Seniors Power OU to Win in Regular-Season Finale

Thursday, October 28

Norman

7 PM

University of Oklahoma

8-10-1, 4-5-0

Baylor

8-4-6, 4-2-3

Baylor

Oklahoma

Seniors Power OU to Win in Regular-Season Finale

October 28, 2021 | Soccer

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NORMAN — The University of Oklahoma soccer team closed the regular season with a 2-0 victory Thursday night over Baylor at John Crain Field.

The seniors were the stars of the show in their home finale, with nine seniors starting and both OU goals being scored by veterans.

OU (8-10-1) has won four of its last five and finished 6-2-1 at home.

"I'm super excited for our seniors," said OU head coach Mark Carr. "They're a special group and they've devoted their life to this program over the last four or five years.

"We talked about not looking too far ahead to the tournament, but taking care of business tonight. The conditions were so tough with the wind, and we were deserving of the win. Tonight our group that started was full of seniors and they carried us over the line–they really deserve all the credit. I'm really happy and excited for them, they earned a solid win against a Baylor team that was sitting third in the conference. That's what we're capable of and I knew we would get to this point. Now we've got everything to play for and we'll get ready for the Big 12 tournament."

Bri Amos tallied the first goal of the match in the 11th minute. After a corner kick from Megan Reilly found Cameron Tharp in the box, Tharp's shot deflected off a Baylor defender where Amos found the ball and buried it with her left foot. The goal was Amos' sixth of the season and Tharp's second assist of 2021.

Oklahoma put another early goal on the board in the 15th minute courtesy of senior Jazzy Richards. Following a handball in the box, Richards converted a penalty kick, finding the bottom left corner of the net for her team-leading seventh goal of the season.

Both teams went scoreless for the final 75 minutes of the match, with the Bears (8-4-6) narrowly outshooting the Sooners in the match, 16-14. Oklahoma put seven of its shots on goal to BU's five, while the Sooners took five corner kicks to Baylor's four.

Seniors Nikki Panas (5 saves, 84 min.) and Leah Radow (6 min.) combined for a clean sheet in goal for OU's second consecutive shutout.

Eleven of OU's 13 seniors saw playing time in the match, with the only two not seeing the pitch being inactive.

The Sooners snapped Baylor's four-game shutout streak and collected the program's first win over Baylor since 2010, snapping a 12-game losing streak.

With the win, the Sooners set a new program record for year-to-year win differential, winning seven more games in 2021 (8-10-1) than they did a season ago (1-12-2), with at least one more match to play.

Oklahoma heads to Round Rock, Texas, this weekend to meet Red River foe Texas in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Soccer Championship. The match will kick at 5:30 p.m. CT and is available to watch via Big 12 NOW on ESPN+. Tickets for the tournament are available on Big12Sports.com.

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