Tulsa Falls to SMU, 4-1
The Tulsa women’s soccer team dropped a 4-1 decision to SMU on Sunday afternoon at Westcott Field in Dallas, Texas. TU fell to 8-8-1 on the season and 4-3 in the American Athletic Conference, while the Mustangs moved to 11-5-1 overall and 5-2-1 in the league.
“We are all a bit frustrated and disappointed after playing well at Houston,” Head Coach Kyle Cussen said. “We came out and gave up two goals in the first five minutes. We started playing better and then conceded another goal. We put a lot of energy into getting that first goal. We played better in the second half, but just couldn’t get a second goal. We just have to get better this week and get ready for the next challenge.”
Vanessa Valadez put SMU on the board with just 1:07 ticked off the clock as she shot from outside the box into the upper near corner, and then Claire Oates gave the Mustangs a two-goal cushion in the fifth minute as she punched in a free ball off a corner kick. Valadez scored again in the 15th minute as she headed in a corner kick.
The Golden Hurricane’s Rachel Thun scored her 11th goal of the season as she drilled in a shot from 17 yards out off a pass from Alyssa Kaiser.
Blaire Thorpe made it 4-1 at the 57:00 mark on a rebound attempt she put into the goal from 16 yards out.
SMU had a 23-6 lead in shots, including a 10-4 advantage in shots on goal, and a 7-0 lead in corner kicks.
Thun and Kaiser both had a team-best two shots. Courtney McKeon played the first half in goal and picked up one save, while Rebecca Defer played the second frame and had four saves.
Tulsa will return to action on Thursday, October 27 against UCF. Game time is set for 7:00 pm at the Hurricane Soccer and Track Stadium.
Scoring Summary
Tulsa 1 0 - 1
SMU 3 1 - 4
Individual Scoring
Vanessa Valadez (SMU) at 1:07 (unassisted)
Claire Oates (SMU) at 4:22 (unassisted)
Vanessa Valadez (SMU) at 14:55 (Haley Thompson)
Rachel Thun (Tulsa) at 22:57 (Alyssa Kaiser)
Blair Thorpe (SMU) at 57:00 (unassisted)
Goalkeeper Saves
Courtney McKeon (Tulsa) – 1
Rebecca Defer (Tulsa) – 4
Catie Brown (SMU) – 3
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