Norman – The University of Oklahoma women’s soccer season begins in just a few weeks.
As a tune-up, OU has a home exhibition match against the Nebraska Cornhuskers set for August 9.
Oklahoma enters a new environment with the intense competitiveness of the Southeast Conference (SEC).
In all, the Lady Sooners will play 18 matches during the regular season. That includes ten contests at the friendly confides of John Crain Field.
The fall campaign will open on the road at North Texas on August 15.
The home opener is August 18 versus Florida International. Home, sweet home will also be the setting for the historic first SEC match against Mississippi State – on September 19.
The Sooners visit Oklahoma State for a Bedlam tilt on Aug. 22, then return to Norman for a four-match homestand.
First on the list are the Golden Eagles of Oral Roberts (Aug. 25), followed by Stetson Univesity (Sept. 5), Missouri State (Sept. 8) and the University of Louisiana-Monroe (Sept. 12).
OU then travels up the Turner Turnpike to take on the Tulsa Golden Hurricane on Sept. 15.
After the September 19 match with Mississippi State, John Crain Field will be the locale for OU’s SEC foes Kentucky, Georgia, Arkansas and Ole Miss.
Oklahoma Soccer season tickets are now available for purchase here:
( https://soonersports.evenue.net/events/SCS )
General admission seating for all 10 home regular season matches is $40 for adults and $32 for both youth (ages 6-18) and seniors (ages 55 and up).
A look back for the Lady Sooners in soccer
OU scored a major upset at their final regular season Big 12 Soccer championship tournament. In a game held at the Round Rock Multipurpose Complex in Texas, the Lady Sooner defeated the Oklahoma State Cowgirls 1-0.
The victory was satisfying for the OU program, which has an all-time record of ten wins, 31 losses and five ties versus Oklahoma State
The OU women's team had lost nine games in a row to the Cowgirls. Entering the tournament as the tenth-seed, they sent the No. 7 Cowgirls home earlier than expected.
OU had a 6-1 first half edge in corner kicks against OSU. OU goalie Olivie Ramey made four key saves (three of them within a two-minute time frame) in that half.
For the winning (and only) goal, OU's Esalenna Galekhutle raced past a pair of Cowgirls, putting her shot from 18 yards out into the top right to get past OSU's Grace Gordon, one of the Big 12's best keepers.
In the breakthrough match, Ramey had seven saves, versus Gordon's five for OSU. In the match, "OU finished ... with a 12-11 edge in shots, while recording 11 corner kicks to three for the Cowgirls."
( https://www.citynewsokc.com/sports/oklahoma-state-women-s-soccer-fall-2024-matches-will-include-oklahoma-and-oral-roberts-with/article_7e8cd9b4-426a-11ef-99c1-9b3106529e47.html )
The victory over Oklahoma State is the reason the Sooners look with hope to a new era and a new year.
In 2023, OU women’s soccer record showed eight wins, ten losses and two ties.
Someone New -- and other reasons for Sooner Optimism
OU Fans anticipate good things from an incoming freshman defender, Savannah Wiley. She comes to campus from Marcus High School in Flower Mound, Texas. She was captain of the Texas Class 6A women’s champions – a good student named academic all-district and to the National Society of High School Scholars. Savannah was 2022-23 first-team with the String Black club squad in the Elite Club National League
She comes to Norman from a soccer family (her father played professional in Germany), and plans to major in kinesiology/physical therapy.
Returning for the Lady Sooners is Alexis Washington, a seasoned veteran. She secured a spot on the 2022 Big 12 All-Freshman Team and is a good student -- 2023 Academic All-Big 12 First Team.
She is the program’s single-season assist record-holding, with nine back in 2022, not to mention 14 career assists.
Last year (her sophomore season), she started all 20 matches (one of only four Sooners to do so). She played “full 90s” (every minute of regulation) against both Cincinnati and Texas last October – and repeated that twice against the Cowgirls in October.
Alexis came to Norman from IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, where she was the Most Valuable Player honoree.
( https://soonersports.com/sports/soccer/roster/alexis-washington/17233 )
Matt Mott is the OU women’s soccer head coach. His assistants are Richard Beebe, Jessica Hiskey, and Warren Ross. Georgia Russell is director of operations.
In May, Coach Mott touted the arrival of three transfer athletes for the upcoming season. They are Abigail McNulty (after four seasons at Boston University), Meredith King (who played one year at Ole Miss, and three years at Liberty University) and Morgan O'Connor (after four seasons at Ole Miss, and a red-shirt year at University of Central Florida).
NOTES: Editor Emeritus Pat McGuigan is an experienced sports reporter. In younger days, Pat was a middle school co-ed soccer coach for eight years.
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