Cowgirl Soccer Opens Conference Tourney Play Against Bedlam Rival

Saturday, October 28

Round Rock, TX

3:30 PM

Oklahoma State University

Oklahoma

Laudan Wilson

Photo by: Oklahoma State University Athletics

Cowgirl Soccer Opens Conference Tourney Play Against Bedlam Rival

October 26, 2023 | Cowgirl Soccer

Game Notes - Big 12 Championship vs. OU

#7-seed Oklahoma State (12-7-0) vs. #10-seed Oklahoma vs. (7-9-2)

Big 12 Soccer Championship
Sat., Oct. 28 • 3:30 p.m. • Round Rock, Texas

TV/Video: Big 12 Now On ESPN+ (Daniel Gillman & Jessica Stamp)
Radio: The Varsity Network/Stillwater Radio KGFY 105.5 FM (Bill Van Ness)
Live Stats: okstate.statbroadcast.com
Twitter In-Game Scoreboard/Updates: @CowgirlFC

About Oklahoma State

     • Oklahoma State is 12-7-0 and finished seventh in the Big 12 standings with a 5-5-0 conference mark. The Cowgirls begin postseason play at the Big 12 Soccer Championship in Round Rock, Texas, with an opening round match against Bedlam-rival Oklahoma on Saturday.
     • OSU is coming off an 11-4-4 season in 2022 in which the Cowgirls finished fifth in the Big 12 standings with a 4-2-3 mark.
     • The Cowgirls return 11 letterwinners from last season, including five starters in Xcaret Pineda, Mollie Breiner, Megan Haines, Alex Morris and Gracie Bindbeutel (out for 2023 with injury).
     • The 2023 season is the 28th in program history; over the first 27, OSU posted a 322-177-63 (.629) record. Head coach Colin Carmichael entered his 19th season at the helm in 2023 with a 239-97-50 mark.

Cowgirls at The Big 12 Championship

OSU is 17-12-4 all time at the Big 12 Soccer Championship and has won a conference tournament title three times, the last coming in 2010. The Cowgirls' first tourney championship came in 2003 (3-2 double overtime triumph vs. Missouri), and OSU celebrated back-to-back titles in 2009 (1-0 over Texas A&M) and 2010 (won PK shootout vs. Oklahoma after 1-1 tie).
If OSU wins its opening match against Oklahoma, the Cowgirls will advance to Monday's quarterfinals to face No. 2 seed BYU.

Scouting The Opponent

• Oklahoma is 7-9-2 and finished 10th in the Big 12 standings at 3-5-2 in conference play. The Sooners have outscored their opponents 33-28 on the season.
• OSU is 31-9-5 all time against OU and is undefeated in the last nine meetings with the Sooners with a 7-0-2 record; the Cowgirls won the matchup in the regular season finale earlier this week as Alex Morris scored in the 83rd minute to give OSU a 1-0 victory in Stillwater. OU's last win in the series came in 2018 in Norman.

Balance

Twelve different Cowgirls have scored goals this season, with nine of those finding the back of the net multiple times.
Nine OSU players have recorded assists, led by Alex Morris and Laudan Wilson, who each have six. In 2022, no Cowgirl had more than three assists on the 19-game season; this season, four Cowgirls have surpassed the three assist mark.

First Timers

Of OSU's 37 goals this season, 24 have been scored by players who entered the season without a collegiate goal, with seniors Shyann McClary and Alex Morris, junior Hannah Chance, sophomore Logan Heausler and freshmen Adelhia Ghonda, Lexi Lee and Laudan Wilson all finding the back of the net.

X Gives It To Ya

     Sophomore midfielder Xcaret Pineda is one of the leaders of OSU's attack, and the conference's head coaches rewarded her with a spot on the All-Big 12 Second Team.
     Pineda has started all 19 games for the Cowgirls this season and is second on the team with 17 points. She has posted six goals and five assists, both of which rank third on the squad.
     The Illinois native leads OSU with 58 shots, 25 of those on goal. She tallied three goals and an assist in Big 12 play.

