Sooner Women's Soccer Hosts ORU Sunday @ 7 PM - Seeks 2-0 Start

[OUBeliever56A]

The Oklahoma Sooners Women's Soccer Squad host Oral Roberts on Sunday at 7 PM at John Crain Field. The Sooners will be looking to win their second match in a row in 2023 under new Coach Matt Mott after defeating Tulsa on Thursday evening.

In 2023, Oral Roberts won all three of the exhibition matches in their preseason as they defeated Seminole State JC 5-0, John Brown on the road 2-1 and USAO 2-0. The played Texas A&M-Commerce last night in their season opener and tied 2-2 with all the goals scored in the first half. ORU was 10-9-3 in 2022. OU defeated ORU in 2022 5-2 in Tulsa. ORU also has a first year coach in Julianne Sitch.

The starting lineup (3-2-3-2) seems to be set for the Sooners with this arrangement.

GK - Ramey #0 and Giorgio #1 splitting time with Ramey getting two starts.
DEF - A. Wolfe #19, Stevens #4, England #8
Mid-DEF - Parkhurst #6, Kroflin #22
MID - Washington #12, Pak #7, Weber #31
FOR - Hawkins #2, D. Wolfe #16
Primary Subs - Clifton #23 DEF, Matise #9 Mid-DEF, Brown #14 MID, Murrell #5 MID, Wagner #20 FOR, Eikelbarner #24 FOR, Pappas #15 MID

Good luck to the Sooners tonight vs ORU!

Boomer Sooner!

[AustinTXSooner]

On the broadcast, Chad McKee said that Mott wanted to name a single goalkeeper, equating that to naming a single quarterback in football. While the competition between Ramey and Giorgio was close, I think the only reason Ramey came out of the game on Thursday was because of the injury.

In looking at the boxscore, the players who played more than 45 minutes were:
84 England
79 Pak
79 Wolfe, Andie
78 Kroflin
65 Weber
57 Clifton
56 Ramey
52 Wolfe, Dani
51 Parkhurst
50 Stevens
50 Eikelbarner
47 Washington

I'm glad to see Pak getting a lot of playing time. I've always thought her skills were really good, but she was never getting a lot of minutes. We had two substitutes play more than 1/2 the game, Clifton and Eikelbarner. Hawkins is the only starter not on that list. She played 44 minutes and of course, scored 3 goals with an assist. I think her starting spot is safe.

[OUBeliever56A]

I agree 95% that it looks like Ramey isthe #1 GK. But I will say that Giorgio kicks the ball deeper than Ramey. But while that is nice, it is not the main purpose of the GK. Ramey was probably lifter as a precautionary move with a very comfortable lead.

It is very safe to say that Hawkins had a short day due to the 3 goals and getting others moe experience.

Clifton gives the Sooners more speed on the backend on defense. At one point, when Clifton came in, England moved up to the Mid-Def line.

[OU Guy]

[OUBeliever56A]

The Oklahoma Sooner Women's Soccer Team put together a very good second half against ORU to pick up their second win of the season in a 4-2 Win over Oral Roberts University on a hot, tough night to play at John Crain Field. The Sooners are now 2-0 on the young season. First thing to mention here is that the physical conditioning in the heat for OU seems to be top notch. Several of the players (8) played over 60 minutes in the contest last night. To do that, someone is doing an excellent job with the team with conditioning and hydration as well as the players doing what is required to get ready to play.

The starting lineup (3-2-3-2) was as I thought it would be against ORU. (xx) = minutes played

GK - Ramey #0 (90)
DEF - A. Wolfe #19 (90), Stevens #4 (45), England #8 (90)
Mid-DEF - Parkhurst #6 (55), Kroflin #22 (69)
MID - Washington #12 (63), Pak #7 (82), Weber #31 (78)
FOR - Hawkins #2 (71), D. Wolfe #16 (63)

Subs were: Murrell #5 FOR (53), Clifton #23 (45), Eikelbarner #24 (36), Matise #9 (33), Wagner #20 (19) and Brown #14 (8).

The starters are playing well with the subs doing their jobs well when they are on the pitch. Last night he Sooners had possession of the ball 53% of the time by the stats. I would sy it felt like more than that, specially in the 2nd half.

