Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowgirl Soccer Headed To Utah
September 02, 2009 | Cowgirl Soccer
Sept. 2, 2009
#20 Oklahoma State (2-1-0)
at Utah State (3-0-0)
Friday, Sept. 4 • 5 p.m.
Bell Soccer Field (500)
...
at #22 BYU (2-0-1)
Monday, Sept. 7 • 1 p.m.
South Field (3,200)
Oklahoma State
Oklahoma State travels to Utah this week where the Cowgirls will take on Utah State Friday at 5 p.m. (CST) in Logan before a Monday showdown in Provo against No. 22 BYU at 1 p.m. (CST). OSU is coming off two wins at home in which the Cowgirls outscored SMU and Louisiana-Lafayette by a combined 11-0 margin.
The matchups this week against Utah State and BYU will be the first ever for OSU soccer against those schools.
Utah State
Utah State is off to its best start in school history with a 3-0-0 mark. The Aggies have wins over Northern Arizona, Texas Tech and Stephen F. Austin.
Players To Watch: F Lauren Hansen, F Shantel Flanary
BYU
The Cougars are 2-0-1 and coming off shutout wins over No. 20 UConn and No. 9 West Virginia at the Penn State Invitational. BYU was 8-0 and allowed just one goal on its home field last season. The Cougars take on William & Mary Friday.
Players To Watch: D Andrea Willis, F Lauren Anderson
In The Polls
OSU is ranked No. 15 by TopDrawerSoccer.com and 20th in both the NSCAA/adidas and SoccerTimes.com polls.
BYU's highest ranking is 22nd by SoccerTimes.com. The Cougars are ranked 25th by Soccer America and are receiving votes in the NSCAA/adidas poll. Utah State is unranked.
On The Air & The Web
Fans can follow both of the matches in Utah via live stats on GameTracker, which can be accessed at the official OSU Athletics website -- www.okstate.com. Links can be found under the Schedule/Results link on the soccer home page.
Monday's BYU contest will air live on BYU-TV, which is available on Dish Network (Ch. 9403), DirecTV (Ch. 374) and numerous other cable providers. Fans can also watch the match free online at www.byu.tv.
A Championship Season
The 2008 season was one for the OSU soccer record books.
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 Cowgirls climbed to as high as No. 7 in the national polls in '08 and ranked sixth nationally with an .870 winning percentage.
OSU 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 was nationally ranked in the preseason polls, earning a spot as high as No. 11 in the NSCAA/adidas poll. That ranking marked 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 -- were 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 28 career goals and needs seven to reach OSU's all-time mark, which is held by Yolanda Odenyo and Jolene Schweitzer.
• Strawser is tied with Odenyo for OSU's career shots lead with 221.
• With 15 career assists, Strawser needs just four 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 21 career goals, leaving her only three 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 71 and 65 points. Odenyo's 90 points top the list.
1-2 Punch
Seniors Kasey Langdon and Siera Strawser give OSU arguably the top scoring duo 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 four goals and an assist through three games this season.
Both players rank among the top six on OSU's career charts in goals, assists and points.
