Cowgirls beat SMU women
August 29, 2009
STILLWATER, Okla. (OSU Athletics <http://www.okstate.com>) — Oklahoma State ran its home non-conference winning streak to eight with a dominating 4-0 victory over SMU Friday night at the Cowgirl Soccer Complex.
The 21st-ranked Cowgirls, playing their 2009 home opener, outshot SMU by a 27-5 margin and earned their first win of the year to improve to 1-1-0.
“It’s nice to start the season at home like that,” said OSU senior forward Siera Strawser. “The offensive chances that we created were really, really good. I was impressed with how many chances we had. Finishing could have been a little better in some areas, but I’ll take the 4-0.”
Strawser was one of four different Cowgirls who collected goals on the night as she and Annika Niemeier gave OSU a 2-0 lead at intermission with first-half goals.
Niemeier collected OSU’s first goal of the season on a penalty kick at the 7:45 mark, which came after Strawser was fouled in the box.
In the 23rd minute, Strawser got the Cowgirls back on the scoreboard as she stole the ball from an SMU defender then got past Mustangs’ goalie Courtney Webb and converted the open-goal opportunity.
OSU added two more goals in the second half, the first coming from senior Kasey Langdon, who wove her way through the defense and blasted a shot into the net for her first goal of the season.
In the 68th minute, it was freshman Megan Marchesano capping the match with the first goal of her collegiate career as she corralled a save that Webb was unable to control and delivered the ball into the back of the net.
OSU head coach Colin Carmichael, whose team led the nation in goals per game last season, was pleased with the play of his offense after being shut out in last week’s season opener at Colorado.
“In the preseason, most teams work on their defense and their shape, and you kind of hope your offense is clicking,” Carmichael said. “It’s harder to teach offense than defense because you can outwork and outhustle them.
“We did a good job of moving and stretching the field. We talked a lot this week about getting wider up front and trying to stretch the other team, and we did a really good job of that.”
Freshmen Adrianna Franch and Keely Kippenberger combined for the shutout in goal for the Cowgirls, with Franch playing the first 70:51 of the match.
Carmichael also praised the play of his defensive backfield, especially in the area of passing.
“It was crucial,” Carmichael said. “We spent a lot of time the last two weeks talking about connecting the passes, connecting in the final third. Colleen (Dougherty), Allyson (Leggett) and Whitney (Wernimont) did really well, and Minnie (Mercado) and Carson (Michalowski) did better as well.
“Connecting that ball into the forwards and making it easier for them is just going to help our attack.”
OSU returns to action Sunday at 1 p.m. against Louisiana-Lafayette at the Cowgirl Soccer Complex.
The 21st-ranked Cowgirls, playing their 2009 home opener, outshot SMU by a 27-5 margin and earned their first win of the year to improve to 1-1-0.
“It’s nice to start the season at home like that,” said OSU senior forward Siera Strawser. “The offensive chances that we created were really, really good. I was impressed with how many chances we had. Finishing could have been a little better in some areas, but I’ll take the 4-0.”
Strawser was one of four different Cowgirls who collected goals on the night as she and Annika Niemeier gave OSU a 2-0 lead at intermission with first-half goals.
Niemeier collected OSU’s first goal of the season on a penalty kick at the 7:45 mark, which came after Strawser was fouled in the box.
In the 23rd minute, Strawser got the Cowgirls back on the scoreboard as she stole the ball from an SMU defender then got past Mustangs’ goalie Courtney Webb and converted the open-goal opportunity.
OSU added two more goals in the second half, the first coming from senior Kasey Langdon, who wove her way through the defense and blasted a shot into the net for her first goal of the season.
In the 68th minute, it was freshman Megan Marchesano capping the match with the first goal of her collegiate career as she corralled a save that Webb was unable to control and delivered the ball into the back of the net.
OSU head coach Colin Carmichael, whose team led the nation in goals per game last season, was pleased with the play of his offense after being shut out in last week’s season opener at Colorado.
“In the preseason, most teams work on their defense and their shape, and you kind of hope your offense is clicking,” Carmichael said. “It’s harder to teach offense than defense because you can outwork and outhustle them.
“We did a good job of moving and stretching the field. We talked a lot this week about getting wider up front and trying to stretch the other team, and we did a really good job of that.”
Freshmen Adrianna Franch and Keely Kippenberger combined for the shutout in goal for the Cowgirls, with Franch playing the first 70:51 of the match.
Carmichael also praised the play of his defensive backfield, especially in the area of passing.
“It was crucial,” Carmichael said. “We spent a lot of time the last two weeks talking about connecting the passes, connecting in the final third. Colleen (Dougherty), Allyson (Leggett) and Whitney (Wernimont) did really well, and Minnie (Mercado) and Carson (Michalowski) did better as well.
“Connecting that ball into the forwards and making it easier for them is just going to help our attack.”
OSU returns to action Sunday at 1 p.m. against Louisiana-Lafayette at the Cowgirl Soccer Complex.
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