Sooners Kick Off Preseason with First Practice

NORMAN –After a summer of conditioning and individual workouts, the Oklahoma soccer team officially opened its 2018 preseason with a pair of training sessions at John Crain Field on Wednesday.

The Sooners return 14 student-athletes from the 2017 season and welcome a large signing class with 11 athletes that will look to make an immediate impact in their first season.

“What's been interesting from today is you wouldn't know who was new and who wasn't because they've done a lot of work together over the break,” head coach Matt Potter said. “It's really cool to see how they've embraced each other and their work ethic as a unit. The highlight of the day was seeing how they've blended the two big groups together.”

“November 1, 2017 when our season ended last year has been at the forefront of our minds,” he continued. “The beauty about today is every Division 1 college team is in the exact same place as we are now. We get to build a new future together. We'll see if we can get back to the winning ways and traditions that we're used to.”

With two-a-days leading up to the season and an exhibition game as a final tune up, the Sooners will have plenty of opportunities to improve before taking the field in the home opener.

“Every practice is a chance to prove ourselves,” sophomore McKinley Crone said. “The preparation leading up to the games is what's going to win us the games. It's what we do during the week.”

“We have little time to prepare for the season itself, with limited amounts of days to practice,” sophomore Erika Yost said. “We're out here practicing every day and it's going to be hard, but we're excited about the season. We're focusing on technique and how to build a relationship with playing with everybody.”

The Sooners are set to begin their 2018 slate with an exhibition match at North Texas on Aug. 10. OU opens the regular season on Aug. 16 against Nebraska at 7 p.m. CT. at John Crain Field.