Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowgirls Host Arkansas In NCAA Soccer Championship
November 13, 2013 | Cowgirl Soccer
Nov. 13, 2013
OSU Game Notes - NCAA 1st Round
Oklahoma State (9-6-6)
vs. Arkansas (13-8-0)
NCAA Women's Soccer Championship
Nov. 15 • 7 p.m. • Stillwater, Okla.
Cowgirl Soccer Complex, (1,450)
Oklahoma State
After a run to the Big 12 Conference Soccer Championship finals, where it lost to top-seeded West Virginia in the title tilt, Oklahoma State earned a berth in the field of 64 of the 2013 NCAA Women's Soccer Championship. The Cowgirls are 9-6-6 and host Arkansas (13-8-0) in a first-round game at the Cowgirl Soccer Complex Friday at 7 p.m.
OSU is in the 18th season of its program's history, with head coach Colin Carmichael in his ninth season at the helm. The Cowgirls have earned a berth in the NCAA Women's Soccer Championship in seven of the last eight years and have claimed Big 12 titles in four of the last six seasons.
Cowgirls At The NCAA Championship
OSU is making the eighth NCAA Soccer Championship appearance in program history. The first berth came in 2003, and the Cowgirls made six-straight trips from 2006-11. OSU is 9-4-4 all time in the NCAA tourney, and the Cowgirls have advanced to at least the second round in six of their seven NCAA trips, including back-to-back appearances in the Elite Eight in 2010 and 2011.
Friday's match will mark the eighth NCAA Soccer Championship contest OSU has played at the Cowgirl Soccer Complex. OSU previously hosted NCAA action in 2010 and 2011 and was 6-1-0 in those games.
OSU is 4-0-0 all time against Arkansas. The last meeting came in 2011 in Fayetteville, Ark., with the Cowgirls claiming a 4-0 victory.
On The Air & The Web
Fans wishing to follow Friday's NCAA Soccer Championship match can do so in a variety of ways. Live stats and a free webcast with audio will be available at www.okstate.com (links available under Schedule tab). The game will also air tape-delayed on Stillwater Radio KGFY 105.5 FM.
Winning Is A Habit
The OSU program has reached unprecedented heights over the last decade.
• In 2003, OSU won its first Big 12 championship and advanced to the NCAA Soccer Championship for the first time.
• From 2006-11, the Cowgirls earned six-straight NCAA tourney bids and advanced to at least the second round each time, including back-to-back Elite Eight appearances in 2010 and 2011.
• From 2008-11, OSU celebrated four consecutive Big 12 championships. The Cowgirls have totaled five league titles in the last 11 seasons -- three tournament (2003, '09, '10) and two regular season (2008, '11).
• In 2011, OSU set a school record with 22 wins. The Cowgirls finished the '11 regular season 17-0-2, joining the 1996 Nebraska team as the only Big 12 Conference teams in history to go unbeaten during the regular season. OSU was 6-0-2 in conference play to claim its second regular-season Big 12 title and in doing so became the first Big 12 team since Texas A&M in 2002 to complete the league schedule without a loss.
Clutch When It Counts
OSU is making its eighth appearance in the NCAA Women's Soccer Championship and ranks ninth all-time in tourney winning percentage among teams that have played at least 15 games. The Cowgirls are 9-4-4 in the NCAA Tournament, which translates to a .647 winning percentage.
Century Mark
With the win over Creighton in 2011, OSU head coach Colin Carmichael notched his 100th career victory. In his ninth season at the helm, Carmichael sports a career mark of 136-41-28 (.732).
Karen Hancock, now a Cowgirl assistant, served as OSU's first-ever head coach and was 110-89-19 in 11 seasons.
Home Sweet Home
The Cowgirls are 4-2-3 on their home field this season. OSU is 37-3-7 (.862) at the Cowgirl Soccer Complex since 2010, and the Cowgirls sport a 55-5-7 record (.873) on their home field since 2008. They are 113-29-14 (.769) all time on their current home turf.
Young Guns
OSU's 24-player roster includes just six upperclassmen, only two of them seniors (Kristen Kelley and Bethany Fields), while 18 players are either freshmen (10), redshirt freshmen (2) or sophomores (6). Of OSU's regular starting 11, nine are either freshmen or sophomores.
