Oklahoma
Kansas City
North Texas
NORMAN — The Oklahoma soccer team will close its four-game homestand this weekend when it hosts Kansas City and North Texas in a pair of matches at John Crain Field.
The Sooners (2-2-0) welcome the Roos on Friday for a 6:30 p.m. showdown, while the Mean Green arrive on Sunday for a 5 p.m. first touch. Both matches will be broadcast on Bally Sports Oklahoma with Chad McKee and Jemme Cota on the call.
STORYLINES
LAST TIME OUT
Nikki Panas collected a career-high 11 saves, and Ella Pappas scored a game-winning golden goal in the 109th to defeat previously unbeaten Nebraska, 1-0, on August 29 in Norman. It was the Sooners’ fifth win all-time versus the Huskers and the second win of the 2021 season. As a team, the Sooners took 17 shots with 11 going on goal, compared to Nebraska’s 18 shots, 15 of which were on frame. It was Oklahoma’s second clean sheet of the season after blanking Lamar 4-0 a week prior.
MAINTAINING MOMENTUM
The Sooners have shown improvement early in the 2021 campaign and sit at 2-2-0 heading into the weekend. The team has already tallied six goals, compared to seven in 2020. In addition, the team has threatened offensively, averaging 14.5 shots per game, nearly five more than last season. Oklahoma’s 7.50 shots on goal per game rank second in the Big 12, behind defending Big 12 champion TCU, but the Sooners are efficient in their attempts on net, putting a league-best 52 percent of their shots on frame.
CARR WELCOMES 13 FRESHMEN
Carr will look to his first full recruiting class of 13 freshmen to make an impact on and off the field this season. The 13 signees come to Norman from all over the world, with seven domestic players and six internationals.
“We have high expectations for OU soccer and the 2021 class will be expected to impact the program right away and provide immediate competition,” Carr said on his freshman class. “Here at OU, we love and embrace competition as we know this will only bring out the best in all of us. By adding this class to our core group of returners, the future is bright for soccer here at OU.”
Seven of the 13 freshmen have played for the Sooners, with Weber, Ella Pappas and Sheridan Michel all tallying points for OU. Pappas scored the game-winning golden goal in double overtime to beat Nebraska with an assist going to Michel.
INTERNATIONAL FLAIR
OU soccer is quickly making a name for itself as a haven for international prospects and coaches to cement their places at the top of college soccer in America. All three members of the Sooner coaching staff are from other nations, with Carr coming from England, Gough from Wales and Bard-Martel from Canada. But the international flair in Norman reaches far beyond the touchline.
A total of seven student-athletes have elected to call Norman home, including six first-year students. Freshman forward Leo Weber was named one of Top Drawer Soccer’s top international players to watch this season, while Canadian prospects Sheridan Michel, Keera Melenhorst and Nikki Panas spent time in the Canadian youth national team program. Muriel Kroflin joins Carr’s 2021 class from Langenargen, Germany, where she spent her youth leading SC Freiburg to Bundesliga titles and playing on the German youth national squad. Norweigan players Une Hebnes Georgsen and Andrine Westlie round out OU’s international group, with Georgsen starting in net for the Norweigan youth national team at the U17 UEFA women’s qualifiers, while Westlie led Bærum SK and the league in scoring after making her debut at 14.
DIFFERENCE-MAKING TRANSFERS
Carr didn’t just retool his roster with a large freshman class but also utilized the transfer portal to bring three ACC student-athletes to Norman.
Makala Thomas spent three seasons at Florida State, helping the Seminoles to the 2018 national championship and playing in 29 games in her time at FSU. Alexis Strickland joins the Sooners from perennial powerhouse North Carolina, where she played in 27 games for the Tar Heels as a freshman before not appearing last season. The final transfer in 2021 is Molly Feighan, who played 16 games last season at Virginia Tech and started all 19 games as a junior in 2019. All three players can play any position in the attacking third for Carr’s side.
They join Erika Middleton (Miami), Sakky Yoshida (Oregon), Bri Amos (Kansas) and Olivia Odle (Virginia Tech) as transfers into the OU program.
LED BY THE SENIORS
Despite such a large group of newcomers, the Sooners’ leadership comes in the form of their 12 seniors who have combined for nearly 25,000 minutes played at the Division I level. Lauren Haivala, Jazzy Richards and Erika Middleton are all familiar names for Sooner fans, playing in over 100 matches for the Crimson & Cream.
KNOW YOUR FOES
Kansas City is set to make its first trip to Norman on Thursday. After opening the year with a 4-0 loss versus Wisconsin, the Roos knocked off Missouri State and Southern Illinois before falling to SIUE on Sunday.
The Mean Green arrive in Norman after knocking off the Sooners 1-0 in Denton last season. Led by former Vanderbilt GK Sarah Fuller, who owns three clean sheets, North Texas will look to provide the Sooners with one of their toughest test of the young season.
SERIES HISTORY
Friday’s meeting with Kansas City will be the first between the two programs. The Sooners trail their series with UNT 6-2-0 with the most recent result coming last season in a 1-0 loss to the Mean Green.
UP NEXT
The Sooners hit the road for a pair of matchups versus marquee ACC opponents in Charlottesville, Va., as Carr’s side will take on North Carolina State in a neutral-site match Thursday before taking on No. 3 Virginia on Sunday.
For updates and more information on Oklahoma Soccer, follow the Sooners on Twitter and Instagram (@OU_WSoccer) and like Oklahoma Soccer on Facebook.
Be the first to comment