Creighton University
Oklahoma State
Women's Soccer Falls Just Short in Match with No. 5 Oklahoma State
9/2/2011 10:24:00 PM | Women's Soccer
OMAHA, Neb. - The Creighton women's soccer team did all that it could on Friday night, but still came out just shy of #5 Oklahoma State, falling 1-0 in front of 756 fans at Morrison Stadium. Inclement weather forced an early end to the match, stopping play with 3:40, but not before the Cowgirls took advantage of one of their eight shots on goal to net the only goal of the match in the 64th minute of play. The Jays are now 13-6-4 overall in home openers, 6-4-3 under Erickson.
The two teams played scoreless soccer through the first half, recording nearly even stats as well. Both teams finished the first frame with three shots on goal, while OSU held the advantage in shots (6-5) and corner kicks (6-0).
"I was really happy with how we competed tonight against a very good OSU team," said head coach Bruce Erickson. "I thought our back four held up well, our midfield fought hard and initiated our attack and our forwards were aggressive in running at their defenders."
"In the end, we didn't create enough quality chances to beat a very good OSU team."
The Cowgirls took control of the match early, applying heavy offensive pressure and taking two corner kicks within the first minute and five seconds of play. OSU recorded the first shot of the match as well, as Kyndall Treadwell took a shot in just the fourth minute of play.
Erin Gunther applied the first pressure for the Jays, taking a shot in the 13th minute of play. Two more OSU shots, including one by OSU's leading scorer Taylor Mathews that sailed just over the crossbar, proved to be the end of the Cowgirls offensive threat for the half.
Creighton took four of the last six shots of the half. The best scoring chance by the Jays came on a Beth Fyles shot with just 19 minutes left in the opening frame. Fyles received a lead pass from Lauren Cingoranelli, but her shot was blocked just wide of the goal.
The second half was again controlled early by the Cowgirls, taking the first five shots of the half, the final resulting in the only goal of the match. Alicia Montgomery stopped the first four, but OSU's Megan Marchesano scored her second goal of the season, taking a cross from Abbey Akin and one-touch by Colleen Dougherty and knocking it just under Montgomery from five yards out.
The Jays didn't stop fighting, taking five shots in the second half. Creighton found themselves down a player in the 84th minute, when Erin Gunther picked up her second yellow card of the match. Still, the Jays battled and produced the best scoring chance of the half. Cingoranelli shielded her defender and found herself with the advantage, taking a shot from just outside the 18-yard box. The ball just hit off the top of the cross-bar, going up into the Creighton student section.
Just three minutes later, the match was suspended due to heavy lightning and poor weather conditions in the area. Both teams and all fans cleared Morrison Stadium. The match was then called 35 minutes later, resulting in a 1-0 OSU win.
Creighton finished the match with 10 shots, four on goal, while the Cowgirls took 15 shots, eight on goal. Montgomery had seven saves, allowing just one goal, and falls to 1-1-0 on the season, while OSU keeper Rosa Medina improves to 3-0-0.
The win improves Oklahoma State to 6-0-0 on the season, while the Jays drop to 2-1-0. Creighton will be back in action on Sunday, hosting South Dakota in a 2:00 pm start at Morrison Stadium.
History Repeating Itself: This is not the first time the Oklahoma State Cowgirls were delayed due to weather in Omaha. On Sept. 7, 2001, OSU was playing UNI in the Creighton Bluejay Classic at Tranquility Park. The match was delayed by storms on Friday night, forcing two matches on Saturday, with both the OSU-UNI match finishing and Creighton and Temple then taking the field.
