Oklahoma State University Athletics
Oklahoma State University
Oral Roberts
Spring Exhibition Opening Weekend A Success For Cowgirls
March 09, 2015 | Cowgirl Soccer
STILLWATER, Okla. -- Oklahoma State opened its 2015 spring exhibition season last weekend with a pair of shutout wins in Tulsa.
Head coach Colin Carmichael's Cowgirls began the day with a 3-0 win over Butler Community College before topping host Oral Roberts by a 3-0 margin.
"Our girls were excited and energized to get to play some opponents other than ourselves," Carmichael said. "We were able to play a lot of the girls who didn't get as much playing time in the fall and also some of our younger players, and several of them were able to step up and make the most of it. Those kids work hard and deserve that reward."
Against Butler, Ashton Hierholzer and Morgane Loiseau combined for the shutout in goal, and the Cowgirls got goals from Joanna Robertson, Courtney Dike and Holly Brehmer.
The game against ORU saw Dike score another goal while Kelsey Bass and Madison Mercado also found the back of the net. Recording the shutout was the combination of Hierholzer and Michela Ongaro, who was seeing her first action since the 2013 season after missing 2014 with a knee injury.
"We've been working on a new system and being able to do it against another team that isn't familiar with what we're trying to do was important," Carmichael said. "We saw a lot of positives, we moved the ball well and had some nice combination and build-up play, and there were three or four things that we picked out that we need to work on and do better at."
OSU will return nine starters from last year's NCAA Tournament team in 2015, including five seniors, and Carmichael said the veteran leadership has been apparent this spring.
"Last spring, we did not have a good spring, and we've talked about trying to make the most of these opportunities to improve for next season," Carmichael said. "So far, so good. The girls have been training hard and last weekend was a good performance. We're not going to get carried away - it's a spring game and we've got five more left to build some momentum.
"The older players have been there and done that and know what's expected so hopefully they can carry that through the spring."
OSU will return to action March 29 when the Carmichael's squad hosts Midwestern State at the Cowgirl Soccer Complex.