ORU attacked well in the first 27 minutes. In the 4th minute of the match ORU made an very nice outlet pass on the outside right of the Sooners where Samantha See ran the ball down and carried the ball into their offensive end on the right side of the box almost unchallenged until the last 20 yards by the Sooners. See sent in a nice cross in front of the goal that found Samantha Guzman for a one touch goal to give ORU the early lead 1-0. OU got caught when they were bunched in the middle of the field in transition on the goal and despite effort, they could not recover quickly enough.

In the 27th minute, trailing 2-1, ORU broke down the middle of the pitch from the midfield area. ORU carried the ball towards OU's goal and with one pass ORU was 1-on-1 with Haley Nichols closing on OU GK Ramey. Nichols slide the ball to Ramey's left for the 'too-easy' goal.

I have certainly never played GK and I have no real experience with soccer but it seems like on some crosses close to the front of the goal, that a GK could intercept those shoulder-high passes across box at times. I thought maybe with a bit more aggression, the first goal might have been stopped by the GK on the pass across the box. Again, no criticism intended as it would take a quick read of the pass and a quick move by the GK, it is just an observation, hopefully a decent one.

The Sooners did quickly rebound from the 1-0 defecit as the Sooners scored in the 12th minute to tie the score. The Sooners first goal came on a free-kick after a foul just outside of the box slightly right of center. Leonie Weber smartly guided her quick just under the crossbar and slightly left of the GK with enough pace for the nicely placed goal. It was Weber's 2nd goal of the season.

Oklahoma took the lead 7 minutes later on a very nice textbook goal. Danni Wolfe feed the ball into Leonie Weber in the middle of the box. Weber then drew a crowd as she calmly passed the ball out to her right to Emma Hawkins who easily kicked the ball into the goal for a 2-1 lead for OU.

The game was tied at 2-2 going into the 2nd half. OU took the lead for good 3-2 in the 12th minute of the 2nd half on an unassisted goal by Hadley Murrell. After a pass into the box by D Wolfe the ball was finally gathered in by the ORU GK. The GK tried to quickly pass the ball with an underhand toss out to her right side for a quick transition. Getting up off the ground, Hadley reached out with her right foot and deflected the roll pass only a foot or two our of the ORU GK'ers hand. Murrell quickly gained control and used her left foot for a goal into an empty net. Pure hustle by Murrell. This was the first Sooner goal of Murrell's career.

In the 26th minute of the second half, Muriel Kroflin centered the ball into the box and on a deflection the ball bounced out to the left side of the players. The ever-alert and very quick Emma Hawkins stepped around a couple of ORU players and got the ball and kicked it into the goal before there was much reaction from ORU to make the score 4-2. It was Hawkins' 5th goal of the season.

Not meaning to overlook anyone, but I think that Calley England and Andie Wolfe are playing very well on the defensive back. OU is relying on them to be final check against the other team's offense. They are stepping up to do so. I also think that Cassie Clifton as a sub is also playing very well on defense. In the midfield and outside area of the pitch several players for OU are playing well. Michelle Pak is really playing well in the midfield area and is playing many balls to gain possession and to start the offense going forward. Alexis Washington is very effective at moving the ball forward and can go right or left against the defense. I thought she played her best game yet even without tallying any points. Muriel Kroflin and Leone Weber are also playing well helping to maintain possession in the midfield area and to 'serve' the ball into the box from the midfield area. Neither of them are particularly fast but they know what they can do and get it done much of the time. Danielle Wolfe is fitting into the scheme of play along side of Hawkins. She will find the back of the goal before long. Hawkins is just, well, what Emma Hawkins is. She is a phenom at picking up loose balls in the box for quick goals as well as being a very good passer. Murrell and Morganne Eikelbarner provide a spark off the bench and sometimes much more.

Avery Stevens and Zoe Parkhurst as beginning to make ore of a contribution on the defensive end and in midfield as the step into starting roles. The big thing is that they are keeping the ball in front of them, which is never a bad thing. Keller Matise and Chelsea Wagoner are also adding good play in reserve roles. I thought Kellis Brown played better in limited minutes last night.

The Sooners will host their final home game in the month of August on Thursday night against Ark-Pine Bluff in a 7 PM start at John Crane Field.

The Sooners are off to a great start at 2-0 as they have outscored their opponents 10-2.

Boomer Sooner!

[OU Guy]