Cowgirl Soccer Opens Postseason Play At Big 12 Championship In KC

#5-seed Oklahoma State (13-3-3) vs. #12-seed Cincinnati (6-8-4)
Big 12 Soccer Championship First Round

Wed., Oct. 30 • 9 a.m.
CPKC Stadium • Kansas City, Mo.

TV/Video: ESPN+ (Chuckie Kempf & Sarah Gonzalez)
Radio: The Varsity Network/Stillwater Radio KGFY 105.5 FM (Karsten Melton)
Live Stats: okstate.statbroadcast.com
Twitter In-Game Scoreboard/Updates: @CowgirlFC

About Oklahoma State
     • Oklahoma State is 13-3-3 and finished fifth in the Big 12 standings with a 6-3-2 mark. The Cowgirls have outscored their opponents, 39-8, while recording 15 shutouts in 19 games. OSU opens play in the Big 12 Championship Wednesday in Kansas City against 12th-seeded Cincinnati.
     • The 2024 season is the 29th in program history; over the first 28, OSU posted a 334-185-63 (.628) record. Head coach Colin Carmichael enters his 20th season at the helm in 2024 with a 251-105-50 mark.

Cowgirls At The Big 12 Championship
     OSU is 17-13-4 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 Cincinnati, the Cowgirls will advance to Saturday's quarterfinals to face fourth-seeded BYU.

Scouting The Opponent
     • Cincinnati is 6-8-4 overall and finished with a 2-6-3 record in Big 12 play.
     • OSU is 1-1-0 all time against UC. The Cowgirls won this season's game, 1-0, in Stillwater on Oct. 13, with Alex Morris scoring the goal. Last season, the Bearcats were 1-0 winners on their home field.

In The Rankings
     OSU is in the national rankings for a second-straight week, checking it at No. 22 in this week's TopDrawerSoccer.com poll.
     On Aug. 19/20, the Cowgirls entered the national rankings for the first time since Aug. 30, 2021, when the Cowgirls were 22nd in the TopDrawerSoccer.com poll. They stayed in the polls for six consecutive weeks before dropping out on Sept. 30/Oct. 1. During that time, they climbed as high as No. 11 in the Aug. 27th United Soccer Coaches poll, their highest ranking since they were No. 11 in both the United Soccer Coaches and TopDrawerSoccer.com polls on Nov. 17, 2020.
     In this week's United Soccer Coaches Midwest Region Rankings, OSU is No. 4. The Cowgirls are also No. 30 in the official NCAA RPI.

It's An Honor
     OSU had seven players honored with Big 12 awards for 2024 and achieved a first in program history.
     Six Cowgirls collected All-Big 12 honors, which ranks as the second most in program history behind 2011's seven. OSU placed three on the All-Big 12 First Team, which is tied for the third highest total in program history behind the 2011 (5) and 2010 (4) squads.
     Earning spots on the All-Big 12 First Team were defender Alex Morris and midfielders Xcaret Pineda and Laudan Wilson, while goalkeeper Grace Gordon, defender Mollie Breiner and forward Gracie Bindbeutel collected All-Big 12 Second Team accolades.
     Defender Katelyn Hoppers was named to the Big 12 All-Freshman Team.
     Additionally, Morris was named the Big 12 Soccer Scholar Athlete of the Year, marking the first Cowgirl in program history to capture the award.

A Lot Of Nothing
     OSU recorded shutouts in its first nine games and was not scored on for 8:46:10, marking the longest consecutive streaks by a team to start the 2024 season. Auburn recorded eight-straight shutouts and did not concede a goal over the first 741 minutes of its season.

We Have The Cleanest Sheets
     OSU leads the NCAA with 15 shutouts on the season, one more than Mississippi State. The Cowgirls are also second in the nation with a .902 save percentage and a .789 shutout percentage and fourth with a 0.42 goals against average.
     • OSU's nine consecutive shutouts earlier this season stands as the longest streak in program history. In 2011, the Cowgirls had shutout streaks of six and five matches, which marked the previous best streaks.
     • The streak of nine-straight shutouts is tied for the second longest in Big 12 Conference history. West Virginia owns the record with 10 in a row in 2016, while WVU (2015) and Nebraska (1997) also had streaks of nine consecutive clean sheets.
     • The Cowgirls' previous best shutout streak to begin a season was three games in 2005.
     • OSU's 15 shutouts in 2024 is the second most in a season in program history and fifth all time in Big 12 history. The Cowgirls posted a record 18 clean sheets in 2011, which led the NCAA that year and is tied for the conference mark.
     • Grace Gordon's 12 shutouts rank third nationally this season, one behind UCLA's Ryan Campbell and Mississippi State's Maddy Anderson, and are tied with AD Franch for the most in a single-season in program history; Franch had 12 in 2011.
     • Gordon also set an OSU record with six consecutive shutouts (Sept. 29 Utah-Oct. 20 UCF matches); Franch previously held the record with five in a row in 2011.

