Sooners Drop Hard-Fought Match to No. 1 WVU

Oklahoma

¹West Virginia

Stat Comparison
Category	OU	WVU
Shots	5	23
Shots on Goal	1	5
Corners	5	7
Fouls	7	11

Scoring Summary
Player	Assist	Time
WVU: Grace Cutler	Kadeisha Buchanan	40:24
WVU: Sh'Nia Gordon	Amandine Pierre-Louis	89:20

Goalkeepers
Player	Mins	GA	SV
OU: Kassidie Stade	90:00	2	3
WVU: Michelle Newhouse	90:00	0	1

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — In the semifinals of the Big 12 Championship, the Oklahoma soccer team dropped a hard-fought match by a score of 2-0 to No. 1 West Virginia on Friday night at Swope Soccer Village.

The No. 4 seed Sooners came out of the gates firing, with senior midfielder/forward Madison Saliba tallying a shot in the second minute that went just right of the post. However, the West Virginia defense limited OU for the rest of the half, not allowing another shot in the frame.

OU (13-6-2) finished the contest with five shots against a Mountaineer defense that has now tallied a program-record 10 straight shutouts, and West Virginia (18-1-1) recorded 23 shots. Saliba led the Sooners with two looks, while senior forward Liz Keester had OU's lone shot on goal of the match. Senior midfielder Shiloh Price and sophomore defender Angela Boyle also added one shot each.

"Losing hurts. It's that simple, and while we have positives to reflect on from the game, we leave disappointed not to progress but wish West Virginia well," fifth-year OU head coach Matt Potter said. "They showed their class with the opportunities created and finished and that was the difference."

The Mountaineers jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the 41st minute off a goal from sophomore forward Grace Culter. OU redshirt senior goalkeeper Kassidie Stade made a diving save on a shot from senior defender Kadeisha Buchanan, but Cutler corralled the rebound and sent the ball into the net.

In the 90th minute, WVU clenched the match when sophomore forward Sh'Nia Gordon scored off an assist from junior defender Amandine Pierre-Louis following a long run.

OU's best look of the second half came in the 71st minute off a misplayed ball by the Mountaineers. Keester controlled the ball and sent a cross to Saliba, whose shot went just wide right.

Stade finished with a save in the full 90 minutes in goal, while junior Michelle Newhouse grabbed three saves for WVU.

On Monday, OU will learn of its NCAA Tournament fate. The selection show will air live at 3:30 p.m. CT on NCAA.com. This season, the Sooners are celebrating 20 years of their program, which began in 1996.

"We look forward to hearing our fate Monday with the NCAA Tournament selection show," Potter said. "To be sitting there excited to see where and who we play versus wondering whether we are in marks the progress the program has made. This team isn't ready for the season to be over, so I'm sure they will respond from today's loss and look forward to next weekend."