Sooners Dominate Lamar, Earn First Win

Sunday, August 22

Beaumont, Texas

7:30 PM

University of Oklahoma

1-1-0, 0-0-0

Lamar

1-1-0, 0-0-0

Oklahoma

Lamar University

Photo by: Joshua R. Gateley

Sooners Dominate Lamar, Earn First Win

August 22, 2021 | Soccer

Box Score Highlights Home Tickets

By: OU Athletics Communications

BEAUMONT, Texas – The Oklahoma soccer team claimed its first win of the season Sunday night at Lamar, scoring three first-half goals and a final tally in the second half to beat the Cardinals 4-0.

The win concludes a season-opening road trip that saw the Sooners (1-1-0) split two games and create momentum heading into the team's upcoming four-game homestand.

"Tonight was a big step in the right direction for us," second-year head coach Mark Carr said. "The product that we put out versus Houston on Thursday wasn't good enough, and so to see us respond positively was really good."

The Sooners, with five changes in the starting lineup after 3-1 loss at Houston, pressed early in search of the opening goal. The breakthrough came in the seventh minute when two freshmen from Germany, Muriel Kroflin and Leonie Weber, connected to put OU up 1-0. Kroflin sent a cross into the box that found a wide-open Weber, who headed the ball across the net and off the left post before it crossed the end line for the freshman's first collegiate goal.

"It feels amazing to help the team get a win," Weber said. "The energy tonight was a lot better than last time. From the first whistle until the last, we were the better team and I'm really pleased that I could help the development of the game by scoring early on. I know that I speak for the team when I say that we're looking forward to the challenge that Oklahoma State brings."

Oklahoma kept the pressure on Lamar (1-1-0) and was rewarded in the 36th minute when Erika Yost and Ella Pappas split the Lamar backline with a one-two pass, leading Pappas to send a low cross into the box that connected with Jazzy Richards, who gave Carr's side a commanding 2-0 lead.

The third goal of the half came off the boot of senior transfer Molly Feighan, the first goal of her OU career after three seasons at Virginia Tech. Bailey Wesco was fouled just past midfield, and Sakura Yoshida quickly sent the free kick to Feighan up the wing, who took a shot from 35 yards out and snuck it under the crossbar to put Oklahoma up 3-0.

The Sooners continued to show their offensive firepower in the second half when Bri Amos netted her second goal of the season in the 67th minute off a perfect cross from Megan Reilly to put Oklahoma up 4-0, a scoreline that held until the final whistle.

"For us to get four goals from four different people speaks to the depth that we have on this roster," Carr added. "High-level competition among your team is how you get better and so for us to get production from so many different players tonight was big."

Freshman goalkeeper Une Hebnes Georgsen used a diving save in the 83rd minute to earn a clean sheet in her first collegiate start. The clean sheet marks an OU keeper's first road shutout since Nikki Panas' 1-0 win over Iowa State in 2019.

"It's great to keep a cleen sheet," Georgsen said. "But I couldn't have done it without my team. The result definitely gives us all some confidence that we can use and now we have to focus on Bedlam later this week."

The Sooners tripled Lamar in the shot column, tallying 21 attempts to the Cardinals' seven. Oklahoma's 12 shots on goal are the most of the Carr era, and OU's four goals are the most since it scored four in a win over San Francisco on Sept. 7, 2018.

Oklahoma returns to Norman on August 26 for a non-conference Bedlam match with No. 16 Oklahoma State at John Crain Field. The match will be broadcast on Sooner Sports TV, and fans can purchase tickets for the game through OU Athletics.