Start Streaking
     OSU's 5-0-0 start to the season was its best since starting 6-0-0 in 2012. The 2011 Cowgirls opened the season with a program record 15 consecutive wins.
     The Cowgirls' posted a nine-game unbeaten streak before losing to Colorado, which marked their longest to open a season since 2019 when OSU started 7-0-2.
     In 2011, the Cowgirls went unbeaten in their first 21 matches (19-0-2) to set a program benchmark. The 2003 squad did not lose in its first 13 matches (11-0-2), and four OSU teams - 2008 (9-0-1), 2005 (8-0-2), 2004 (9-0-1) and 2002 (10-0-0) - opened the season with 10-game unbeaten streaks.

Sharing The Wealth
     OSU's 39 goals this season have been scored by 13 different players. Logan Heausler leads the Cowgirls with eight goals, while Xcaret Pineda, Nicole Ray and Laudan Wilson have five.
     Sixteen Cowgirls have also recorded assists on the year. Laudan Wilson is second in the Big 12 with eight assists, and Alex Morris has five.

The Difference Between Me & You
     OSU has outscored its opponents 39-8 on the year and ranks 11th nationally in goal differential.

Can't Stop, Won't Stop
     OSU's trio of starting center backs is a big reason the Cowgirls have allowed just six goals this season - and it's rare to not see them on the field.
     Mollie Breiner has played the full 90 minutes in 12 of OSU's 19 matches and has been on the field for 1,605 of a possible 1,710 minutes. Ellie Geoffroy has played full time in nine matches (1,518 minutes total), while Chloé Joseph has played 90 minutes six times (1,532 minutes total).

Recognized
     A list of OSU weekly award winners during the 2024 season:
     • Mollie Breiner: TopDrawerSoccer.com Team of the Week, 8/19; Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week, 8/21; TDS.com Team of the Week, 8/26; TDS.com Midseason National Top 100 - #27
     • Grace Gordon: Big 12 Co-Goalkeeper of the Week, 8/21; Big 12 Goalkeeper of the Week, 9/4; Big 12 Goalkeeper of the Week, 10/23
     • Bella Pierotti: Big 12 Freshman of the Week, 8/28
     • Ellie Geoffroy: Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week, 9/11
     • Alex Morris: TopDrawerSoccer.com Team of the Week, 9/16; Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week, 10/9; TDS.com Midseason National Top 100 - #93; TDS.com Team of the Week, 10/15; Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week, 10/16

X Gives It To Ya
     Junior midfielder Xcaret Pineda is one of the leaders of OSU's attack, and she had a breakout sophomore season to earn a spot on the 2023 All-Big 12 Second Team.
     Pineda started all 20 games for the Cowgirls a year ago and was second on the team with 17 points. She posted six goals and five assists, both of which rank third on the squad.
     The Illinois native led OSU with 60 shots, 25 on goal. She tallied three goals and an assist in Big 12 play.
     Pineda is OSU's third-leading scorer this season with five goals and four assists.

She's A Giver
     Laudan Wilson has eight assists on the season, which is second in the Big 12 lead and ranks 19th nationally. It's the most assists in a season by a Cowgirl since Jaci Jones had 12 in 2019.

Saving Grace
     Grace Gordon established herself as OSU's goalkeeper in her first season in Stillwater in 2023 as she started 19 games and posted six shutouts in 1,635 minutes of action.
     A transfer who spent her first three seasons at Seton Hall, Gordon ranked second in the Big 12 with a 0.83 goals against average and .815 save percentage, while her six clean sheets was fifth.
     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.
     With her six shutouts, Gordon was the Big 12's returning leader in that category in 2024.

Climbing
     Grace Gordon is tied for third on OSU's career shutouts list with 18 in just 38 games in a Cowgirl uniform. She needs three more to move into second place along with Erin Stigler; AD Franch owns the record with 38 from 2009-12. Gordon has 27 clean sheets in her collegiate career after recording nine in three seasons at Seton Hall.
     Gordon's 128 saves in an OSU uniform ranks seventh in program history, and she is currently first in career goals against average at 0.640.

Breakout
     In her first two collegiate seasons, Logan Heausler played in just 17 games; she appeared in 14 as a freshman then missed the majority of 2022 after suffering a season-ending injury just three games in.
     Last season, the Houston native emerged as one of OSU's top threats in the attack, playing in all 20 games and leading the Cowgirls with 18 points. She tied for the team lead with seven goals and turned in a streak of four consecutive matches - three of those vs. Big 12 opponents - in which she scored a goal.
     Heausler leads the attack again in 2024 with a team- and career-high eight goals as well as two assists.

Last Year Best Year
     Alex Morris is saving her best for last.
     The Cowgirls' fifth-year senior wingback scored in back-to-back matches against Houston and Cincinnati, with both goals credited as game winners, and has a career-high three goals on the year after entering the season with two career goals in 66 games.
     Morris, who also ranks second on the squad with five assists after posting a career-best six last season, is No. 93 on the TopDrawerSoccer.com Midseason Women's Top 100 recognizing the top upperclassmen in college soccer.