Cowgirl Soccer Heads To Utah For Pair Of Matches

#23 Oklahoma State (8-2-1, 1-2-0) at BYU (4-4-2, 2-1-0)

Thurs., Sept. 26 • 8 p.m. (CDT)
Provo, Utah • South Field

#23 Oklahoma State (8-2-1, 1-2-0) at Utah (4-4-2, 1-2-0)

Sun., Sept. 29 • 2 p.m. (CDT)
Salt Lake City, Utah • Ute Field

TV/Video: ESPN+ (Thurs. - Jason Shepherd & Carla Swenson-Haslam Sun. - Bill Riley & Jay Nolly)
Radio: n/a
Live Stats: okstate.statbroadcast.com
Twitter In-Game Scoreboard/Updates: @CowgirlFC

About Oklahoma State

     • Oklahoma State is 8-2-1 on the season, including a 1-0-2 Big 12 mark, and has outscored its opponents, 25-4. This week, the Cowgirls head west for a pair of conference road matches as they take on BYU on Thursday night before a Sunday afternoon contest against Utah.
     • OSU is coming off a 12-8-0 season in 2023 in which the Cowgirls finished seventh in the Big 12 standings with a 5-5-0 conference mark.
     • The Cowgirls return nine starters and 16 letterwinners from last season.
     • 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.

Scouting The Opponents

     • BYU is 4-4-2 overall, and the preseason Big 12 favorite is 2-1-0 in conference play after a Monday night win at home over Utah.
     • OSU is 1-2-0 all time against BYU; the Cowgirls dropped a 3-0 contest in Stillwater last season. The Cowgirls only previous trip to Provo came in 2009, and they fell, 2-1, in double overtime.
     • Utah is 4-4-2 and 1-2-0 heading into a Thursday match at home against Iowa State. The Utes are 4-2-1 on their home field this season.
     • OSU won its only previous meeting with Utah, that coming in 2009 in Stillwater with the Cowgirls claiming a 3-0 victory.

Last Week

OSU's unbeaten streak came to an end on Thursday as Colorado handed the Cowgirls a 2-1 loss in Stillwater. Nicole Ray scored the lone goal for OSU. In Sunday's match against Texas Tech, OSU was shut out for just the second time this season in a 2-0 loss.

In The Rankings

     OSU is ranked No. 23 in this week's TopDrawerSoccer.com poll, marking the sixth consecutive week the Cowgirls have appeared in the national rankings. The Cowgirls were No. 11 in the Aug. 27th United Soccer Coaches poll, their highest ranking since they were No. 11 in both polls on Nov. 17, 2020.
     OSU entered the national rankings on Aug. 19/20 for the first time since Aug. 30, 2021, when the Cowgirls were 22nd in the TDS poll.
     In this week's United Soccer Coaches Midwest Region Rankings, OSU is No. 4. The Cowgirls are also No. 33 in the official NCAA RPI; BYU is 23rd in the RPI, while Utah is No. 80.

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 this season. Auburn recorded eight-straight shutouts and did not concede a goal over the first 741 minutes of its season.

Clean Sheets

     OSU's nine consecutive shutouts 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.
     • Santa Clara owns the NCAA record for consecutive shutouts with 16 in 1998.
     • The Cowgirls' previous best shutout streak to begin a season was three games in 2005.
     • Grace Gordon's six shutouts rank sixth nationally this season and is tied for the eighth most in a season in program history.

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.

Top 10 Statement

With its 2-0 win at No. 6 Nebraska in the season opener, OSU recorded its first victory over a top-10 opponent since beating No. 4 West Virginia, 2-1, in double overtime in Stillwater in 2020.
The victory also marked the Cowgirls' first top-10 road win since a 2-1 double overtime triumph at No. 6 Penn State in 2019.

Goose Egg In The Loss Column

OSU was one of the final 19 undefeated teams in NCAA Women's Division I soccer this season.

Sharing the Wealth

OSU's 25 goals this season have been scored by 11 different players. Logan Heausler leads the Cowgirls with five goals, while Nicole Ray has four.
Thirteen Cowgirls have also recorded assists on the year, with Laudan Wilson and Alex Morris leading the way with four apiece; that duo is tied for second in the Big 12 in assists this season.

The Difference Between Me & You

OSU has outscored its opponents 25-4 on the year; the Cowgirls are tied for ninth nationally in goal differential.

Can't Stop, Won't Stop

OSU's trio of starting center backs is a big reason the Cowgirls have not allowed a goal this season - and it's rare to not see them on the field.
Mollie Breiner has played the full 90 minutes in seven of OSU's 11 matches and has been on the field for 923 of a possible 990 minutes. Ellie Geoffroy has played full time in five matches (827 minutes total), while Chloé Joseph has played 90 minutes four times (860 minutes total).

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 of those on goal. She tallied three goals and an assist in Big 12 play.
     Pineda is OSU's second-leading scorer this season with three goals and a pair of assists.

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 (she also played a role in two combined shutouts), Gordon is the Big 12's returning leader in that category in 2024.

Climbing

Grace Gordon ranks sixth on OSU's career shutouts list with 12 in just 30 games in a Cowgirl uniform; she needs two more to move into fourth (AD Franch owns the record with 38 from 2009-12). Gordon has 21 clean sheets in her collegiate career after recording nine in three seasons at Seton Hall.
Gordon's 101 saves in an OSU uniform ranks seventh in program history, and she is currently atop the list in goals against average at 0.67.

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, Heausler emerged as one of OSU's top attacking players as the Houston native played in all 20 games and was the Cowgirls' leading scorer with 18 points. She tied for the team lead with seven goals and turned in a streak of four consecutive matches - three of them against Big 12 opponents - in which she scored a goal.
     Heausler has continued to lead the attack in 2024 with a team-high five goals to go along with a pair of assists. She ranks second in the Big 12 in shots with 40.

#23 Oklahoma State (8-2-1, 1-2-0) at BYU (4-4-2, 2-1-0)

Thurs., Sept. 26 • 8 p.m. (CDT)
Provo, Utah • South Field

#23 Oklahoma State (8-2-1, 1-2-0) at Utah (4-4-2, 1-2-0)

Sun., Sept. 29 • 2 p.m. (CDT)
Salt Lake City, Utah • Ute Field

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Mollie Breiner

Ellie Geoffroy

Grace Gordon

Logan Heausler

Alex Morris

Xcaret Pineda

Nicole Ray

Laudan Wilson

Oklahoma State University Athletics