Oklahoma
N.C. State
No. 3 Virginia
NORMAN — The Oklahoma soccer team heads East for a pair of matches against ACC foes. The Sooners, riding a three-game unbeaten streak, are set to play N.C. State Thursday at 3:30 p.m. CT on the campus of the University of Virginia before matching up with No. 3 UVA Sunday at 11 a.m. CT on their home field.
Both matches will be available to watch via subscription on ACC Network.
STORYLINES
LAST TIME OUT
Powered by an early goal from Jazzy Richards and a late equalizer from Leonie Weber, the Sooners earned a hard-fought draw versus North Texas at John Crain Field Sunday night. The draw extended Oklahoma’s (3-2-1) unbeaten streak to three after double-overtime wins over Nebraska and Kansas City last week, marking the longest such streak since 2018. The Sooners have won multiple overtime matches in a season for the first time since 2019.in at least 20 years that OU has won back-to-back overtime matches.
MAINTAINING MOMENTUM
The Sooners have shown improvement early in the 2021 campaign and sit at 3-2-0 heading into the weekend. The team has already tallied 10 goals, compared to seven in 2020. In addition, the team has threatened offensively, averaging 17.0 shots per game, over five more than last season. Oklahoma’s 8.50 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 50 percent of their shots on frame.
SAVVY JAZZY
2020 Honda Inspiration Award winner Jazzy Richards has been on a tear her senior season since opting out of the 2020 season. Richards leads OU and is tied for third in the Big 12 with three goals on the year and has collected one game-winner (Last Thursday vs. KC). Richards, the spark plug off OU’s bench, is putting 71.4% of her shots on frame. The Texas native collected Top Drawer Soccer Team of the Week honorable mention accolades this week for her performances vs. Kansas City and North Texas.
QUOTABLE: COACH CARR ON ACC MATCHUPS
“Our team is in a good place. We’ve gone through some difficult opponents and we feel like it’s the right time for a good test. We know that playing against two quality ACC teams in N.C. State and Virginia will be difficult games, but we have a lot of belief in where we are and how we’ve played over the past six weeks. Should be a great challenge and our team is looking forward to it.” – Head Coach Mark Carr
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
N.C. State is riding a two-game win streak, coming into Thursday’s matchup off wins over Elon (1-0) and UNCG (3-0). Jameese Joseph leads the squad with four goals and 21 shots, putting nine on goal. In goal, Maria Echezarreta has played all 580:00 of the season for the Pack.
Third-ranked Virginia comes into the weekend undefeated (6-0-0) after recent wins over James Madison (2-0) and defending national champion Santa Clara (1-0). Diana Ordonez leads the team with five goals and 25 shots while the Hoos also have three MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List representatives in Alexa Spaanstra, Lia Godfrey and Haley Hopkins. Laurel Ivory and Cayla White have both played in goal for UVA with Ivory leading the team with seven saves on the year in 396 minutes played.
SERIES HISTORY
Thursday will be the first-ever meeting between NC State and Oklahoma. Sunday’s matchup with Virginia marks the second time in program history the Sooners have played the Cavaliers. The only other meeting between the teams came on Sept. 2, 2016, a 3-0 UVA victory in Charlottesville, Va.
UP NEXT
The Sooners return to John Crain Field for a Sept. 16 game vs. Utah Valley in Norman. The game will be available to watch on Bally Sports Oklahoma and first touch is set for 7 p.m. CT.
For updates and more information on Oklahoma Soccer, follow the Sooners on Twitter and Instagram (@OU_WSoccer) and like Oklahoma Soccer on Facebook.
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