Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowgirls Look To Remain Perfect
August 31, 2011 | Cowgirl Soccer
Aug. 31, 2011
#5 Oklahoma State (5-0-0)
at Creighton (2-0-0)
Friday, Sept. 2 • 7 p.m.
Morrison Stadium (6,000)
...
vs. Arkansas-Little Rock (2-2-0)
Sunday, Sept. 4 • 1 p.m.
Cowgirl Soccer Complex (1,450)
Oklahoma State
OSU puts its perfect 5-0-0 record and No. 5 national ranking on the line this weekend with a pair of matches. On Friday, the Cowgirls face fellow-unbeaten Creighton in Omaha, Neb. before returning home to the Cowgirl Soccer Complex for a Sunday showdown against Arkansas-Little Rock. OSU is the Big 12 Conference's only unbeaten and untied team, and the Cowgirls have outscored their opponents by an 11-1 margin.
In 2011, the Cowgirls return 10 of their 11 starters from last season, and six All-Big 12 Conference performers are back on the pitch. All-Americans Melinda Mercado and AD Franch anchor one of the nation's top defenses, while the Cowgirls also return five of their top six goal scorers from a year ago, led by seniors Krista Lopez and Kyndall Treadwell.
The 2011 Cowgirls return a strong nucleus of proven veterans. OSU has won three-straight Big 12 championships, and every returning player on the roster has been a part of an NCAA Women's Soccer Championship team as head coach Colin Carmichael's squad has made five consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances. The senior class is seven players strong, and that group has combined for over 50 victories and won nearly 80 percent of its matches.
OSU entered 2011 as the team to beat in the Big 12 as the Cowgirls were the coaches' preseason pick to finish atop the league standings and placed four players on the preseason all-conference team.
The Opponents
An NCAA Tournament team a year ago, Creighton is 2-0-0 on the season. OSU has lost both of its previous matches to the Blue Jays, falling in 2000 at home and 2001 in Omaha.
UALR entered the week with a 2-2-0 mark. The Cowgirls have won each of their four meetings against the Trojans, the last of those coming in 2003 in Little Rock.
On The Air & The Web
Fans wishing to follow this weekend's matches can do so in a variety of ways. Live stats for both matches can be accessed at www.okstate.com, while on Sunday, a live webcast with audio is available at okstate.com (a fee is involved with this feature). Sunday's match will also be carried live by Stillwater Radio on KSPI 780 AM.
Trendy
OSU has earned a berth in the NCAA Women's Soccer Championship in each of the last five years and has made six tourney appearances in the program's 15-year history.
The Cowgirls have advanced to at least the second round of the tourney each of the last five years, including a march to the Elite Eight in 2010, and are 6-3-4 all time in NCAA play.
Three-Peat -- Why Not Four?!
OSU has won three consecutive Big 12 Conference championships and has captured four conference titles in the last eight seasons -- three tournament (2003, '09, '10) and one regular season (2008).
And for the first-time ever, the Cowgirls are the preseason favorites to repeat as champs as the league coaches picked them to win the title. OSU received six of nine first-place votes.
High Five
OSU ended the 2010 season ranked No. 5 in the final NSCAA poll, marking their highest-ever national ranking.
The Cowgirls have matched that No. 5 ranking in 2011 as they currently hold that spot in the NSCAA poll. OSU is also ranked 6th by Soccer America, 7th by SoccerTimes.com, and 15th by TopDrawerSoccer.com.
Home Sweet Home
OSU is 4-0-0 in 2011 at the Cowgirl Soccer Complex. The Cowgirls sport a 34-3-0 record on their home field since 2008.
Seniors Rule
OSU's 2011 senior class (Brown, DeLozier, Dougherty, Lopez, Mercado, Niemeier and Treadwell) is tied for the sixth-winningest senior class in the nation. Over the last three-plus years, the Cowgirls own a 58-12-8 (.795) record. The 58 wins are the most among Big 12 schools during that span.
Hermann Watch
For the fifth-straight year, OSU placed a player on the Missouri Athletic Club's Hermann Trophy Watch List as senior defender Melinda Mercado and junior goalie AD Franch both made the 42-player list.
The Hermann Trophy is considered the highest individual honor in collegiate soccer.
Four Stars
OSU had four players named to the 2011 Preseason All-Big 12 Team -- forwards Krista Lopez and Kyndall Treadwell, defender Melinda Mercado and goalie AD Franch. Each of those players earned All-Big 12 First Team honors in 2010.
Shutouts and Scores
OSU has established itself as one of the top defensive programs in the country. The Cowgirls have led the Big 12 in shutouts in four of the last five seasons (2006, 2007, 2009, 2010), and they recorded 56 shutouts in 119 games during that span -- not to mention their four in five games this season.
The Cowgirls don't just thrive on defense. They've also led the Big 12 in goals scored in two of the last three seasons (74 in '08 and 52 in '10).
Making History
OSU is coming off a 2010 season that saw it embark on a magical postseason run as the Cowgirls captured their second-straight Big 12 Soccer Championship title before their deepest-ever NCAA tourney run, during which they advanced to the Elite Eight. OSU finished the season with a 20-4-2 record, which included an 8-2-0 mark and second-place finish in the always tough Big 12 Conference.
Century Mark
Head coach Colin Carmichael is just one win shy of 100 for his career. In his seventh year at the helm, Carmichael sports a career mark of 99-27-17.
Karen Hancock, now a Cowgirl assistant, served as OSU's first-ever head coach and was 110-89-19 in 11 seasons.
It's Academic
OSU's success on the pitch has carried over to the classroom. OSU had a program-record 13 players named to the 2010 Academic All-Big 12 First Team, and the Cowgirls also earned the NSCAA Team Academic Award for the ninth-straight year.
Krista Lopez was named an Academic All-American by ESPN The Magazine and the NSCAA in 2010, and the Cowgirl forward is one of 30 candidates for the prestigious 2011 Lowe's Senior CLASS Award.
Balanced Attack
The Cowgirls have recorded 11 goals by nine different players in their first five games of 2011, and five different players have notched assists.
New Faces
Seven true freshmen have seen action for the Cowgirls in 2011, and the group has combined for three goals, two shutouts and an assist.
It's Early But...
After the first few weeks of the 2011 season, OSU is the lone unbeaten and untied team in the Big 12. The Cowgirls lead the league in shots (110), corner kicks (48) and shutouts (4) and are second in goals (11), goals allowed (1), goals against average (0.20) and saves (17).
Individually, Taylor Mathews ranks in the top five in the league in shots, points, goals and assists, while AD Franch is tied for the top spot with a 0.00 goals against average and a 1.000 save percentage and is second with two shutouts (tied with teammate Rosa Medina).
Four Score
Seniors Annika Niemeier, Krista Lopez and Kyndall Treadwell, along with junior Megan Marchesano, have combined for 70 goals and 45 assists during their careers.
Both Niemeier and Lopez rank among the top 10 on OSU's career goals list, while Niemeier and Treadwell are in the top 10 in career assists.
Broken Record
Junior goalkeeper AD Franch set OSU's career shutouts record against Oklahoma, notching her 22nd shutout in just her 51st career game. Erin Stigler, whose record Franch broke, had 21 shutouts in 64 games from 2005-08.
Franch led the Big 12 in shutouts in each of her first two collegiate seasons, setting an OSU record with 11 as a freshman and then recording nine a year ago.
