SHAWNEE – Oklahoma Baptist's first home contest comes on Sept. 7 when the Bison host Texas Woman's at 6 p.m. at the OBU Soccer Complex. The green and gold will follow that up with a quick trip to Edmond on Sept. 9 to face UCO at 7 p.m.
Thursday's game will be streamed on the Bison Sports Network.
Bison Quick Notes
- In the first two matchups of the season, OBU fell against two, top-25 ranked opponents in Minnesota State-Mankato and Cedarville. Those came by 7-0 and 1-0 tallies, respectively.
- This Thursday's matchup will mark the sixth meeting between Bison and Pioneers, with the Bison leading the series 3-2.
- Last year against the Pioneers, the Bison came away with a 2-0 victory in Denton.
- Alanna Bloomingdale and departed senior Katie Fowler scored the two goals as the Bison out-shot TWU 19-8.
- Mia Pendleton will look to continue her strong defensive efforts after saving five shots against Cedarville.
- After last Saturday's strong defensive performance versus CU, OBU will look to increase their offensive attacks after averaging five shots on-goal in its opening weekend.
Pioneers Quick Notes
· The 2022 season was TWU's second-worst season in program history, notching one win.
· However, coach Babak Abouzar's team is off to a great start this year with a 2-0 record.
· TWU is coming off a 2-0 victory against GAC institution East Central on Sept. 5.
· Coming into 2023, the Pioneers were picked 11th in the Lone Star Conference's Preseason Poll.
· TWU looks to even the series with OBU, 3-3, this coming Thursday. The last time it came to Shawnee, in Sept. of 2019, they won 1-0.
· Alyssa Striker has scored both game-winning goals for the Pioneers this season.
· One notable returning player, Alyssa Valdez, a 2022 All-LSU Third-Team selection, has one goal and one assist so far this season.
· Amanda Farris, a transfer from the University of Houston, was selected to the Lone Star Conference's Goalkeepers to Watch List last month.
· The Pioneers added 14 new players to their roster coming into this campaign.
Bronchos Quick Notes
- Last season, UCO finished 11-6-4, placing fifth in the MIAA while making a trip to the NCAA Tournament.
- This will be their last season under coach Mike Cook, who has been on the sideline for 25 years. Coming into this year, he owns a 347-149-40 overall record at UCO and has 435 total wins when combining his record at Southern Nazarene.
- The Bronchos were picked 5th in the MIAA Women's Coaches' Preseason Poll
- UCO returned 22 players from a team that averaged 1.65 goals per game a year ago and allowed 1.05 per contest last season.
- Through two matches this year, UCO has tied twice (0-0-2); that includes a 3-3 draw with Angelo State, after leading 3-1 in the final 10 minutes of the match on Aug. 31.
- Four different players have scored goals this year: Albany Adair, Jaci Decker, Amaya Grace and Izzy Van Zanten. A season ago, Grace was a Second Team All-MIAA selection.
- In the last meeting with the Bison in 2022, the Bronchos won 1-0.
