University of Oklahoma Athletics
University of Oklahoma
Nebraska
Soccer Ready For Sunday Match With Huskers
August 28, 2021 | Soccer
NORMAN — The Oklahoma Soccer team is set to continue its four-game homestand Sunday when it hosts Nebraska for a 1 p.m. contest at John Crain Field. The Sooners are looking for their second non-conference win of the young season over the undefeated Huskers.
The match will be broadcast on Sooner Sports TV with Chad McKee and Jemma Cota on the call.
STORYLINES
LAST TIME OUT
The Sooners (1-2-0) outshot Oklahoma State 11-10 on Thursday night, but were downed 2-0 in a non-conference Bedlam match. Nikki Panas returned to the field for the first time in 2021, starting in net for OU. The match marked the first game back for OU fans since the COVID-19 pandemic as 1,045 members of Sooner Nation poured into John Crain Field to mark the fourth-most attended home game over the last five seasons.
NIGHT AND DAY
Under the guidance of second-year head coach Mark Carr, the Sooners have started to find their stride in the 2021 campaign. The team has notched five goals and averages 13.7 shots per game this season, after scoring seven goals in all of last season and averaging 9.9 shot attempts each match.
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 in the Sooners' opening three matches, with Weber, Ella Pappas and Muriel Kroflin all tallying points for OU.
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 12 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.
KNOW YOUR FOE
Nebraska (3-0-0) enters Sunday's match with a perfect record and is outscoring opponents 10-1 on the year. The team's 10 goals in three matches is the fastest offensive start for the Huskers since 2003. Led by 27th-year head coach John Walker, the team snapped an eight-game road losing streak on Thursday when it dispatched Baylor 2-1 in Waco. Starting goalkeeper Sami Hauk has a pair of shutouts on the year and was named the Big Ten GK of the Week last week. Reagan Raabe leads Nebraska with seven points on the year.
SERIES HISTORY
The Sooners trail the all-time series with Nebraska 13-4-2 with the most recent contest taking place in 2019 when the two teams played to a 0-0 draw.
UP NEXT
Following Sunday's contest, the Sooners remain in Norman for a pair of non-conference matches that conclude their homestand. Kansas City arrives in Norman on Friday for a 1 p.m. showdown, with North Texas coming to John Crain Field on Sunday for a 5 p.m. match. Both contests will be broadcast on Bally Sports.
For updates and more information on Oklahoma Soccer, follow the Sooners on Twitter and Instagram (@OU_WSoccer) and like Oklahoma Soccer on Facebook.
