Oklahoma State University Athletics
Oklahoma State University
Memphis
Cowgirls Hit The Road For Pair Of Non-Conference Matches
September 14, 2016 | Cowgirl Soccer
Oklahoma State (4-3-1)
at Memphis (5-2-0)
Fri., Sept. 16 • 7 p.m. • Memphis, Tenn.
Mike Rose Soccer Complex (3,000)
at Arkansas-Pine Bluff (0-4-0)
Sun., Sept. 18 • 1 p.m. • Pine Bluff, Ark.
Pumphrey Stadium (8,000)
GAME NOTES
Oklahoma StateÂ
   Oklahoma State returns to the road for the first time since August 26 this weekend with its final tune-ups before opening Big 12 Conference play. The Cowgirls face Memphis Friday at 7 p.m. before a Sunday contest at Arkansas Pine-Bluff that kicks off at 1 p.m. OSU is 4-3-1 on the season after winning matches against Abilene Christian and UTSA last weekend in Stillwater.
   OSU is coming off a 2015 season in which they compiled a 9-9-2 record and finished eighth in the Big 12 Conference standings with a 2-4-2 mark. The Cowgirls return seven starters and 18 letterwinners from last season, including a pair of three-time All-Big 12 performers in forward Courtney Dike and defender Natalie Calhoun.
   The 2016 season marks the 21st in the history of the OSU women's soccer program. Over their first 20 seasons, the Cowgirls compiled a 238-141-44 (.615) record, and head coach Colin Carmichael entered his 12th season at the helm with a 155-61-31 mark. The Cowgirls have earned a berth in the NCAA Women's Soccer Championship in eight of the last 10 years and have claimed Big 12 titles in four of the last eight seasons.
About The Opponents
   Memphis is 5-2-0 on the season, its lone losses coming to Little Rock and Oklahoma. The Tigers are 3-0-0 on their home field in 2016. Valerie Sanders has scored half of the Tigers' goals this season with six, to go along with a pair of assists, while goalie Maryse Bard-Martel has allowed just six goals and recorded three shutouts.
   OSU is 3-0-0 all time against Memphis, including a 1-0 win in the last meeting in 2014 in Stillwater. The Cowgirls were victorious on their only previous trip to Memphis, posting a 3-2 victory in 2012.
   Arkansas-Pine Bluff is 0-4-0 on the season and has been outscored 15-4.
   OSU has faced UAPB just once before, that coming in the opening round of the 2011 NCAA Soccer Championship in Stillwater. The Cowgirls were 9-1 winners in that contest, scoring seven second-half goals to cruise into the second round.
On The Air & The WebÂ
    Fans wishing to follow this weekend's matches can do so in a variety of ways. Friday's match at Memphis is available via webcast at gotigersgo.com/watch (a fee is involved to watch). Live stats for both matches will be also available via links at www.okstate.com (links can be accessed via the Schedule tab on the Cowgirl soccer page). Additionally, fans can follow the official OSU Soccer Twitter account, @CowgirlFC, for in-game updates.
Winning Is A Habit
   The 2016 season marks the 21st in the OSU program's history and over those two-plus decades, the program has been built into an established winner.
   • OSU has earned a berth in the NCAA Women's Soccer Championship eight of the last 10 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.Â
   • 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.
Back In the Saddle
   OSU returns seven players who started at least 10 games during the 2015 season. Of the 16 returning letterwinners, 14 are field players, and that group combined for 24 of the Cowgirls' 36 goals a year ago, as well as 18 of its 23 assists.
Preseason Prognostications
   In preseason voting by the league's head coaches, OSU was picked to finish fifth in the Big 12 Conference standings behind four-time defending league champion West Virginia, Texas Tech, Oklahoma and Baylor. A pair of Cowgirls — forward Courtney Dike and defender Natalie Calhoun — were named to the Preseason All-Big 12 team.
Home Sweet Home
   The Cowgirls are 3-2-0 on their home field in 2016. OSU is 73-13-9 (.816) at the Cowgirl Soccer Complex since 2008 and is 131-37-16 (.755) all time on its current home turf.Â
Dynamic duo
   Natalie Calhoun and Courtney Dike are already in rare company and could join an elite list in 2016. Both Cowgirls have earned All-Big 12 Second Team honors three times, making them two of only seven OSU players to be named all-conference three times in a career. Only two Cowgirls — Yolanda Odenyo and AD Franch — have achieved All-Big 12 status four times.
R-E-S-P-E-C-T
   Prior to the season, TopDrawerSoccer.com released its list of the Top 100 players in women's college soccer, a list that ranks sophomores, juniors and seniors. A pair of Cowgirls made the list as Courtney Dike was ranked No. 73 while Natalie Calhoun checked in at No. 82.
Milestone For Carmichael
   Oklahoma State head coach Colin Carmichael recorded career win No. 150 on Sept. 18, 2015, against Arizona State. Now in his 12th season as the Cowgirls' head coach, Carmichael has been on the OSU coaching staff since the program's inception in 1996.
