Soccer Announces Competitive 2021 Slate

NORMAN – University of Oklahoma head soccer coach Mark Carr released his program's 2021 soccer schedule Tuesday.

The Sooners will play 19 regular-season contests, highlighted by nine home matches.

"We're so excited about our 2021 schedule and getting back to normalcy with full-capacity stadiums," said Carr, who is starting his second season with OU. "When we put this schedule together, we wanted to make sure that we tested our team to the max so that it could have different experiences to prepare us for the goals we've set."

Following an exhibition match against Air Force at 7 p.m. on Aug. 9 in Norman, the Sooners will open their regular season on the road with matches at Houston and Lamar on Aug. 19 and 22, respectively.

Bedlam returns to Norman for a home-slate-opening non-conference match at 7 p.m. on Aug. 26.

The homestand will continue on Aug. 29 when Nebraska comes to Norman for the third time since the Huskers joined the Big Ten. The Sooners then take on Kansas City and North Texas at John Crain Field on Sept. 3 and 5.

The second road trip of the season takes Oklahoma to Charlottesville, Va., where it is set to face off against North Carolina State on Sept. 9 and 2021 NCAA semifinalist Virginia on Sept. 12.

OU's non-conference home schedule closes on Sept. 16 when the Sooners host WAC champion Utah Valley for the first time in program history. The Sooners then travel south to SMU on Sept. 19 to conclude their non-conference slate.

Conference play will continue with the Thursday/Sunday format, which was introduced in 2019.

The Big 12 schedule opens Sept. 26 when the Sooners host rival Texas at 7 p.m. in Norman before heading to West Virginia on Oct. 1 and defending Big 12 champion TCU on Oct. 7.

Oklahoma is set to welcome Kansas on Oct. 14 and will look to win its second straight versus Kansas State when it hosts the Wildcats on Oct. 17. Freshman Cailey England netted a game-winning golden goal when the Sooners and KSU faced off in Norman last spring.

The annual conference Bedlam match is set for Oct. 21 in Stillwater when Carr's squad will look to claim the Bedlam Trophy. The Sooners then close their regular season road schedule Oct. 24 in Ames versus Iowa State, a series that OU leads 13-11-3.

The regular season closes Oct. 28 when the Sooners host Baylor on senior night.

The Big 12 Championship is set for Oct. 31-Nov. 7 in Round Rock, Texas, and the NCAA Tournament's first round is scheduled for Nov. 12-14.

The Sooners' schedule features five teams that made the condensed NCAA Championship in 2021 and five more that appeared in the 2019 tournament.

"There are no easy games in Division I soccer," Carr said. "We'll have to focus game by game, respect every opponent and attack each game with a relentless mentality. We have had a lot of transition in this last year and I know that our team is hungry and driven going into this season. We have lofty goals for ourselves and we know we have a lot of work to do before August. I can't wait for camp to open Aug. 2 and get to work with our team."

John Crain Field is slated to operate at full capacity for the 2021 season and fans can put down a deposit on season tickets for $30. Single-game tickets will go on sale at a later date and fans can fill out an interest form for any OU sport.

"We're pumped to play in front of a full-capacity stadium and we will need our fans in the stadium as the 12^th man," Carr said. "I hope that Sooner Nation will come out and see our new-look team that we've been able to build. We have a responsibility to them to bring the energy and intensity that is always associated with any Sooner team."

The Sooners will welcome 15 new faces to the roster in 2021, highlighted by a freshman class of 13 and a pair of impact transfers in Lexi Strickland (North Carolina) and Makala Thomas (Florida State).

2021 Schedule
Date	Opponent	Site	Time (CT)
Aug. 19	at Houston	Houston, Texas	7 p.m.
Aug. 22	at Lamar	Beaumont, Texas	7:30 p.m.
Aug. 26	Oklahoma State	John Crain Field	7 p.m.
Aug. 29	Nebraska	John Crain Field	1 p.m.
Sept. 3	Kansas City	John Crain Field	7 p.m.
Sept. 5	North Texas	John Crain Field	5 p.m.
Sept. 9	NC State^	Charlottesville, Va.	3 p.m.
Sept. 12	at Virginia	Charlottesville, Va.	11 a.m.
Sept. 16	Utah Valley	John Crain Field	7 p.m.
Sept. 29	at SMU	Dallas, Texas	7 p.m.
Sept. 23	at Texas Tech*	Lubbock, Texas	7 p.m.
Sept. 26	Texas*	John Crain Field	7 p.m.
Oct. 1	at West Virginia*	Morgantown, W.Va.	6 p.m.
Oct. 7	at TCU*	Fort Worth, Texas	1 p.m.
Oct. 14	Kansas*	John Crain Field	7 p.m.
Oct. 17	K-State*	John Crain Field	1 p.m.
Oct. 21	at Oklahoma State*	Stillwater, Okla.	7 p.m.
Oct. 24	at Iowa State*	Ames, Iowa	1 p.m.
Oct. 28	Baylor*	John Crain Field	7 p.m.