OU Hosts Baylor for Senior Night

Thursday, October 28

Norman

7 PM

University of Oklahoma

Baylor

Buy Tickets

October 27, 2021 | Soccer

Watch Live Stats Tickets Match Notes

Oklahoma

Baylor

Thursday, Oct. 28 / 7 p.m. CT / John Crain Field

Tickets / Bally Sports Oklahoma / Live Stats / Match Notes

NORMAN — The University of Oklahoma soccer team (7-10-1) returns to John Crain Field following a two-game road swing for Senior Night and the regular season finale at 7 p.m. Thursday versus Baylor (8-3-6). The match is available to watch on Bally Sports Oklahoma and tickets are still available via SoonerSports.com/tickets.

STORYLINES

LAST TIME OUT

The Sooners enter Thursday's match winners of three of their last four and off a 1-0 win over Iowa State in Ames on Sunday afternoon for their third win in their last four games. Both teams battled the wind and rain all game but the Sooners controlled the pace of the match and found the game-winner in the 89^th minute courtesy of Bri Amos off an assit from Erika Yost to secure their spot in the Big 12 Soccer Championship beginning this Sunday, Oct. 31..

MAINTAINING MOMENTUM

The Sooners have shown vast improvement from 2020 and sit at 7-10-1 heading into the regular season finale and winners of three of their last four matches. The team has tallied 26 goals, compared to just seven in 2020. In addition, the team has threatened offensively, averaging 13.6 shots per game. The Sooners are efficient in their attempts on net, putting 49 percent of their shots on frame. Senior Jazzy Richards leads the team with six goals, followed closely by fellow seniors Bri Amos (5) and Megan Reilly (4). Senior keeper Nikki Panas has been a force in goal for the Sooners in 2021, making 56 saves.

SENIOR NIGHT

Oklahoma Soccer will honor its 10 seniors plus three super seniors prior to Thursday's match: Bri Amos, Erika Middleton, Olivia Odle, Leah Radow, Megan Reilly, Jazzy Richards, Cameron Tharp, Makala Thomas, Paige Thompson, Lauren Tovy, along with super seniors Lauren Haivala, Nikki Panas and Erika Yost.

"This Senior and Super Senior class collectively means a lot to me. When I first arrived at OU, we needed to move quickly to reset and realign our program and they were instrumental in their buy in to that process. They have learned so much and have brought us to this point where we are today. I am so proud of them all and I will forever be grateful to these strong, courageous young women on how they intentionally worked every day to move OU soccer forward and leave our program in a better place." – head coach Mark Carr

KNOW YOUR FOE

Baylor comes to Norman 8-3-6 on the season and off a 0-0 tie with West Virginia on Sunday. The Bears are averaging just over 1.4 goals/game and allowing opponents under one goal per contest. Sophomore Mackenzie Anthony paces the team in goals with eight while junior Elizabeth Kooiman leads the team with five assists. Redshirt senior Jennifer Wandt has started all 17 games in goal for BU, recording 61 saves and allowing 13 goals on the year.

UP NEXT

The Sooners will learn their seeding in the Big 12 Soccer Championship after the final regular season games have been played Thursday. The tournament begins Sunday, Oct. 31 in Round Rock, Texas, at the Round Rock Multipurpose Complex.

Session 1 matches are set to begin on Sunday with quarterfinal games scheduled to begin at 11:30 a.m. CT, 2:00 p.m., 5:30 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. Semifinals will follow on Thursday, November 4 with matches slated for 4:30 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. The championship match will take place at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, November 7.

All-session passes are priced at $12 and are available for purchase at Big12Sports/buytickets.

CARR WELCOMES 13 FRESHMEN

Carr will look to his first full recruiting class of 13 freshmen to make an impact on and off the field this season. The 13 signees come to Norman from all over the world, with seven domestic players and six internationals.

"We have high expectations for OU soccer and the 2021 class will be expected to impact the program right away and provide immediate competition," Carr said on his freshman class. "Here at OU, we love and embrace competition as we know this will only bring out the best in all of us. By adding this class to our core group of returners, the future is bright for soccer here at OU."

Seven of the 13 freshmen have played for the Sooners, with Weber, Ella Pappas and Sheridan Michel all tallying points for OU. Pappas scored the game-winning golden goal in double overtime to beat Nebraska with an assist going to Michel.

INTERNATIONAL FLAIR

OU soccer is quickly making a name for itself as a haven for international prospects and coaches to cement their places at the top of college soccer in America. All three members of the Sooner coaching staff are from other nations, with Carr coming from England, Gough from Wales and Bard-Martel from Canada. But the international flair in Norman reaches far beyond the touchline.

A total of seven student-athletes have elected to call Norman home, including six first-year students. Freshman forward Leo Weber was named one of Top Drawer Soccer's top international players to watch this season, while Canadian prospects Sheridan Michel, Keera Melenhorst and Nikki Panas spent time in the Canadian youth national team program. Muriel Kroflin joins Carr's 2021 class from Langenargen, Germany, where she spent her youth leading SC Freiburg to Bundesliga titles and playing on the German youth national squad. Norweigan players Une Hebnes Georgsen and Andrine Westlie round out OU's international group, with Georgsen starting in net for the Norweigan youth national team at the U17 UEFA women's qualifiers, while Westlie led Bærum SK and the league in scoring after making her debut at 14.

DIFFERENCE-MAKING TRANSFERS

Carr didn't just retool his roster with a large freshman class but also utilized the transfer portal to bring three ACC student-athletes to Norman.

Makala Thomas spent three seasons at Florida State, helping the Seminoles to the 2018 national championship and playing in 29 games in her time at FSU. Alexis Strickland joins the Sooners from perennial powerhouse North Carolina, where she played in 27 games for the Tar Heels as a freshman before not appearing last season. The final transfer in 2021 is Molly Feighan, who played 16 games last season at Virginia Tech and started all 19 games as a junior in 2019. All three players can play any position in the attacking third for Carr's side.

They join Erika Middleton (Miami), Sakky Yoshida (Oregon), Bri Amos (Kansas) and Olivia Odle (Virginia Tech) as transfers into the OU program.

LED BY THE SENIORS

Despite such a large group of newcomers, the Sooners' leadership comes in the form of their 13 seniors who have combined for nearly 25,000 minutes played at the Division I level. Lauren Haivala, Jazzy Richards and Erika Middleton are all familiar names for Sooner fans, playing in over 100 matches for the Crimson & Cream.

For updates and more information on Oklahoma Soccer, follow the Sooners on Twitter and Instagram (@OU_WSoccer) and like Oklahoma Soccer on Facebook.