OU to Face No. 1 West Virginia in Big 12 Semis

Oklahoma vs. No. 1 West Virginia
Big 12 Championship
Nov. 4 | 4:30 p.m. CT | Kansas City, Mo.

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STATISTICAL COMPARISON
	OU	WVU
Record	13-5-2	17-1-1
Big 12 Record	4-3-1	8-0-0
Goals	34	39
Assists	24	39
Points	92	117
Shots	278	413
Corner Kicks	79	135
Saves	65	46
Shutouts	8	13
Goals Allowed	18	6

NORMAN — No. 4 seed Oklahoma faces No. 1 West Virginia in the Big 12 Championship semifinals at 4:30 p.m. CT on Friday, Nov. 4. The match will be played at Swope Soccer Park in Kansas City, Mo., and will stream live for free via the Big 12 Digital Network.

GAMEDAY STORYLINES

SEMIFINALS SHOWDOWN
The No. 4 seed Oklahoma soccer team is set to take on top-seeded West Virginia in the semifinals of the Big 12 Championship on Friday afternoon. The Mountaineers, the No. 1 team in the nation, took the regular season meeting between the two squads by a score of 2-0 in Morgantown, W.Va., on Oct. 2. The Sooners will be in search of their first-ever win over West Virginia and a top-ranked team. The highest-ranked opponent OU has ever defeated was No. 3 Oklahoma State (1-0 on Sept. 7, 2012).

TOURNEY TIME
The Sooners will take the field on Friday looking to secure their third appearance in the Big 12 Championship title game (placed as the runner-up in 2010 and 2014). OU finished tied for third with Baylor in the conference standings, matching their best-ever Big 12 showing (2010). Baylor was awarded the higher seed with a head-to-head victory. This marks OU's 11th conference tournament appearance all-time and its fourth under fifth-year head coach Matt Potter.

CHASING HISTORY
With 13 wins this season, the Sooners have matched the school record for victories (2005) and will look to surpass that total if they defeat West Virginia on Friday afternoon. The 13 victories already represent the most for a Sooner squad under Potter.

OFFENSIVE SURGE
This season, the Sooners have recorded 34 goals, the fourth-most in program history. The 2005 and 2010 Sooners both tallied 37 scores, while the 2001 team posted 36. The Sooners have shined offensively following halftime, with 24 of their goals coming the second half and two in overtime.

SHUTOUT STADE
So far this season, redshirt senior Kassidie Stade and the OU defense have tallied eight shutouts, including three in Big 12 play. A clean sheet against Iowa State on Wednesday afternoon gave Stade both the OU single-season record (previous high of seven: Stade, 2015; Jennifer Nichols, 2005 and 2006) and the career record with 19 (passing Catherine Wade, 18 shutouts from 2001-04).

ROAD TRIP
Away from Norman this season, the Sooners have won nine matches, posting a 7-3-0 overall record in road games and a 2-0-0 mark in neutral site contests. From Sept. 4 - Sept. 18, OU tallied five straight victories, marking the first time the Sooners have ever won five consecutive matches away from John Crain Field. Additionally, the seven true road wins are the most in a single year for the Sooners (won five in 2004, 2010), and the nine total away wins are a program record (had seven in 2010).

ALL-BIG 12 HONOREES
A program-record six Sooners received All-Big 12 accolades, led by senior defender Rachel Ressler, a first-team selection. Senior midfielder Jemma Cota, senior forward Liz Keester, junior midfielder Tori Bowman and sophomore defender Paige Welch earned second-team recognition. Freshman midfielder/defender Kristina O'Donnell earned freshman-team honors. OU's previous high in all-conference selections was three in the 2002 season.

RPI UPDATE
The Sooners check in at No. 9 this week's NCAA Women's RPI and have been ranked in the top nine in each of the six listings. West Virginia leads the Big 12 at No. 2, and the seven other conference squads also find themselves within the top 75 in Kansas (No. 20), Iowa State (No. 39), Texas Tech (No. 42), Oklahoma State (No. 43), TCU (No. 50), Baylor (No. 62) and Texas (No. 74).

SENIOR CONTRIBUTIONS
OU's seniors have without a doubt been impactful for the Sooners this season, with Kassidie Stade playing every minute in goal and Jemma Cota, Liz Keester, Shiloh Price, Rachel Ressler and Madison Saliba contributing offensively, combining for 21 goals (61.8 percent of OU's total), 16 assists (66.7 percent) and 59 points (64.1 percent).

KICKING KEESTER
Senior forward Liz Keester leads OU in goals (nine), game-winning goals (five), assists (six) and points (24) and is tied for first in the Big 12 in goals and sits second in assists. Her five game winners are tied with Renae Cueller (2012) and Logan Womack (2000) for the second-most in a single season in OU history. In other categories, Keester is currently tied for fourth in both goals and assists and shares fifth in points. For her efforts at Arizona and Grand Canyon, Keester was named the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week on Sept. 20.

20 YEARS OF OKLAHOMA SOCCER
This season, the Sooners are celebrating 20 years of the OU soccer program, which was founded in 1996.

SCOUTING REPORT

WEST VIRGINIA
• West Virginia enters the match with a 17-1-1 overall record, most recently defeating No. 8 seed Texas Tech by a score of 3-0 in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Championship on Wednesday.

• The Mountaineers have posted 13 shutouts this season, including nine in a row to match the longest streak in program and Big 12 history. No conference opponent has scored on the Mountaineers since Nov. 6, 2015.

• Twelve Mountaineers have combined to score 39 goals, led by junior forward Michaela Abam with eight. Junior midfielder Carla Portillo, junior forward Heather Kaleiohi and sophomore forward Sh'Nia Gordon have each added five goals, while sophomore forward/defender Hannah Abraham has four. Senior midfielder Ashley Lawrence leads WVU with eight assists, and Abam and Portillo have six apiece.

• Freshman Rylee Foster and junior Michelle Newhouse have both seen time in goal, playing 1239:56 and 501:42 minutes, respectively. The two have combined for just six goals allowed.

UP NEXT

With a win on Friday, OU would earn a spot in the Big 12 Championship match at 2:30 p.m. CT on Sunday against the winner of No. 3 seed Baylor and No. 7 seed TCU.