University of Louisville
#14 OKLAHOMA STATE
No. 26 Cards Edged by No. 14 Oklahoma State
September 12, 2008 | Women's Soccer
Sept. 12, 2008
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The 26th ranked University of Louisville Cardinal women's soccer team battled for 90 minutes in a physical, hard fought match, but were unable to pull the upset of #14 Oklahoma State Friday evening at Cardinal Park.
"We played extremely well tonight but unfortunately didn't get the result we had hoped for," noted Head Coach Karen Ferguson-Dayes.
Louisville (1-2-1) struck first.
Off a throw-in, Shannon Smyth laid a ball back to Caitlin Beck who served it into the six-yard box where it was deflected by Cowgirl keeper Erin Stigler, but an opportunistic Mallory Lampson buried the deflection to give the Cards a 1-0 advantage at the 4:26 mark of the first half.
It was Lampson's first goal of the season and marked the second time this season that the Cards struck for a goal in the first five minutes of a match. Lindsay Boling scored in the first minute of the season opening win over Butler.
The Cowgirls (5-0-0) evened the count in the 10th minute when a cross by Kasey Langdon found Kyndall Treadwell whose shot was glanced off of a Cardinal defender into the net. It was her fifth goal of the season.
Smyth just missed the net wide left in the 15th minute when her shot was deflected wide and the Cards were whistled offsides on the ensuing corner kick. Ashley Auld put a shot on net that was stopped by Stigler in the 27th minute.
Hermann Award finalist Yolanda Odenyo gave the Cowgirls the lead for good when she gathered a loose ball and scored from inside the top of the 18, for her fourth goal of the season and a 2-1 lead at 28:14.
Cardinal freshman keeper Chloe Kiefer made the initial stop on a shot by Odenyo in the 39th minute, but was knocked down by Melinda Mercado as the ball rolled into the net for a 3-1 OSU lead that they would take into the half.
"Oklahoma State is a very good team, but I feel like a bad call on the 3rd goal was a deciding factor. It's hard to accept, but we must - and we will. We learned a very valuable lesson tonight, as we have in all of our games thus far, and we know that will only make us stronger," Ferguson-Dayes added.
Louisville came out of the half with renewed vigor and controlled play through the first 10 minutes and were rewarded when Boling lined up a direct free kick from 30 yards out and curled it inside the far post to cut the lead to one.
It was Boling's second goal of the season.
The Cardinal back line and Kiefer stopped the next four Cowgirl shots.
Louisville created a corner in the 63rd minute, but a foul was whistled on the Cards to thwart the scoring chance.
Kiefer made two more stops before Beck put a shot on goal and Auld sent a shot just wide in the 72nd minute.
Odenyo was stopped twice by Kiefer and later hit the post on a header in the 80th minute.
The Cards pressed into the attacking third in the final ten minutes, but Auld had her shot stopped by Stigler and Smyth had a scoring attempt blocked.
Kiefer and Stigler each finished the night with five saves.
Smyth and Auld each had five shots to lead the Cards. OSU had a 22-15 shot advantage, with shots on goal 8-7 in favor of the Cowgirls.
Sunday the Cards will head to Oxford, Ohio to face Miami at 1:00 p.m. ET.
