WEATHERFORD, Okla. (Sept. 13, 2012) – Ashley McMahon scored a pair of goals as unbeaten Southwestern Oklahoma State downed Oklahoma Christian 4-0 in women's soccer on Thursday night at Milam Stadium.
Southwestern (5-0) outshot OC 18-4 and controlled the action for most of the game, which was played at times during a driving rainstorm. The Lady Eagles (1-1) had few scoring opportunities and spent much of the second half on their own half of the field.
"It was another tale of two halves," OC coach Randall Robison said. "I thought we played some beautiful soccer in the first half. Possession was very good and composure was present. We have to do a better job maintaining our level and emotions for an entire game.
"We let a couple of calls bother us more than they should. We must learn to have a short memory when that happens. For a young team, we should take away a number of lessons from tonight."
OC was coming off a 1-0 win over then-NAIA No. 23-ranked USAO and hoped to knock off another highly regarded foe, as the Bulldogs were at No. 6 in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America's NCAA Division II Central Region rankings.
But OC was unable to capitalize Thursday while the game remained in doubt. The Lady Eagles' best chance came in the 36th minute, when Callie White tried to chip in a long free kick, but White's effort went just wide as Southwestern goalkeeper Corey LaMoureaux snagged the loose ball.
The Bulldogs broke through in the 43rd minute. During a scramble in front of the OC goal, Josie Price's pass found McMahon, who knocked it past goalkeeper Lindsey Williams to give Southwestern a 1-0 lead.
Jessica Carbonara lofted a free kick from 39 yards out just over Williams in the 56th minute to make it 2-0. Less than eight minutes later, the Bulldogs struck again. Williams was unable to smother a cross from Samantha Nunez and McMahon scored easily from about 10 yards out.
Price knocked in a corner kick from McMahon in the 84th minute to close the scoring.
Williams had five saves, while LaMoureaux was credited with two for Southwestern. Of the Lady Eagles' four shots, Haley Cantu took two while White and Addie Ryan had the others.
OC will begin Heartland Conference play on Saturday at Newman (Kan.). OC will play a home-and-home series against every conference foe except Dallas Baptist (Texas) but the results of OC games will not count in the conference standings while OC goes through the NCAA Division II membership process.
