Cowgirls Head To KC In Search Of Title

Wednesday, November 4

Kansas City, Mo.

11:30 a.m.

Oklahoma State University

West Virginia

November 02, 2015 | Cowgirl Soccer

OSU Game Notes

#8-seed Oklahoma State (9-8-2)

at the

Big 12 Conference Soccer Championship

Nov. 4, 6, 8 • Kansas City, Mo.

Swope Soccer Village

Oklahoma State

Oklahoma State returns to the Big 12 Conference Soccer Championship as the tourney's No. 8 seed and will open play against league champion and second-ranked West Virginia Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. in Kansas City. The Cowgirls are 9-8-2 overall and finished Big 12 play at 2-4-2, which included a 2-1 overtime loss to WVU on Oct. 23 in Stillwater.

OSU is coming off a 2014 season in which it earned a spot in the NCAA Women's Soccer Championship for the second-straight season. The Cowgirls compiled a 10-10-1 overall record, which included a 5-2-1 mark and second-place finish in the Big 12 standings.

The Cowgirls return 10 starters and 17 letterwinners from 2014, including four All-Big 12 performers in forwards Courtney Dike and Madison Mercado, midfielder Allie Stephenson and defender Natalie Calhoun.

The 2015 season marks the 20th in the history of the OSU women's soccer program. Over their first 19 seasons, the Cowgirls compiled a 229-132-42 (.620) record, and head coach Colin Carmichael entered his 11th season at the helm with a 146-52-29 mark. 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 seven seasons.

Cowgirls At The Big 12 Soccer Championship

OSU is 15-7-3 all time at the Big 12 Soccer Championship and will be in search of the program's fourth conference tournament title this week. The Cowgirls won the tourney in 2003 (3-2 double overtime triumph vs. Missouri), 2009 (1-0 over Texas A&M) and 2010 (won PK shootout vs. Oklahoma after 1-1 tie). Last season, OSU was the tourney's No. 2 seed but lost in the opening round to seventh-seeded Baylor, 1-0.

OSU's all-time records against the teams in Kansas City are: West Virginia (0-5-0), Kansas (10-9-3), Texas Tech (13-6-4), Oklahoma (20-6-3), Texas (9-10-6), TCU (4-2-2) and Baylor (10-8-3).

If OSU wins its opening-round match against West Virginia Wednesday, the Cowgirls will advance to Friday's semifinals to face the winner of No. 4-seed Oklahoma and No. 5-seed Texas Tech at 5:30 p.m. The title match is Sunday at 3 p.m.

On The Air & The Web

Fans wishing to follow the Big 12 Soccer Championship can do so in a variety of ways. The Big 12 Digital Network will webcast all non-championship game matches on www.Big12Sports.com and live stats will also be available via that website. Sunday's championship match will be broadcast live on FOX Sports 1.

OSU's matches will also air on Stillwater Radio with Bill Van Ness calling the action. The Cowgirls' opening round game is on KGFY 105.5 FM, as is Friday's semifinal should they advance. If OSU reaches Sunday's final, the match will be broadcast on KSPI 93.7 FM.

Winning Is A Habit

The 2015 season marks the 20th in the OSU program's history. During the second decade, the Cowgirls have reached unprecedented heights.

• OSU has earned a berth in the NCAA Women's Soccer Championship eight of the last nine years (beginning in 2006).

• 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 — two regular season (2008, '11) and two tournament ('09, '10).

• 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.

Shining Stars — AGAIN

Only seven OSU players have earned All-Big 12 accolades at least three times in their careers — and three of those Cowgirls are on the current team as Allie Stephenson, Courtney Dike and Natalie Calhoun each picked up All-Big 12 honors in 2015.

Stephenson was named to the All-Big 12 First Team at midfielder for the second consecutive season, becoming only the fifth Cowgirl to earn multiple first-team accolades in a career (along with AD Franch, Melinda Mercado, Yolanda Odenyo, and Krista Lopez).

Calhoun and Dike, both juniors, have each earned All-Big 12 Second Team honors in their first three collegiate season, Calhoun as a defender and Dike at forward.

Milestone For Carmichael

OSU head coach Colin Carmichael recorded career win No. 150 on Sept. 18 against Arizona State. Now in his 11th season as head coach, Carmichael has been on the Cowgirls' coaching staff since the program's inception in 1996.

Stat Speak

OSU leads the Big 12 with 116 corner kicks and ranks second in goals (35) and shots (316). Of OSU's 316 shots this season, 138 have been on goal for a .437 shots on goal percentage; its opponents own a .332 shots on goal percentage.

She Shoots, She Scores

Courtney Dike quickly established herself as a prolific scorer at the collegiate level as a freshman in 2013, and she has continued that scoring production for the Cowgirls.

The forward from Edmond, Okla., ranked second in the Big 12 in 2013 with 13 goals and 30 points and earned All-Big 12 Second Team and All-Newcomer Team honors. Her 13 goals tied for the fourth most in a single season in OSU history, three shy of Yolanda Odenyo's record 16, while her 30 points was the eighth highest single-season total all time.

Dike recorded three two-goal performances, which marked the most multi-goal games by a Cowgirl since 2010, and she was named the Big 12 Offensive Player and Newcomer of the Week on two occasions in 2013.

In 2014, Dike recorded three goals, two of them game winners, and three assists in 19 games. This season, she ranks in the top 10 in the Big 12 in goals (tied for 8th with 5), assists (tied for 2nd with 7) and points (tied for 5th with 17).

Dike's 21 career goals is tied for 10th on OSU's all-time list, and she is just outside the career top 10 in assists (14) and points (56).

Senior Scoring Sparks

Two key members of OSU's offensive attack the last several years are back for their senior seasons in 2015. That duo of Allie Stephenson and Madison Mercado has combined for 36 goals and 26 assists in their careers.

Stephenson has started 80 career games and has racked up 19 goals and 13 assists, both of which are two shy of cracking the top 10 on OSU's all-time list. As a junior, she led OSU's attack as she played a role in nine of the Cowgirls' 22 scores (41 percent). The midfielder recorded six goals — two via penalty kick — and three assists and ranked in the top 10 in the Big 12 in goals, points (15) and shots (60). She led the squad with 23 shots on goal.

Mercado has notched 17 goals and 13 assists in her first three-plus seasons. She has recorded four or more scores every year, and she ranked second in the Big 12 with seven assists as a sophomore in 2013.

New Faces

Only five newcomers joined the OSU roster in 2015, but four of those have become immediate contributors.

Freshmen forwards Marlo Zoller and Haley Woodard have combined for seven goals and three assists, and Zoller was named to the Big 12 All-Freshman Team. JUCO transfer Christina Jean-Charles has started all 19 games and is second on the Cowgirls with four assists, while another freshman, Morgan McDougal, has seen action as a reserve in 13 matches.

Scoring & Sharing The Wealth

Through 19 games this season, OSU has recorded 35 goals and 23 assists. In 21 games in 2014, the Cowgirls had 22 goals and 15 assists.

Fourteen different Cowgirls have collected goals in 2015, with six of those having three or more scores, and nine different OSU players have collected assists.

OSU has scored multiple goals in 10 matches this season, easily surpassing its total from 2014. A year ago, the Cowgirls did not score more than two goals in a game — they've done it four times this season.