Sooners Cruise Past TCU, 5-0

NORMAN, Okla. The University of Oklahoma soccer team waited till its third game of the year to record its first win, but won in impressive fashion on Friday with a 5-0 victory over visiting TCU. Two first half goals from freshman Allyson Kucera and junior Christy Kenkel was all the Sooners needed for the victory that improved OU to 1-0-2 on the young season.

For the third straight game, the Sooner freshmen stepped up and contributed on both of the first half goals.

“I am excited with the level of players we have been able to bring in,” said head coach Randy Evans about his freshmen class. “We showed tonight that we were the more athletic and skilled team out on the field. They threw everything they had at us in the first twenty minutes of the second half and we withstood it and had a heck of a counter punch with three more goals.”

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The Sooners dominated the statistics with 28 shots to TCU's 7, including a 12-4 advantage at halftime. OU also continued its recent trend of creating scoring chances on corner kicks. OU's first goal came from a corner kick off the foot of freshman Shana All for her team leading third assist that found Kucera in the box. Kucera proceeded to head the goal in for her second tally of the year at the 23:08 mark. The Sooners recorded seven corner kicks on the night while the Horned Frogs had two chances from the corner.

OU's second goal came in the 36th minute and featured a nice combination of passes in the TCU box between junior Lauren MacIver and freshman Tenesha Duncan. MacIver and Duncan combined to find Kenkel with precision passes that opened up Kenkel on the right side of the box. Kenkel scored her first goal of the season with a blast to the upper right corner that found the back of the net beating TCU goalkeeper Ashley Pierret.

Up 2-0 at halftime, the Horned Frogs started off the second half strong but were unable to penetrate OU's defense. In front of senior goalkeeper Catherine Wade who made five saves, the Sooner defense recorded its first shutout of the season. The game was scoreless in the second session until the 68:03 mark, when freshman Savannah Scott scored an unassisted goal off a deflection in the box. MacIver made it 4-0 over a minute later after she scored an unassisted goal that she flicked over Pierret after a TCU turnover in its defensive end. MacIver led the Big 12 in shots coming into Friday's game and improved upon her sixteen blasts with six more on Friday. Three of those shots were on goal.

“I think from game to game, this team should make tremendous improvements each week,” said Evans. “I expect us to be even better on Sunday and then do even better next week against Oral Roberts and Tulsa. Results like tonight are fun to see because we are working so hard in practice in between games and its great to see it all come together.”

Junior Christy Kenkel celebrates after her first collegiate goal on Friday.

Junior Becky Nelson capped off the night with the fifth Sooner goal of the evening on an assist from sophomore Katherine Hergenrether at the 76:16 mark. The fifth goal tied the record for the most goals scored at John Crain Field, a mark achieved two other times, the most recent coming on Sept. 22, 2001 against Southeast Louisiana. Friday's game also marked the most goals scored and the largest margin of victory in 54 games for OU, dating back to that same game on Sept. 22. OU has only scored more than five goals on two occasions, once in 1998 at Tulsa (6-1) and in 1997 against Drury (8-1).

OU will hit the road for nine of its next ten games starting off with Arkansas on Sunday in Fayetteville at 1 p.m Arkansas is 2-1-0 on the season after defeating Southwest Missouri State (1-0) at home on Friday night.

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Sunday's game versus the Lady'Backs is followed by trips to Tulsa, Okla., Tempe, Ariz. and four stops in Texas (Austin, College Station, Waco and Lubbock). The one home game in between that span will come on Sept. 24 when OU opens Big 12 play with Missouri.

“This road trip should be great for the team,” said Evans. “With a young team we need to gain that experience with sending them on the road. It should only help them get more comfortable for Big 12 play. If you want to seriously contend for a Big 12 Championship you have to win on the road.”

Sooner Notes

In eight all-time meetings in the series, the Sooners have a 5-2-1 record against TCU. The Sooners last lost to the Horned Frogs on Sept. 18, 1999 in Fort Worth, Texas (1-0). OU has outscored TCU 15-7 in those contests.

Friday night was a game of firsts for a couple of Sooners. Christy Kenkel scored her first collegiate goal while Tenesha Duncan and Katherine Hergenrether recorded their first collegiate assists. In addition, Savannah Scott and Becky Nelson scored their first goals of the season while Lauren MacIver recorded her first assist of 2004.

The Sooners outshot their opponent for the second consecutive game with a 28-7 count on Friday and had 12 shots on goal against the Horned Frogs. Against SMU, the Sooners bested the Mustangs 20-16 in the shot column and tied Saint Louis with 18 blast in the season opener.

Freshman Shana All recorded her third assist of the season on Friday night. All entered the game tied for the Big 12 lead in that category. All three of her assists have come off of corner kicks.

Junior Lauren MacIver led OU in shots in her first two seasons and is off to a roaring start in 2004. The captain has ripped 22 shots in three games with two goals and nine shots on goal. As a freshman, MacIver recorded 61 shots and followed that up with 69 last season.

After struggling against the opposition in 2003 in the corner kick category, the 2004 Sooners have taken advantage of the set plays from the corners, scoring three goals in three games off of headers. In three games this season, the Sooners have produced 19 corner kicks compared to nine a year ago after three games. Opponents in 2004 trail OU in the category 19-9.

OU is undefeated in five meetings against its next opponent, Arkansas. The last meeting resulted in a 3-1 victory in Norman in last season's opener. The Sooners have outscored the Lady Razorbacks 14-3 in the five contests.

University of Oklahoma Athletics

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