Sooners Suffer First Loss Of 2004

NORMAN, Okla. The University of Oklahoma soccer team (2-1-2) was unsuccessful in winning its third straight contest after suffering a hard fought loss at Oral Roberts on Friday, 1-0 in overtime. ORU (5-1-0) won its fifth straight game after suffering a loss in the season opener to Texas Tech (6-2).

The Sooners are now 6-2 lifetime against the Golden Eagles with the last loss coming in the 1997 season, a 2-1 loss in double overtime.

“Obviously the result is disappointing,” said Oklahoma head coach Randy Evans. “When you out play an opponent like we did tonight, you win that game 99 times out of a 100. We dominated a majority of the game but ORU fought hard. We just could not find a way to put the ball in the back of the net.”

Box Score

After a scoreless 90 minutes of action, the Sooners forced their third overtime game of 2004 and were 2:53 away from double overtime before ORU's Moriah Chinnock scored an unassisted goal to put away the Sooners.

The Sooners dominated the shot count with an 18-10 advantage led by juniors Becky Nelson (5) and Lauren MacIver (4).
OU had numerous chances to score, one just thirty seconds into the game, but could not connect.

In the Sooners' first four games, they took advantage of the corner kicks and set plays to score against the opposition with a goal in each contest. The Sooners did manage four corner kicks on Friday night, a season low, but were unable to score against the Golden Eagles.

Senior captain Catherine Wade started the contest for OU and was relieved by freshman Jennifer Nichols at halftime. Wade never had to turn away an ORU shot while Nichols recorded two saves in her 52-plus minutes of action. Nichols's record falls to 1-1-2.

“I am actually thrilled with our performance because we played hard,” added Evans. “The key to success this season will be to identify a consistent goal scorer. We need to find someone to rely on offensively and we are still searching for that.”

OU will look to rebound in the final game of the Oklahoma Shootout on Sunday, Sept. 12 at Tulsa University at 7 p.m.