Only four Cowgirls -- Kelley and juniors Miriam Rhinehart, George Christie and Rosa Medina -- have played in an NCAA Tournament game.
Last season, OSU's regular starting lineup consisted of five freshmen and two sophomores, and while the team is a bit more experienced in 2013, several newcomers are already making significant impacts, with freshmen Krissi Killion, Courtney Dike, Natalie Calhoun, Joanna Robertson and Michela Ongaro having cracked the starting lineup.
Freshmen have accounted for 18 of OSU's 28 goals and nine of its 21 assists in 2013.
Star Watch
Five Cowgirls earned all-conference honors from the Big 12 in 2013. Sophomore Allie Stephenson and freshmen Courtney Dike and Natalie Calhoun were named to the All-Big 12 Second Team, while Dike and fellow frosh Krissi Killion and Michela Ongaro were on the Big 12 All-Newcomer Team.
The Cowgirls' run to the Big 12 Championship finals yielded four selections to the all-tournament team as Dike, Stephenson, Calhoun and Madison Mercado each garnered that honor.
Like Kissing Your Sister
OSU's six ties this season is the most in program history, two more than the 2008 Cowgirl squad. The NCAA record is nine, set by William & Mary in 2005.
Free Soccer
OSU has played eight overtime games this season and is 2-0-6 in those games. The Cowgirls have played 142:15 of extra time this season.
Freshman Phenom
Cowgirl freshman Courtney Dike has quickly established herself as a prolific scorer at the collegiate level. Named an All-Big 12 Second Team performer, the forward from Edmond, Okla., has recorded three two-goal performances -- vs. Vanderbilt, Oklahoma and Missouri State -- and is second in the Big 12 with 13 goals and 30 points. Her 13 goals are tied for the fourth most in a single season in OSU history, three shy of Yolanda Odenyo's record 16. Of her 56 shots, 29 of those (52 percent) have been on goal. She has been named the Big 12 Offensive Player and Newcomer of the Week and the College Sports Madness Big 12 Player of the Week on two occasions this season -- Sept. 3 after recording three goals and an assist in wins against OU and Gonzaga and on Oct. 22 after matching those same stats in games against Texas and Missouri State.
Scoring is nothing new for Dike, who netted 94 goals and 32 assists during her career at Edmond North High School.
Sophomore Surges
As a freshman last season, Madison Mercado earned All-Big 12 Second Team honors and finished second on OSU with four goals. In 2013, the midfielder has four goals and is tied for second in the Big 12 with seven assists. Of her four goals, two have been game winners (vs. UT Martin and Gonzaga).
Fellow sophomore midfielder Allie Stephenson has also stepped up her production this season and was rewarded by earning All-Big 12 Second Team honors. Her six goals are triple her total of a year ago (2), and three of her goals have been game winners, which ranks fourth in the Big 12. She has added three assists after leading OSU with five in 2012.
Shutouts and Scores
OSU has established itself as one of the top defensive programs in the country. From 2006-11, the Cowgirls led the Big 12 in shutouts five times (2006, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011) and recorded 74 shutouts in 146 games during that span. The Cowgirls have five shutouts this season.
In 2011, OSU led the NCAA with 18 shutouts and a 0.337 goals against average, and the Cowgirls' .922 save percentage ranked as the fourth-best in a single season in NCAA history.
The Cowgirls don't just thrive on defense. They also led the Big 12 in goals scored in 2008 (74) and 2010 (52) and were second in the league with 56 goals in 2011.
Big Shoes To Fill
OSU lost six players off last season's squad and among them were some of the best Cowgirls to ever wear the orange and black. The group of Kassie Embrey, AD Franch, Alicia Gray, Keely Kippenberger, Megan Marchesano, Carson Michalowski and Casey Smith finished the season as the sixth-winningest senior class in the NCAA in 2012. The Cowgirls were 68-19-9 (.755) over their four seasons, and no other Big 12 team won more games during that span.
A three-time All-American goalie, Franch was one of only seven players in Big 12 history to earn first-team all-conference honors four times. She finished her career with a school-record 38 shutouts.
Marchesano finished her career ranked in the top 10 on OSU's all-time list in goals, assists, points and shots, while Michalowski was a three-time All-Big 12 defender who helped the Cowgirls notch 48 shutouts in the 93 games she played.
