Cowgirl Soccer Finally Back Home For Pair Of Matches

Game Notes

Mercer (4-1-2) at Oklahoma State (5-1-1)

Thurs., Sept. 15 • 7 p.m. • Stillwater, Okla.

Neal Patterson Stadium (2,500)

#25 Brown (4-1-1) at Oklahoma State (5-1-1)

Sun., Sept. 18 • 1 p.m. • Stillwater, Okla.

Neal Patterson Stadium (2,500)

TV/Video: Thurs. - Big 12 Now on ESPN+

Sun. - Big 12 Now on ESPN+ (Mike Wolfe & Anna Beffer)

Radio: Stillwater Radio KGFY 105.5 FM/stillwaterradio.net (Bill Van Ness)

Live Stats: okstate.statbroadcast.com

Twitter In-Game Updates: @CowgirlFC

About Oklahoma State

• Oklahoma State is 5-1-1 and hosts a pair of matches this week at Neal Patterson Stadium, where the Cowgirls have played just once this season. A Thursday night match against Mercer kicks things off before OSU hosts No. 25 Brown on Sunday.

• OSU is coming off a 9-6-3 season in 2021 in which the Cowgirls finished fourth in the Big 12 standings at 4-3-1.

• The Cowgirls return 11 letterwinners from last season, including six starters and a pair of three-time All-Big 12 performers in Grace Yochum and Olyvia Dowell.

• The 2022 season is the 27th in program history; over the first 26, OSU posted a 311-173-59 (.627) record. Head coach Colin Carmichael entered his 17th season at the helm in 2021 with a 228-93-46 mark.

Scouting The Opponents

• Mercer is 4-1-2 on the season under 11th-year head coach Tony Economopoulos, who was an assistant on the Oklahoma State coaching staff from 2007-09.

• The Bears rank 10th nationally with 23 goals. Kendall Cook's six goals lead the team and rank seventh in the NCAA this season.

• OSU is 2-0-0 all time against the Bears, winning the inaugural meeting in Stillwater by a 2-0 margin in 2015 and claiming a 3-0 victory at Mercer in 2016.

• Brown is 4-1-1 entering a Thursday night game at home against Providence.

• The two-time defending Ivy League champion Bears are led by All-American forward Brittany Raphino, who has 22 goals in her three seasons in a BU uniform.

• The two teams met for the first time on the pitch last season in Providence, with Brown collecting a 2-1 win.

goal Queen

Grace Yochum sits atop the list of Oklahoma State's all-time goal scorers.

In 76 career games, Yochum has amassed 38 goals. Against Stephen F. Austin, she tied OSU's previous career record of 35 with her first goal and then broke the mark with her second of the contest.

The previous record of 35 was held by Jolene Schweitzer and Yolanda Odenyo. Schweitzer first set the mark in 2004, and Odenyo tied it in 2008.

As a freshman in 2018, Yochum tallied four goals. She followed that with 11 as a sophomore, 12 in 2020 and six last season. Her five goals this season are tied for the most in the Big 12.

Yochum is also tied second on the Cowgirls' all-time points list with 85. Odenyo tops that list with 90.

Scoring Surge

Olyvia Dowell has added firepower to the OSU attack since stepping on campus in 2019.

With 27 career goals, Dowell is tied for eighth on OSU's all-time list, and her 73 points is tied for ninth. She also ranks fourth with 208 shots.

As a freshman, Dowell recorded five goals and eight assists, and she followed that with an even more impressive showing as a sophomore as she ranked fifth in the NCAA with 31 points on the strength of 12 goals and seven assists. Her 12 goals tied for the Big 12 lead along with teammate Grace Yochum and ranked sixth nationally; the seven assists topped the conference. Dowell's goal total also marked the most ever goals by an OSU sophomore, and the 31 points was the seventh most in a single season in program history.

Dowell tied for the OSU team lead with six goals in 2021, with five of her goals coming in Big 12 play.

Clutch

Grace Yochum and Olyvia Dowell have combined for 26 game-winning goals in their careers, with Yochum notching 19 and Dowell adding seven.

Yochum led the NCAA with eight game-winning goals during the 2020 season, and her three game winners are the third most in the NCAA this season.

QUick Kicks

• Olyvia Dowell was named the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week for Week One after leading the conference with three goals in the first two games of the season. She also topped the league with nine shots, four of those on goal.

• Ally Jackson recorded a pair of assists in the win against Missouri State, which set a season career high for the fifth-year senior. Her only previous assist came in 2020.

• Grace Yochum was the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week for Week Four after scoring four goals in a pair of wins and setting OSU's all-time goals record in the process.

REGIONAL RANKINGS

OSU dropped one spot to No. 4 in this week's United Soccer Coaches Midwest Region rankings; the Cowgirls are behind conference foes Texas, TCU and West Virginia.

Preseason Love

Grace Yochum is one of 38 players on the United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division I Midfielders to Watch List, and she came in at No. 67 on the TopDrawerSoccer.com Preseason Women's Top 100 Players list.

Jordan Nytes was named to the TopDrawerSoccer.com Preseason Freshman Best XI at goalkeeper.

Winning Is A Habit

Now in its 27th season, Oklahoma State soccer has built itself into an established winner.

• OSU has earned a berth in the NCAA Women's Soccer Championship 12 of the last 16 years (beginning in 2006) and six of the last nine.

• 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). The Cowgirls also won regular season titles in 2017 and 2019.

Home Sweet Home

In five seasons at Neal Patterson Stadium, OSU has compiled a 31-7-3 record (.793) on its home turf, including a 1-0-0 mark last season.

The Cowgirls went 10-0-1 on their home field in 2019, the seventh time in program history OSU has gone undefeated at home in a season. Seven of those wins came via shutout, and OSU did not allow a goal in its first five home matches.

OSU was 84-16-10 (.809) at the Cowgirl Soccer Complex from 2008-17 and was 142-40-17 (.756) all time on its former home turf.

Game Notes

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Players Mentioned

Olyvia Dowell

Ally Jackson

Jordan Nytes

Grace Yochum

Oklahoma State University Athletics