Oklahoma State University Athletics
Oklahoma State University
Oklahoma
Late Goal Lifts Cowgirls
November 02, 2011 | Cowgirl Soccer
Nov. 2, 2011
Box Score
SAN ANTONIO, Texas - Taylor Mathews' goal in the 88th minute lifted No. 2 Oklahoma State to a 1-0 win over Bedlam-rival Oklahoma Wednesday night in the opening round of the Big 12 Soccer Championship at Blossom Soccer Stadium.
With the win, the Cowgirls remained unbeaten, improving to 18-0-2 on the season, and also continued their dominance over the Sooners. OSU is unbeaten in its last 11 matches (10-0-1) against its in-state rival, and the Cowgirls improved to 17-2-2 all time against Oklahoma.
And in what has been a record-setting season for OSU, the Cowgirls collected another as they notched their 15th shutout of the year, besting the old mark of 14 set in 2009. It was the ninth shutout of the year for junior goalie AD Franch, two shy of her school record, and was the 29th of her career.
"It's always close - there's never an easy game with your rivals," said OSU head coach Colin Carmichael, whose Cowgirls are the tourney's top-seeded team after winning the Big 12's regular season championship and with the win advanced to Friday's semifinals to face fifth-seeded Texas at 5:30 p.m. "We've been in a lot of close games, had a lot of tight games all season long, and the one thing you can say about our team is they know how to win. That's something you can't really coach, they just know how to get it done.
"If it's late and the game is close, we don't panic, we don't get all flustered, we just keep playing. And Taylor stepped up with a great goal."
That decisive goal was set up by a pair of outstanding passes. Krista Lopez sent a long pass forward to a streaking Megan Marchesano, who delivered a perfect cross into the center of the box to Mathews. From there, the Cowgirl sophomore notched her seventh goal of the season, drilling her shot past OU goalie Kelsey Devonshire.
"If I hadn't scored, that would have been a horrible thing for Megan (Marchesano) because she worked so hard to get that ball and played a perfect ball," Mathews said. "It would have been hard for me to miss that."
It was a night of near misses for both squads. OSU owned a 16-12 advantage in shots on the night with both goalies recording five saves.
Marchesano had two prime scoring opportunities early for OSU. At the 5:54 mark, she blasted a shot that was saved by a diving Devonshire and just seconds later, after the Cowgirls secured the rebound, she had a shot blocked by an OU defender.
In the 21st minute, the Cowgirls nearly recorded their first score, but a 20-yard shot by Lopez sailed just wide.
OU wasn't without chances in the opening half, but Franch recorded three saves. One of the Sooners' best attempts came on a shot by Dria Hampton in the 32nd minute, but a diving stop by Franch kept them off the scoreboard.
The Sooners also had a goal wiped out with just under 10 minutes remaining in the half when Hampton was whistled for offsides.
OSU's string of near misses continued late in the first half when, during a 12-second span, the Cowgirls recorded three solid shots. The first was the Cowgirls' best attempt as Lopez delivered a blast that glanced off the crossbar. Abbey Akin followed with a shot that was blocked before Annika Niemeier sent one wide of the goal.
The first half ended scoreless for both teams with OSU holding a 10-4 advantage in shots.
It would be much of the same for the majority of the final half with near misses and clutch defensive plays ruling play. OSU nearly got its first goal midway through the half on a header by Elizabeth DeLozier, but OU's Katharine Nutman saved the ball off the line to keep the match scoreless.
That was until the Cowgirl trio connected on the clutch goal.
"In the first half, OU played really well, and I don't think we played well at all. We addressed a few things at halftime and let them know that our performance wasn't acceptable," Carmichael said. "In the second half, we brought a lot more energy and really put them under some pressure. At the end, based on the second half performance, I thought we probably deserved to win the game."
