific than OSU with its 3.22 goals per game.
OSU, which averaged just over 22 shots per game a year ago, recorded 15 more goals than the next highest Big 12 team in 2008.
Fifteen different Cowgirls scored goals in '08, and the good news for OSU fans is that 10 of those players return this season. Also on the roster are five players who recorded at least 10 points a year ago.
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.
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 the Cowgirls' 0.66 goals against average was also tops in the conference.
OSU recorded 10 shutouts on the 2007 season, 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).
Tough Tests
Nearly a third of OSU's games this season will be against opponents who were ranked in the national preseason polls.
Of the Cowgirls 19 regular season games in 2009, six are against ranked teams as OSU will battle Colorado, BYU, USC, Missouri, Texas A&M and Texas. Two of those -- Texas A&M and USC -- are ranked in the Top 10.
OSU faces three of its ranked foes in Stillwater and three on the road.
Three's Company
OSU had three players named to the 2009 preseason All-Big 12 Conference team, which was selected by the league's head coaches.
Seniors Kasey Langdon and Siera Strawser and sophomore Melinda Mercado were named to the 16-player team.
With three selections, OSU tied Missouri for the second-most preseason All-Big 12 players in the league. Texas A&M had four.
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 26 career goals and needs 10 to set OSU's all-time mark, which is held by Yolanda Odenyo and Jolene Schweitzer.
• Strawser should easily - and quickly - break the Cowgirl record for career shots. She is just seven shots shy of Odenyo's record of 221.
• With 14 career assists, Strawser needs just five more to move into the top five on OSU's all-time list.
• Kasey Langdon needs just three assists to move into second all time at OSU. Langdon has racked up 23 assists in her first three seasons in Stillwater.
• Langdon has 19 career goals, leaving her only five shy of moving into the top five on the Cowgirls' career list.
• Strawser and Langdon rank fifth and sixth on OSU's all-time scoring list with 66 and 61 points. Odenyo's 90 points top the list.
