Oklahoma Soccer Faces 4th Tough Week in SEC Play: TX and Arky

[OUBeliever56A]

The Oklahoma Sooners Soccer Team will play their 6th and 7th top SEC team this week as that will travel to Austin to face Texas (2-2-1 SEC and 9-2-2 Overall) on Thursday before returning to Norman to face Arkansas (4-1-0 SEC and 9-1-1 overall) on Sunday at John Crain Field.

When the week is completed, the Sooners will have played 7 of the top 10 teams in the SEC standings and 7 teams with an RPI of #45 and higher. That is tough competition to face.

The Sooners (1-3-1 SEC and 8-4-1 overall) still seem to be a good team despite the recent setbacks as the Sooners are 0-2-1 in their last 3 matches. Their RPI is #25 in the country which is probably good enough to make the tourney at the end of the season with more success in their last five matchs of the year and can get into the SEC Tourney to end the season.

First up is Texas on Thursday. What is new about Texas is that they are not ranked. Previously this year they have been ranked. It looks like the loss of Trinity Byars (FWD) after the first five matches has slowed the Longhorn offense. Byars scored 5 goals and had 3 assists in the first five matches. Texas scored 13 goals in those first five matches. Without Byars they have scored 15 goals in 8 matches. That is a drop of 2.6 goals/match to 1.875 goals/match. But Texas has been very good in goal as they have only allowed 9 goals in their 13 matches for a goals against mark of 0.69.

The Texas offense now goes through potential Lexi Missimo and Amalia Villarreal. Missimo has 7 goals and 8 assists. Villarrealy has 5 goals and 5 assists. The Sooners back line on defense and GK Duffy will have to be conscious of the two scorrs for Texas. I wonder if we will see more of the matchup back line as OU played against Georgia last week as England and Wolfe tried to mark two Georgia players 90% of the time. The midfield will be crucial to limit the play forward by Texas. By design, the Sooners end up with only two or three players in the middle of the pitch with two sooner wide. The Sooners get outnumbered in the middle of the pitch and that allows advances forward by their opponents.

On offense the key is to keep possession time up by controlling the ball more and work the ball up field by short, crisp, passes and by pushing the ball foward with runs by Pappas and Washington on the outside. Then the Sooner need to get more players in fron of the net for centering passes and better shots. If the Sooners can increase their possesion time, it will help their defense and their offense. Oklahoma has only scored 5 goals in 5 SEC matches. That has to improve for the Sooners to be successful in 2024. Weber, Green and McNulty need to find the net with shots more, espeically lately.

Good luck to the Sooners on Thursday in Austin against Texas. It would be a nice to start of the Red River Rivalry in 2024 with a win on Thursday before the big game on Saturday!

Boomer Sooner!

[OUBeliever56A]

Here is the pre-match article about the OU at Texas Red River Rivalry match in Soccer on Thursday night.

https://soonersports.com/news/2024/10/9 ... er-rivalry

Good luck tonight to the OU women's soccer team.

Boomer Sooner!

[OUBeliever56A]

The Oklahoma Sooners dropped their match to Texas 1-0 on Thursday night in Austin. In the 18th minute of the match, Lexi Missimo stepped infront of a Sooner defender and received a pass from a Longhorn running free with the ball from the outside right of the Sooner goal. Missimo on a header put the ball past the Oklahoma GK, Duffy for the games only goal.

Duffy kept OU in the match as she stopped four or five good shots on goal as OU's defense back "row" alllowed too much open space on the outside and llowed the Longhorns to approach the box unmarked. OU changed things a bit from what I saw. The put Clifton back as a sweeper defending where there was pressure on the back line. In front of her were King, Wolf and England. King and England was pushing more forward than normal often having to rush back to help Wolfe and Clifton.

OU had trouble generating good scoring opportunities in the box due to a lock of possession and a lack of controlled passing moving the ball to a scoring position. OU had two big chances for goals, maybe three. OU manauvered the ball to Murrell out in front of the box and she kicked a powerful shot through a seam only to find the Texas GK there to handle the shot. OU got fouled at the top of the 18 box just on the left side of center. Weber tried to kick the ball into the goal and almost did as hit hit just above the centerline of the cross bar as it bounded back past the goal.

The last chance was when Pappas got fouled in the box and OU was awarded a Penalty Kick. Texas had not allowed a PK goal this year. Weber tried to go low right and the Texas GK Justus spoiled the shot as she punched the ball outside the goal to stop the scoring opportunity in the 64th minute.

OU drops to 1-4-1 in SEC Play, Texas moves to 3-2-1 in SEC Play.

Oklahoma will host Arkansas on Sunday at 2:00 PM at John Crain Field. Arkansas won 5-0 over Tennessee on Thursday night in Fayetteville and is now 5-1-0 in SEC Play.

Boomer Sooner!