Oklahoma State University Athletics
Oklahoma State University
Maryland
Cowgirls Back In Elite Eight
November 20, 2011 | Cowgirl Soccer
Nov. 20, 2011
Box Score
STILLWATER, Okla. - With its 18th shutout of the season, Oklahoma State advanced to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Women's Soccer Championship for the second-straight year by knocking off Maryland, 1-0, Sunday afternoon at the Cowgirl Soccer Complex.
The second-seeded Cowgirls are 22-1-2 on the season and will next face No. 1 overall national seed Stanford Friday at 9 p.m. (CST) in Stanford, Calif. The Cardinal are the lone unbeaten team in the NCAA this season with a 22-0-1 record.
OSU becomes just the second team in Big 12 Conference history to make back-to-back NCAA Elite Eight appearances, joining Texas A&M, who achieved the feat in 2001 and 2002.
"It's a great feeling," OSU head coach Colin Carmichael said. "It was a tremendous game. Maryland plays in the ACC, which is undoubtedly this year from top-to-bottom the strongest conference so they play a lot of good competition. They're a good team, great in possession. We wanted to contain them a little bit and not allow them as many looks at goal, which I thought we did well."
For the second consecutive game, OSU got the only goal it needed from senior Annika Niemeier.
That score came early as just 3:56 into the match, Niemeier took a pass from Colleen Dougherty, turned on her defender and sent a shot to the far post past Maryland goalie Yewande Balogun.
"I just gave it a shot," said Niemeier, who has four goals this season, all of them coming in the NCAA Tournament. "I actually didn't expect it to go in because it was going through all the legs on the back post, and the goalie didn't even do anything. I didn't think it was going in, but it did."
Maryland (12-6-4) looked poised for the equalizer less than two minutes later after Danielle Hubka was fouled in the box and the Terrapins were awarded a penalty kick.
But OSU goalie AD Franch came up huge, diving to her left to save the penalty kick of Ashley Grove and keep the Terps off the scoreboard.
"It comes with practice and seeing different types of PKs and just hanging in there for your team," said Franch of the clutch save. "I just had to read and react, and you just do whatever you can in the moment."
Added Carmichael, "I was not surprised (Franch) saved it. Most penalties are probably 90-10 score, but with her it's 50-50. We see that in practice all the time."
With the momentum in their favor following the score and Franch's save, the Cowgirls nearly added a second goal late in the half. During a 12-second flurry, OSU recorded three shots, but Balogun made a pair of clutch saves to keep the score at 1-0.
OSU, who outshot UM by a 17-12 count, had several other near misses in the second half. In the 51st minute, a leaping Balogun saved a blast by Krista Lopez off the crossbar, and with just over 12 minutes remaining, Balogun kicked the ball away from Megan Marchesano on a 1-v-1 opportunity for the Cowgirls.
For OSU, the 1-0 victory was their 11th win of the season by that score, while Franch set a school record with her 12th shutout of the year, besting her previous record of 11 set during her freshman season in 2009.
The Cowgirls next set their sights on the nation's top team, with the goal of the first College Cup appearance in school history on their minds.
"You can see it from the reaction after the (Maryland) game; last year these guys were in the crowd jumping around, and this year, I know they're happy, but we feel like this is where we belong," Carmichael said. "We'll play Stanford and it'll be another tough game, but it'll be a game we'll expect to win, at least have a chance to win if we play well.
"The sky is the limit for these guys. We know next weekend will be a 50-50 game. That shows. They were excited, but it isn't as if we've accomplished something this season. We'll look back on this, win or lose next weekend, and it'll be a great season. But for these guys, Final Four and the national championship is what we really want."
Post-Game Quotes
OSU head coach Colin Carmichael
On his team praying with members of the OSU girls' basketball team on the field prior to the game (two Cowgirl basketball coaches were killed in a plane crash Thursday)
"I had no idea they (basketball team) were coming out like that. That was a touching moment. Hopefully, those kids for an hour-and-a-half they could be big OSU fans and enjoy it and not have to worry about what life is throwing at them.
"From our end, we're over the moon and super excited. (Monday) obviously at the memorial (for the coaches killed) is a day for grieving, and we'll do that. Then it's up to us to refocus in again and try to make the school proud."
On goalie AD Franch
"I haven't been around a keeper at any level as good as AD. I played in college with guys who are bigger and have different attributes, but they weren't as good. It's unbelievable, what she means to the team.
"A lot of times goal keepers get too much credit and a lot of times they get too much blame, but we always know AD is gonna make one or two big saves to give us a chance to win. And it gives the rest of the team so much confidence."
OSU midfielder Annika Niemeier
On being healthy and contributing after missing 10 games this season
"I'm just glad to be back at the level I'm at right now because the season was rough with injuries. Right now I really feel the best I've felt all season."
On being on an Elite Eight Team in her final season (she missed last season after suffering a knee injury in the second game of the year and was awarded a sixth-year of eligibility in 2011)
"It's just great. Last year was great to watch, just to see them be that good, and we knew we could repeat it. That's what kept me going through rehab - we knew we could be back at the same level. It's good to be back here now and playing and feeling good."
Maryland head coach Brian Pensky
Opening statement
"Congratulations to Oklahoma State. They're a very good team, well coached, organized. Obviously, we're very disappointed. We felt like we could win this game and we felt like we played well enough to win it. They capitalized on a great opportunity and they had a few more chances. We had a few more chances and couldn't score. They're a good team: they're organized, there's a reason why they have, now, 18 shutouts on the season. We're disappointed. There's nothing more difficult than the finality to losing in this tournament because it's just that: it's final and it's over and it stinks. It stinks for the kids who don't get the opportunity to do this again because this is a special time in all these kids' lives and we worked pretty hard to get here, and when it's over, it hurts. That's what our kids feel right now, so I feel sorry for them."
On how OSU's defense and goalkeeper compare to teams in the ACC
"Their goalkeeper is certainly as good as what we see, and we have very good goalkeeping in our league, too. Sometimes people have taken a knock on our league in terms of the quality of the goalkeeping, but this year in particular, there was very good goalkeeping and certainly AD (Franch) ranks right there with them and possibly the top of that. And their whole back line is good. I know they had an injury, so they had to put 24, (Elizabeth) DeLozier, back there, and she did well and certainly (Melinda) Mercado is good. They're a good team, a very organized team and they would compete at a very level in our league, no question."
Maryland forward Jasmyne Spencer
On the game
"This is the Sweet 16, NCAA Tournament. Both sides came out with a great bounce. Oklahoma State got that goal in the first four minutes, and we were kind of chasing from there. I thought we had the better of the play in battling back, but we just couldn't get another goal to equalize it. Unfortunately, we came out with the loss."
