OU Drops ORU; Wins Fifth Straight

STILLWATER, Okla. -- The OU soccer team defeated Oral Roberts, 4-1, on Sunday in Stillwater, Okla., to conclude the Oklahoma Shootout and record its fifth consecutive victory. The Sooners used four first half goals to cruise to the victory.

OU has scored 15 goals, to the opposition's three, during its current winning streak. The winning streak is the second-longest streak in school history and is one game shy of tying the school record set by the 2002 team that opened the season with a perfect 6-0 record.

Sunday's victory improves OU's overall record to 7-1 and it marks the best start in the program's history (previous best: 6-2 in 2002). The Golden Eagles dropped to 3-4 on the season and trail the Sooners 7-2 in the series.

Oklahoma State, this year's host, won the Oklahoma Shootout with a 2-0 mark and a plus-seven goal differential. The Sooners opened the Oklahoma Shootout on Friday with a 3-0 win over Tulsa in Norman. Lauren MacIver, Tenesha Duncan and Jenny Jones were all named to the All-Tournament Team. The Sooners are 8-2 lifetime in the annual event.

Box Score: OU 4, Oral Roberts 1 | Updated 2005 Stats

On Sunday, junior Savannah Scott and sophomores Lauren Harris, Lauren King and Duncan all netted goals for OU, who has scored multiple goals in each of its seven victories this season. Sunday's offensive outburst in the first half marked the fifth time in school history that an OU team had tallied four scores in a half (last was Sept. 27, 2002 vs. Baylor in Norman).

“I am thrilled with our overall performance today,” said Oklahoma head coach Randy Evans. “Our offense really dominated the first half, but unfortunatelyl we ran out of energy in the second 45 minutes. Once again our defense was solid because Jenny (Jones) continues to do a great job of anchoring the defense with the help of Andrea (Hurley) and Helen (Ajufo) in the back.”

MacIver, who became the first Sooner in the program's history to score a goal in four consecutive games on Friday, did not find the back of the net but managed to assist on OU's third and fourth goals. The Tulsa, Okla., native is now tied atop the OU career assists list with 15.

Colleen Keester and Kady Kelly also recorded assists in Sunday's contest.

“We knew coming into the season that one of the major keys to our success was Lauren's health,” said Evans. “So far we have benefited from her being over 100 percent. She is playing better right now than what she was before she tore her ACL last year.”

MacIver, a senior captain, fired eight shots in the contest, helping the OU offense continue an all familiar trend this season. OU outshot Oral Roberts 25-11 on Sunday, including a 20-7 edge in the first half. The Sooners have outshot the opposition, 142-60, in its seven wins this season. The Sooners also held a 4-2 advantage in corner kicks against ORU.

Sophomore goalkeeper Jennifer Nichols made four saves to improve to 7-1 this season. Nichols has played every minute in OU's goal this year and owns an impressive 0.72 goals-against average. For ORU, Stef Gurley fell to 3-3 after allowing the four first-half goals. Gurley made four saves before being relieved by Shelbi Morrison.

OU will look to extend its five-game winning streak on Sept. 23 with the last non-conference game of the season against Texas State. It marks the first-ever meeting with the Bobcats and Friday's action will start at 7:30 p.m. at John Crain Field. The Sooners will then open Big 12 play on Sunday, Sept. 25 in Norman against No. 21 Texas.

“I think we still need to improve our organization and our ability to read what we need to be doing earlier (in a game) in order to score,” added Evans. “Before today, a majority of our goals have been coming in the second half and we need to take control of the game early on and carry that momentum throughout the game for a full 90 minutes.”

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