Cowgirl Soccer All-Time Team: Defender

The Oklahoma State Cowgirl soccer program will mark its 20^th season in 2015. As we celebrate two decades of milestones, OSU head coach Colin Carmichael and assistant coach Karen Hancock, both of whom have been with the program since its inception and built it into a national power, collaborated on a list of the top players in Cowgirl soccer history. We'll reveal the top 11 daily on www.okstate.com over the next two weeks, and today we highlight the third of four Cowgirl defenders.

Carson Michalowski – Plano, Texas (2009-12)
Michalowski helped anchor some of the top defenses in Cowgirl history during her four seasons in Stillwater. She was a three-time All-Big 12 Conference performer, including earning first-team honors as a junior in 2011, and was also named All-Central Region twice.

Michalowski starred on three NCAA Tournament teams at OSU, including back-to-back Elite Eight teams in 2010 and 2011, and she was a part of three Big 12 Conference championship squads. In 2011, she helped lead the Cowgirls to the best season in school history as they went 22-2-2 and were ranked as high as No. 2 nationally. That '11 squad led the NCAA in shutouts (18) and goals against average (0.337).

A native Texan, Michalowski played in 93 career games, starting all but one of those. She finished her career with nine goals, five of those game winners, and an assist. One of her most memorable scores came on a header in the 2009 Big 12 Championship final that gave OSU a 1-0 win over Texas A&M. She also had the game winner in the 82^nd minute in a 2010 NCAA Tournament game that propelled OSU to its first-ever NCAA Sweet 16 appearance.

Colin Carmichael on Carson Michalowski: "Carson was one of the hardest, toughest defenders I've ever seen. She had a knack for blocking shots — she was brave and terrific at putting her body on the line to deny goals. She also stepped up and scored a couple of big goals for us in her career. She was just a physically dominant defender."

Here's video of Michalowski's memorable header to win the 2009 Big 12 Championship final, giving OSU its only victory over Texas A&M in program history and securing the title trophy for the Cowgirls.

All-Time Cowgirl Soccer Team
GK – AD Franch
D – Lauren Colwell
D – Melinda Mercado
D – Carson Michalowski

Oklahoma State University Athletics

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