New Faces
   Twelve newcomers joined the OSU roster in 2016, and the group includes 10 freshmen, a sophomore transfer and a junior college transfer.
   Eight different newcomers — six freshmen, two transfers — have started at least one game, while all told, 10 newcomers have made their OSU debuts in 2016.
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 throughout her career 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 — vs. Vanderbilt, Oklahoma and Missouri State — which marked the most multi-goal games by a Cowgirl since 2010, and of her 58 shots, 30 of those (52 percent) were on goal. 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. As a juninor, she ranked in the top six in the Big 12 in goals (5), assists (7) and points (17). She has scored goals in five of OSU's eight games this season, with her five goals tied for the conference lead, and she leads the league with 12 points.
Quick Kicks
   OSU had a different starting lineup in seven of its first eight games in 2016 ... ten different Cowgirls have scored goals this season, while eight different players have notched assists ... of OSU's 143 shots this season, 75 have been on goal (.524) ... OSU is tied with TCU for the Big 12 lead in goals with 20, and the Cowgirls rank second in the conference in assists (16), shots (143), points (56) and corner kicks (54).
Climbing The Charts
   Courtney Dike has five goals in 2016 and now ranks seventh on OSU's career goals list with 26. She needs two goals to move into the top five; the all-time record of 35 is held by a pair of Cowgirls — Yolanda Odenyo and Jolene Schweitzer.Â
   Dike also ranks in the top 10 on OSU's career charts in assists (10th with 16), points (9th with 68) and shots (7th with 186).
   Junior goalie Michela Ongaro is also among OSU's all-time statistical leaders in the net. The Wisconsin native and former walk-on is sixth on the Cowgirls' career charts in both shutouts (10) and saves (139) and ranks seventh with a 1.16 goals against average.Â
The Biggest Stage
   Courtney Dike is one of a select few collegiate players who can boast of having played in a Women's World Cup.
   Dike earned a pair of caps for Nigeria at the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup in Canada. Her first came as a reserve in a match against Australia, and in the Super Falcons' final tourney game, Dike was in the starting lineup against the eventual champion United States. She played 50 minutes against the U.S. before subbing out early in the second half. Â
   Dike concluded her first trip to the Women's World Cup playing 56 minutes and recording one shot. Nigeria finished 0-2-1 at the tourney and failed to advance out of Group D.
   The experience was historic as Dike became the first OSU player to participate in a World Cup and also the first-ever Oklahoman to compete in a Women's World Cup.
   In 2014, Dike was a member of the Nigeria U-20 Women's National Team at the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup. That trip proved highly successful, though it meant OSU was without its top scorer for the first two games of 2014.Â
   During that tourney, Dike helped the Falconets into the U-20 World Cup final, where they dropped a 1-0 decision to Germany. A starter at forward throughout most of the tourney, Dike recorded a pair of goals in six games. In pool play against South Korea, she scored the fastest goal in FIFA Women's World Cup history as she found the back of the net just 18 seconds into the match, and she scored a goal 64 seconds into the semifinal match against North Korea to help Nigeria advance to the final.
   Dike's parents, Vincent and Jacinta, are natives of Nigeria, and her older brother, Bright, has been on the country's men's national team.Â
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Her Defense Never Rests
   Natalie Calhoun has been an anchor at defender since arriving on campus in 2013. The center back has played in all 71 of OSU's games during her career and been a starter in 70 of those, and she has ranked either first or second in minutes played among field players each of her first three seasons. The lone game she in which she was not in the starting lineup was the season opener her freshman season.
   A three-time All-Big 12 Second Team performer, Calhoun has played a part in 22 shutouts during her career.
Big 12's Best
   Through the first four weeks of the season, Oklahoma State has had a Big 12 Conference weekly award winner three times as Courtney Dike, Julia Lenhardt and Jaci Jones have all been recognized for their standout play.  Â
   After recording a pair of goals on opening weekend, Dike was named the first Big 12 Conference Offensive Player of the Week for 2016. In the season opener at Georgia, Dike's goal in the 62nd minute gave OSU its first lead of the contest, and on Sunday against Mercer, she scored just 72 seconds into the match to help the Cowgirls record their first win of the season. Dike finished the weekend with six shots, three of those on goal, in 158 minutes of action.
   The honor marked the fifth time in Dike's career she has been recognized with a Big 12 weekly award.Â
   Lenhardt made it back-to-back weeks for OSU to earn a Big 12 weekly award when she was named the Big 12 Freshman of the Week for week two after she recorded OSU's first two goals to lead the Cowgirls to a 4-1 win over Oral Roberts. In notching the first two scores of her collegiate career, the midfielder also became the first OSU freshman to score multiple goals in a game since Dike in 2013.Â
   Jones is the league's reigning Big 12 Freshman of the Week after she was OSU's leading scorer in helping the Cowgirls to wins over Abilene Christian and UTSA. The midfielder recorded two goals and two assists on the weekend, notching assists in both matches and collecting the first multi-goal game of her career with a pair of goals vs. UTSA.
