Senior forward Whitney Palmer tied OU’s career goal record (34) with her fifth goal of the season during the Sooner’s 8-0 rout of Francis Marion on Friday at John Crain Field.

The eight goals tied the most goals scored by a Sooner team in the program’s history.

“Whitney has done a tremendous job developing herself as a player,” OU head coach Nicole Nelson said. “She has focused on her weaknesses and continued to improve on her strengths. I couldn’t be more proud and I know her season is nowhere near over.”

After beginning the season at a relatively slow pace compared to last season’s career-high 15 goals, Palmer tied OU’s program career goal record at the 20:23 minute mark to give the Sooners a 2-0 lead.

The OU soccer team also has picked up the pace offensively in the conference portion of the 2010 schedule. After scoring just 10 goals in the first eight games of the season, the Sooners have blasted 16 goals in their last four matches.

The Sooners move to 7-5-1 on the season and remain at 2-2 in conference action.

With Friday’s win, the Sooners avenged the last comeback by Missouri last weekend to continue to the season’s trend. So far this season, the Sooners have won the following game after each of the team’s five losses.

“I was very proud at the way they executed,” Nelson said. “Once you go up by a couple of goals there’s a tendency to not play at the same speed as you do when you’re down. I was happy that they were able to keep up the speed of play and keep creating opportunities.”

The Sooners began Friday night’s blowout with four goals in the first half for the first time this season. The last time a Sooner team scored that many goals in the first 45 minutes of a game was during the 2007 season opener against Alabama A&M.

During the game, OU scored five goals in the first half, before defeating the Bulldogs 8-0 in Nelson’s first game at the helm of Sooners.

The Sooners began their offensive dominance at the 13:57 minute mark of the first half with a goal by freshman Samantha Howell. The midfielder from Colleyville, Texas, was assisted on her third goal of the season by sophomore Caitlin Mooney and Palmer.

Scoring continued 11 minutes later, with Palmer’s goal, assisted by Howell. The senior forward from Plano, Texas, ended the night with three shots, two shots on goal and one goal scored.

Palmer took 70 games to reach the 34 goal record mark while career leader Logan Womack (2000-03) reached the mark in 73 games.

“I hadn’t really thought about it,” Palmer said about the record. “I’m excited to have accomplished that goal.”

Shortly after Palmer’s goal, the Sooners capitalized on a Francis Marion defensive breakdown with a goal by Annalisa Hall at the 21:11 minute mark. Hall, a freshman forward from Friendswood, Texas, scored her second goal of the season from 21 yards out, finding the back of the net in the top left corner.

Junior defender Michelle Alexander continued the OU offensive pressure, scoring at the 40:52 mark. Alexander was assisted by Katharine Nutman, sophomore defender from Southend, England, to increase the Sooner lead to 4-0 going into halftime.

Following the end of the first half, the Sooner offense outshot Francis Marion 16-1 and held a 4-0 corner kick advantage. The Sooners forced five saves by Patriot goalkeeper Lauren Vetock while OU’s Kelsey Devonshire saw little action with no saves and no goals allowed.

The Sooners returned from the locker room for the second half with the same pace on offense, adding four more goals. Sophomore forward Caitlin Mooney scored the Sooners fifth goal of the night at the 49:47 mark. Sophomore forward Dria Hampton picked up the assist on the goal.

Hampton turned around at the 56:34 mark to collect a goal of her own to give the Sooners a 6-0 lead in the second half off of an unassisted goal. Hampton sent her shot from left to right in the box to score her second goal of the season.

Freshman forward Bailey Boulware scored her first goal of the season at 78:45 minute mark before the Mustang native collected the assist on Alexander’s goal in the game’s last minute to round out the OU offensive stance.

The Sooners ended the night with a season-high 29-4 shot on goal and a 5-0 corner kick advantage.

OU soccer travels to Kansas to face the Jayhawks at 1 p.m. Sunday in Lawrence, Kan.

Game notes:
Palmer ties career goal leader Logan Womack at 34 goals ... Eight goals ties most goals in the OU's history ('97 vs. Drury and '07 vs. Alabama A&M) ... Sooners record season-high 29 shots ... Season-high 25 players saw action.