Instant Impact

     OSU placed two on the Big 12 All-Freshman Team as Chloé Joseph and Laudan Wilson were recognized with that honor.
     A defender, Joseph has played in every game in her first collegiate season, starting 14 of those, and the Canadian helped the Cowgirls emerge as one of the top defensive teams in the conference.
     Wilson has shined as a midfielder. In 16 games, she is tied for the team lead with six assists, and she has also chipped in with three goals.

Sharing Is Caring

     Senior Alex Morris has racked up a career-high six assists this season, which doubles her previous high of three from a year ago.
     The Texan recorded three assists in wins over Florida Atlantic and Little Rock and also spearheaded a pair of shutout wins to earn Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week honors for Week Two.
     Morris has also netted the first two goals of her career this season, with both being game winners.

D-Fense

OSU has allowed just 14 goals through 19 games and is tied for second in the Big 12 with nine shutouts. The Cowgirls rank second in the conference behind only Texas Tech in goals allowed as well as goals against average (0.74).
All four Cowgirl goalkeepers have seen time between the posts, led by Grace Gordon.

Goals

     OSU ranks 32nd nationally with 37 goals and has outscored its opponents 37-14 on the season. The Cowgirls netted 11 goals vs. Florida Atlantic and Little Rock, which marked OSU's highest-scoring output in consecutive games since they also had 11 against Drake (3) and Oral Roberts (8) in back-to-back games in 2015.
     The Cowgirls average nearly 18 shots per game, which ranks 20th in the NCAA, and seven of those shots are on goal.
     OSU is 39th in the country with 104 points (37 goals, 30 assists).

Kicking It on the Corner

OSU leads the Big 12 and is third nationally with 135 corner kicks, and its 7.11 corner kicks per game ranks 11th.
The Cowgirls' season high in corner kicks came against Abilene Christian when they took 15, a total that tied for the fifth most in a game in program history.

Saving Grace

     Grace Gordon has established herself as OSU's top goalkeeper, starting 18 games and posting six shutouts in 1,545 minutes of action.
     A transfer who spent the last three seasons at Seton Hall, Gordon ranks second in the Big 12 with a 0.82 goals against average and .813 save percentage, while her six clean sheets is fifth. She has also played a part in two combined shutouts.
     During OSU's five-game winning streak in September, Gordon allowed only two goals and posted three shutouts. She recorded a season-high eight saves in her Big 12 debut to help OSU to a win at Iowa State.

You Better Recognize

     A list of OSU's award winners & honorees during the 2023 season.
     • Hannah Chance - Big 12 Co-Offensive Player of the Week, 8/30
     • Alex Morris - Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week, 8/30 and 10/25
     • Ellie Geoffroy - TopDrawerSoccer.com Women's Team of the Week, 9/5
     • Laudan Wilson - TopDrawerSoccer.com Women's Team of the Week, 9/19; College Soccer News Women's National Team of the Week, 9/19; Big 12 Freshman of the Week, 9/20; TopDrawerSoccer.com Women's Midseason Freshmen Top 100 - No. 9; Big 12 All-Freshman Team
     • Xcaret Pineda - All-Big 12 Second Team midfielder
     • Chloé Joseph - Big 12 All-Freshman Team

Coach Colin

Colin Carmichael recorded his 250th career win with OSU's 2-1 victory over UCF on Sept. 28. Carmichael has spent all 19 of his seasons as a head coach in Stillwater.
Carmichael entered the 2023 season with 239 career wins, ranking fourth among active Big 12 coaches in wins at their current school behind only BYU's Jennifer Rockwood (425 wins in 28 seasons), West Virginia's Nikki Izzo-Brown (383 wins in 27 seasons) and Kansas' Mark Francis (258 wins in 24 seasons).