Cowgirl Soccer Top 20 Moments, 1996-2014

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, who each have been with the program since its inception and served stints as head coaches to help build the program into a national power, collaborated on a list of the top 20 moments in Cowgirl soccer history. Today's moment marks the final in the series.

2011 NCAA Elite Eight game vs. Stanford

In a showdown of arguably the top two teams in NCAA soccer in 2011, OSU traveled to Stanford for an NCAA Women's Soccer Championship Elite Eight matchup at Laird Q. Cagan Stadium on Nov. 25.

Stanford and the Cowgirls had been ranked 1-2 in the national polls for the majority of the season; OSU entered the game with a 22-1-2 record while the Cardinal owned a 22-0-1 mark.

In front of a capacity crowd of 2,000, the home team controlled the action in the opening half, but OSU All-American goalie AD Franch kept Stanford off the scoreboard, making four of her six saves in the match prior to intermission.

The second half saw Stanford strike for the game's first goal in the 52^nd minute, and the Cardinal recorded a pair of clutch saves over the next several minutes to hold the lead.

But in the 69^th minute, OSU's Krista Lopez sent a pass to a streaking Sarah Brown, who blasted a left-footed shot top shelf from 25-yards out to net the equalizer. Brown's goal snapped a five-game shutout streak by Stanford and proved to be the only score the Cardinal allowed in six NCAA tourney games.

The score remained 1-1 at the end of regulation, but just 2:40 into the first overtime, Stanford recorded the golden goal to dash OSU's hopes of its first trip to the College Cup.

OSU finished the season with a 22-2-2 record, with the 22 wins marking the highest total in program history, while Stanford would go on to win the NCAA championship.

Colin Carmichael: "What you saw in that game, without being disrespectful to the other teams, was the two best teams in the country. I felt like we were the No. 1 and 2 teams all season long, and I think a lot of people agree with that. Playing Stanford at their place for us was unfortunate because we felt like that should be a semifinal or final matchup. But the way the seeding went it didn't work that way.

"We went out there and were very confident that we could win, but we knew the task. Their senior class had only tied there twice — they'd never been beaten on their home field. The first half, we hung on, and AD (Franch) made some big saves, but they were clearly the better team. In the second half, it evened out — our team realized they could play with them and created some chances. Brownie scored a great goal to tie it.

"The goal they got in overtime was very close to being offside, one of those split second calls that can go either way. Stanford was a phenomenal team, but I was really proud of our team. Disappointed we didn't advance but proud to be able to go into that environment and give as good as we got."

Oklahoma State University Athletics

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