Oct. 9, 2009

Box Score in PDF Format

STILLWATER, Okla. - Oklahoma State suffered its sixth one-goal loss of the season Friday night as 14th-ranked Texas A&M knocked off the Cowgirls, 1-0, at the Cowgirl Soccer Complex.

The loss was the fourth in a row for OSU, which dropped to 7-7-0 overall and 1-5-0 in Big 12 Conference play. Nora Skelton scored the game's lone goal in the 11th minute as Texas A&M improved to 8-4-1 and 3-1-1 in the league.

The Cowgirls outshot TAMU by a 19-18 margin and held a 9-4 advantage in shots on goal, but for the second-straight game, they could not find the back of the net.

"It's the story of our season really," said OSU head coach Colin Carmichael. "We played well. I'm tired of saying the same thing over and over -- we played well, but we just can't score when we need to. We did have a lot of opportunities. I can't fault the effort, I can't fault the application of the team. We made one mistake in the back, and they capitalized. On another day, we could have had three or four goals. I'm just disappointed in the result."

OSU had the first good scoring opportunity just over seven minutes into the match when the Aggies were whistled for a foul at the top of the 18-yard box. Annika Niemeier took the free kick for the Cowgirls, but TAMU goalie Kristin Arnold made a diving save to keep the home team off the scoreboard.

Less than five minutes later, the Aggies would convert a scoring opportunity as Rachael Balaguer delivered a cross that Skelton blasted to the near post from 15-yards out for her second goal of the season.

In the second half, OSU's offense came out of the locker room energized. With just over two minutes gone in the second half, Kasey Langdon took a shot from the top of the eight-yard box that was saved by TAMU goalie Kelly Dyer.

The save was the first of seven second-half saves for Dyer, who turned the Cowgirls away time and again in the final 45 minutes.

With 34 minutes remaining in the match, OSU nearly got on the board off a corner kick, but a leaping Dyer saved Carson Michalowski's header off the crossbar.

In the 63rd minute, OSU was on the attack again. This time, it was Niemeier who sent a shot from 15-yards out that was just inches wide of tying the game.

Adding to OSU's list of near misses was a shot by Elizabeth DeLozier, which came less than two minutes after Niemeier's shot went wide. DeLozier drilled a shot from 32-yards out that Dyer once again saved off the crossbar.

Down but not yet out, the OSU attack nearly converted with just over eight minutes remaining in the match. Katie Richardson sent a cross into the box that brought Dyer out of the goal, but Niemeier was just a split-second late of receiving the pass and creating an open-net opportunity.

OSU freshman goalkeeper AD Franch held the Aggies to the lone goal with a pair of diving saves in the final 10 minutes of the match.

OSU returns to action Sunday when the Cowgirls host Texas at 1 p.m.