Box Score OKLAHOMA CITY (Oct. 24, 2015) – The goal for Oklahoma Christian down the stretch of the 2015 season is to capitalize on the Lady Eagles' improvement and set the table for an even better 2016 campaign. OC took a step toward both those goals on Saturday against Rogers State.
Areli Bermudez Delgado and Rubí Villegas Aguilar scored second-half goals off assists by
Madeline Roseke and OC held on for a 2-1 win over the Hillcats on a cool, damp afternoon at the Eagle Soccer Field.
OC (5-8-2, 2-4-1 Heartland Conference) finished ahead of only one team in the league last season during a 2-14-2 campaign, but already has guaranteed it will finish above three teams in 2015. With a win over Newman (Kan.) in the season finale next Saturday, the Lady Eagles could finish as high as fifth in the nine-team league and record at least six wins in a season for the first time since 2011.
"That will show how much improvement, the big strides that these girls have made," OC coach
Randall Robison said. "It's a much, much improved team and I want them to get that reward. I want them to get that payoff for all the work that they've put in.
"The playoffs may be out, but there is still a lot to play for that last game, getting to that six-win total, considering where we were last year. It would be a huge step for us."
Rogers State (1-15, 1-6) was coming off its lone win of the season, at Texas A&M International last Saturday, but the Hillcats never really threatened in the first half against OC, even with a stiff breeze at their backs. OC, however, couldn't take advantage, misfiring on a pair of golden chances to score.
That changed after halftime. OC earned a corner kick in the 49th minute and Roseke placed it exquisitely, allowing Bermudez Delgado to head it past Rogers State goalkeeper Tayler Stover.
In the 58th minute, Roseke found herself with the ball, near the right side of the penalty box, and sent a cross in to Villegas Aguilar, who also beat Stover to make it 2-0.
Just when it looked like the Lady Eagles could shift into cruise control, the Hillcats picked things up offensively. Rogers State's Kimberlin Bennett hit the post with a shot in the 60th minute and the Hillcats generated three shots in a 17-second span in the 75th minute, forcing OC goalkeeper
Carina Schanz to make two of her six saves.
The Hillcats pulled within 2-1 in the 85th minute, as a cross from Taylor Williams found Bennett, who converted shot from about six yards out. Fortunately for OC, Rogers State managed only one shot after that.
OC outshot the Hillcats 22-16 and the Lady Eagles forced Stover to make nine saves.
"The girls earned the win today," Robison said. "They created enough chances to make it better, but … we're going to go at people and the bottom line is, a win is a win and a loss is a loss, so we'll take it. I thought we did much better in the second half to make sure that we put that away. We didn't have the intensity or fight in the first half that we needed."
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