Sooners Head West for California Road Trip

Oklahoma at No.16/17 Cal
Sept. 15 | 3:30 p.m. CT | Berkeley, Calif.

Oklahoma at San Francisco
Sept. 17 | 3 p.m. CT | San Francisco, Calif.

Live Stats (Cal)

Live Stats (USF)

Notes

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2017 STATISTICAL COMPARISON
	OU	CAL	USF
Record	2-4-1	5-1-0	2-4-1
Goals	5	9	6
Assists	3	8	2
Points	13	26	14
Shots	77	89	86
Corner Kicks	30	27	23
Saves	30	19	51
Shutouts	1	2	1
Goals Allowed	8	4	15

NORMAN —The Oklahoma soccer team will once again travel west, this time for a two-match California road trip. The Sooners will face No. 16/17 Cal on Friday at 3:30 p.m. CT, before taking on San Francisco on Sunday at 3 p.m. CT.

Friday's match will air on the Pac-12 Networks (Bay Area). Rich Cellini and National Soccer Hall of Famer Cobi Jones will call the action.

GAMEDAY STORYLINES

UNFAMILIAR FOES
Over the last two weekends, the Sooners have faced at least one team for the first time in program history, going 1-1 with a loss to Boise State and a win over Illinois. OU will face two more new teams this weekend in California and San Francisco. The Sooners are no stranger to the state of California, having faced 12 teams from the state in program history. All-time, Oklahoma is 4-13-1 against California teams and 38-57-4 in the first meeting with a team.

WEEKEND RECAP
After suffering back-to-back 1-0 losses on the road, the Sooners bounced back with a 2-1 win over Illinois on Sunday. Kristina O'Donnell put Oklahoma on the board with her first career goal in the 24th minute to give the Sooners a 1-0 advantage going into halftime. Kaylee Dao netted the game winner, the sixth of her career, in the 51st minute to give Oklahoma its second win of the season.

MILESTONE REACHED
Sunday's victory over Illinois marked the 100th home win in Oklahoma soccer history. The Sooners are now 100-69-21 all-time at home. The win also puts Matt Potter just three wins away from reaching 50 wins as the head coach of the Sooners.

SOONERS PICKED THIRD
OU has been picked third in the Big 12 Soccer Preseason Poll in a vote of conference coaches. This matches the highest preseason Big 12 ranking in program history for the Sooners, with the 2016 squad also claiming third.

West Virginia was picked as the unanimous selection to win the league. Kansas was selected to finish second, and Texas Tech was tabbed fourth. Baylor, Oklahoma State, and TCU were next at fifth, sixth and seventh, while Texas and Iowa State claimed eighth and ninth. Kansas State, which enters its first season as a member of the Big 12 soccer league, rounded out the preseason poll in tenth.

WELCH NAMED TO PRESEASON ALL-BIG 12 TEAM
Oklahoma junior defender Paige Welch was named to the Preseason All-Big 12 Soccer Team on Aug. 9. The Austin, Texas, native has started all 41 games she has played in as a Sooner. In her two first two seasons, Welch has helped OU to 17 shutouts. Welch owns three career goals, all game winners. Her 12th-minute goal against SMU in the first round of the 2016 NCAA Tournament helped the Sooners advance during last year's postseason run.

SCOUTING REPORT

CALIFORNIA
Ranked No.16/17 in the polls, California is currently 5-1 on the season, with the lone loss coming to the Sooners' Sunday opponent, San Francisco. Cal's 11-member freshman class was ranked No. 3 in the nation by TopDrawer Soccer and eight of the 11 have already seen action, with two starting every game thus far. Under head coach Neil McGuire, the Golden Bears have made the NCAA Tournament every season since 2007. Cal is 11-2-1 at home since the start of the 2017 season and currently 3-0 at home this season. Senior goalkeeper Emily Boyd has 28 career shutouts, the most in Cal women's soccer history and the sixth-most by any active player in the country.

SAN FRANCISCO
The Dons are 2-4-1 on the season, but picked up a major win over then No. 6 Cal on August 25, shutting out the Bears 1-0. USF is coming off a tough loss to No. 1/2 Stanford, dropping a Friday match 8-0 on the road. Sonja Giraud leads the team with three goals and 19 shots on the year. Samantha Jehnings has a pair of goals and an assist. In goal, Olivia Camera has 51 saves on the season and one shutout. Jim Millinder is in his sixth season at the helm of the women's soccer program.

UP NEXT

The Sooners open Big 12 play with the second Bedlam match of the season on Sept. 22. OU will travel to Stillwater for a 4 p.m. matchup against the Cowgirls. Non-conference play will wrap up on Sunday, Sept. 24 with a 6 p.m. game at Loyola Marymount.