Oklahoma (0-1) opened its season against rival Texas (1-2) in Austin, Texas on Friday night with a 1-0 loss.
In light of COVID-19 postponements, the Sooners had not played in a game before Friday. With two extra weeks to prepare for the Longhorns, OU head coach Mark Carr did not skip a beat in preparing the team for its first game against its biggest rival.
Carr’s offense came out aggressive in the first half, putting up four shots. Sophomore midfielder Sakura Yoshida was the first player to put a shot up on goal in the 34th minute of the game.
Senior goalkeeper Nikki Panas started the first half off with an impressive stop on a shot straight to the bottom center of the net. The stop led to a 0-0 first half score.
Halfway into the second half of the game, Texas scored their first and only goal, but Oklahoma did not back down in their fight to come out with a goal. The Sooners’ well trained defense held off the Longhorns for the remainder of the game.
The OU offense was quick in shooting on goal during the first 30 minutes of the second half. Two shots came from junior Bri Amos in the 52nd and 53rd minute, and two more from sophomore Caroline Berutti and freshman Cailey England in the 54th minute.
Continuing the aggression, Amos drew a yellow card which led to several substitutions from the coaching staff in hopes of getting more shots on goal. Regardless, OU was incapable of matching Texas even while holding them to just one score.
The Sooners’ next game will be against Texas Tech (0-0-1) at 7 p.m. CT on Oct. 2 in Norman.
