Niall Crick, USAO’s head women’s soccer coach, ended his first game as head coach with a dominating victory. The team’s season opener was held at McLaughlin Field against the Louisiana State University of Alexandria (LSUA) Generals in triple degree Oklahoma heat.
USAO, ranked 23rd in the NAIA preseason poll, put up 18 shots on goal (SOG) throughout their 90 minutes of play, which ended in six goals. The Generals couldn’t keep pace with the Drovers with only six SOG ending with one goal.
“We’re definitely proud of the team. We put a lot of work in over the last two weeks, and you never know. You think you’re doing the right things; you think the team’s on the right track, but you never know until they take the field for a real game. So, it’s good to see that the players are buying into what we are asking of them and willing to compete. So, yeah, proud of the players,” Crick said.
Daniela Salinas, a freshman forward, scored the first goal of the game and of her career as a Drover with a ball from Alicia Rey, a senior midfielder. The next Drover goal came roughly two minutes later from Rey, off an assist from Avery Walker, a sophomore midfielder. The third and final goal of the first half was another ball by Rey, with another assist from Walker, in the last minute.
The second half kept its momentum for USAO, as Walker and Rey switched places, allowing Walker to score her first goal of the season off Rey’s assist. The Generals finally found their way back into the battle with their one and only goal by Theresa Languaer. Dagbjort Gudmunsdottir, a freshman midfielder, scored her first goal as a Drover in the 55th minute of the game off a double assist by Rey and Walker. Gudmunsdottir followed it up with an unassisted goal 11 minutes later, which put USAO ahead 6-1.
Caitlin Bishop, a junior goalkeeper, protected her goal for almost 90 minutes; Bishop recorded five saves in her time between the goal posts. Ashlyn Lonberg, a sophomore goalkeeper, took Bishop’s place after a couple of rough plays in the final few plays of the game.
“Well, we definitely got to get better at our defensive transition. We gave them quite a lot of space in the first half and to play out, especially in the midfield. Just moments where we switched off mentally on the defensive side of things and against a stronger, more athletic opponent we might have got punished in those moments. So, that’ll be the focus in the next couple games as we go into what should be a much, much tougher test for us on Tuesday.”
The Drovers will load up for their next game Tuesday, Aug. 22 in Olathe, KS. USAO will play MidAmerica Nazarene at 3 p.m.
Emily Loughridge is a third-year communication major at the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma.
