The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
University of Texas
Oklahoma
No. 21 Soccer upended by Oklahoma, 2-0
09.25.2005 | Soccer
NORMAN, Okla. -- Despite having a goal called back and another would-be score kicked off the goal line, No. 21 Texas could not overcome two second-half goals by the Sooners en route to dropping a hard-fought 2-0 decision to Oklahoma in front of 378 fans at John Crain Field on Sunday, Sept. 25.
With the shutout victory, the Sooners improve to 9-1-0 overall and 1-0-0 in Big 12 play, while the Longhorns drop to 3-5-1 on the season and 0-2-0 in conference action.
A tightly-contested match from the outset, both defenses controlled the tempo as OU narrowly outshot Texas by a 5-4 margin during the first period of play. While Amy Burlingham (Costa Mesa, Calif.) had a goal called back due to a foul in the box during the 30th minute of action, neither side was able to get a shot past goalkeepers Dianna Pfenninger (Sugar Land, Texas) for UT and Jennifer Nichols for Oklahoma as the game remained deadlocked at 0-0 entering the halftime intermission.
In the second period, both teams stepped up their offensive attacks, but the Sooners were the first to strike as Tenesha Duncan finished a pass from Lauren MacIver during the 55th minute of play to notch her fourth goal of the year and stake OU to a 1-0 lead. While the Horns would manage to outshoot the Sooners 10-7 in the second period, it was Oklahoma that again found the back of the net next as Savannah Scott posted her fifth goal of the year at 70:47 off assists from Kady Kelly and Jayme Seetin to push the advantage to 2-0. Although Texas continued to pressure the OU net, Nichols and the Sooner defense held off the barrage, which included a Caitlin Kennedy (Euless, Texas) shot that was cleared off the goal line during the final 20 minutes, to preserve the 2-0 win. Picking up the victory in goal for Oklahoma was Nichols, who made two saves on the afternoon, while Pfenninger shouldered the loss despite matching a career-high with four saves over 90 minutes of action.
"We had some chances today, but again did not capitalize when we had the opportunity," UT head coach Chris Petrucelli said. "At this point, our team needs to learn from these losses and get back to work in order to be ready for two more important conference games at home next weekend."
Headlining the respective offenses were five players for Texas with two shots apiece, including Kelsey Carpenter (Allen, Texas), who upped her team-leading total in that category to 33, and MacIver, who fired a match-best three shots while picking up an assist for Oklahoma.
The Longhorns now return home to Myers Stadium for a 7 p.m. Central match presented by Time Warner Cable against the Baylor Bears on Friday, Sept. 30.
