Oklahoma State University Athletics
Cowgirl Soccer Releases 2015 Schedule
March 25, 2015 | Cowgirl Soccer
STILLWATER, Okla. -- A dozen games against teams that qualified for the NCAA Women's Soccer Championship a year ago highlight Oklahoma State's 2015 soccer schedule, which was released today by Cowgirl head coach Colin Carmichael.
OSU is coming off a 2014 season that saw the Cowgirls finish 10-10-1 overall and in second place in the Big 12 Conference standings. Carmichael's squad will return nine players who started at least 13 games a year ago on a team that lost in the opening round of the NCAA Women's Soccer Championship.
Following a preseason exhibition match on Aug. 14, OSU will open the regular season against Milwaukee on Aug. 21 with the first of four-straight home games. The Cowgirls' next three contests are all against teams that were in the NCAA Tournament last year -- Mercer, Oklahoma and Georgia.
OSU's tough stretch continues the next three weekends as the Cowgirls will be on the road at Florida, UCF, Washington State and Gonzaga before returning home to face Arizona State.
Of the Cowgirls' 11 non-conference matches in 2015, seven of those are against NCAA tourney teams from last season.
"We're excited about it -- those are the kinds of games you want to play when you're at a high-level program," Carmichael said. "The good news is we open up at home, with our exhibition and four games in a row, and we always play better at home and that probably goes for any team. But that stretch will dictate how we are heading into conference play -- if we come through that with enough wins, we'll be in good shape with the RPI. And we'll also be in good shape leading into conference because those games get you ready for the conference weekends."
"Scheduling has changed -- historically we tried to play a couple of tough non-conference games and then rack up some wins and now we try to play some tougher competition. Part of that was the changeover in the Big 12 Conference -- when a lot of teams left we weren't sure exactly how strong the league would be. But clearly, as we showed last year, it's gotten very strong.
"This schedule is similar to last year in that we're playing so many good teams, top RPI teams. The bad news is you might have a few more losses than you want, but the good news is if you get enough wins, your RPI is very strong and you have a good chance to get into the NCAA Tournament."
OSU will open conference play on the road at Baylor on Sept. 25 and will also travel to TCU, Iowa State and Oklahoma in Big 12 play. The Cowgirls' league home opener is Oct. 2 against Texas Tech, and they also host Texas, West Virginia and Kansas.
Postseason play will begin Nov. 4 at the Big 12 Soccer Championship in Kansas City, Mo., with the NCAA Women's Soccer Championship opening play on Nov. 13.
