Stillwater – A single second-half goal by Xcaret Pineda was enough to propel Oklahoma State to a 1-0 victory over Oral Roberts in the Cowgirls' home opener Sunday night (August 18) at Neal Patterson Stadium.
With the win, OSU improved to 2-0-0 on the young season, while the Golden Eagles fell to 0-2-0.
ORU returns to action at home on Thursday, Aug. 23 against McNeese State.
The Cowgirls dominated the match statistically, out-shooting the visitors by a 34-4 margin and owning a 6-3 edge in corner kicks.
OSU recorded 15 shots on goal, with ORU goalie Alexa Riefer making a spectacular 14 saves.
The shot-on-goal and corners advantage was too much even for Riefer's stellar showing.
In the opening half, 13 different Cowgirls attempted shots with some solid chances from close range and distance, but none found their way into the goal.
On the defensive side, OSU held the Golden Eagles to just a single shot in the opening 45 minutes, and the match went into intermission scoreless.
In Minute 56, a corner kick by the Golden Eagles nearly resulted in a score as the ensuing shot attempt got past goalie Grace Gordon.
But Chloé Joseph was there on the near post to save the ball off the line, kicking it out of harm's way to keep the match at 0-0.
It wasn't until the Seventy-eighth minute that OSU was able to secure the game's only goal, the game-winner.
After Logan Heausler sent a pass to Lexi Lee at the top of the 18-yard box, Lee flicked the ball to Pineda, who took one dribble to her right and rifled a shot to the near post past Riefer and into the net.
Gordon posted her second shutout of the season for the Cowgirls, finishing the match with three saves.
The Cowgirls return to action Thursday at Neal Patterson Stadium against Bedlam rival Oklahoma. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
( https://okstate.com/news/2024/8/18/cowgirl-soccer-tops-oral-roberts-in-home-opener )
Historic win at Nebraska launches season of hope
At the season opener in Lincoln, Nebraska, a pair of second-half goals lifted Oklahoma State to a 2-0 win over No. 6 Nebraska at Hibner Field.
Lee and fellow sophomore Adelhia Ghonda found the back of the net as OSU notched its first win over a top-10 opponent since beating No. 4 West Virginia, 2-1, in double overtime in Stillwater in 2020.
It also marked the Cowgirls' first top-10 road win since a 2-1 double overtime triumph at No. 6 Penn State in 2019.
Nebraska owned a 22-13 advantage in shots-on-goal in the match and also had nine corner kicks to three for OSU, but it was the Cowgirls who made the most of their opportunities.
The game went into the halftime break scoreless.
OSU had a pair of solid chances from distance in the opening half.
The Cowgirls' first shot of the match came from Logan Heausler on a low attempt that was saved.
In the twenty-first minute, Pineda blasted a shot from 25 yards out that carried just wide of the near post.
The Cornhuskers had opportunities prior to intermission, but the OSU defense held strong.
The Lady Huskers recorded nine shots in the first half, including an attempt by Jordan Zade in the thirty-first minute that deflected off the near post.
OSU would break the scoreless affair in the sixty-seventh minute.
From just inside midfield, Laudan Wilson delivered a beautiful pass ahead that hit Lee in stride. Lee took a dribble to her left to beat charging NU goalie Samantha Hauk and then tapped it into the open net.
Just over eight minutes later, the Cowgirls doubled their lead.
After intercepting a pass, Reganne Morris drove the ball to the top of the 18 and sent a pass to Ghonda in the middle of the box.
After one touch to beat her defender, Ghonda delivered a strike to the near post.
That made the score 2-0.
The Huskers tallied four shots over the final 15 minutes in their comeback attempt, but Grace Gordon and the OSU defense rose to the occasion for a shutout.
Gordon finished with four saves in the match, all coming in the second half.
Exhibition win over Tulsa Golden Hurricane in Stillwater
The Cowgirls were dominant in a preseason home exhibition match against the Tulsa Golden Hurricane.
In a 5-1 contest, Lee and Pineda each scored twice, and Morris also tallied a goal to lift the squad.
OSU outshot Tulsa by 28-5 margin overall -- and recorded seven corner kicks to just one for the visitors.
Pineda got the scoring started in the fourteenth minute as she created space and blasted a 20-yard shot to the near post.
Lee would get her first score at minute 34 as she found herself on the end of a beautiful cross from Katelyn Hoppers just in front of the goal.
Lexi tapped in a shot to give the Cowgirls a 2-0 advantage that they carried into intermission.
Then ten minutes into the second half, Cowgirls freshman R. Morris, set up Lee for her second goal of the night.
Pineda converted a penalty kick opportunity in the 69th minute to put OSU up 4-0, and A. Morris capped the scoring by juking a defender at the top of the box and drilling a shot to the far post for the Cowgirls' fifth goal.
Three Cowgirls saw time in goal. Gordon minded the net in the opening half before Jaidy Gutierrez Campos and Logan Marks closed out the game and split OSU's only two saves of the night.
The Cowgirls have high hopes for the 2024 campaign.
( 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 )
Fans and eagerly anticipate the 7 p.m. Thursday contest versus the Lady Sooners, who will travel to Stillwater after crafting their own 2-0 start.
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