Soccer Edges Oklahoma 2-1 in Overtime

Friday, October 26

Norman, Okla.

6 p.m.

Colorado

8-6-3, 4-4-0

Oklahoma

6-8-3, 2-5-1

OT 2

Colorado

Oklahoma

October 26, 2007 | Soccer

Box Score

By: Allie Musso, Assistant SID

NORMAN, Okla. - The University of Colorado women's soccer team needed just 27 seconds of overtime play to beat the Oklahoma Sooners 2-1 in come-from-behind fashion on a Nikki Marshall golden goal here Friday night.

"We were playing pretty darn good, one of our better games of the year," said head coach Bill Hempen. "We gave up a bad goal and, naturally, there seemed to be a little bit of a low, but our girls snapped out of it fairly quickly and kept going and continued to battle. Alex (Cousins) hit a great shot to equalize the score and with the momentum on our side, we were able to take advantage early and get it over with. This team needed it badly, and they deserved something good to happen."

With the win, Colorado improves to 8-6-3 overall and 4-4-0 in Big 12 play, while Oklahoma drops to 6-8-3 overall and 2-5-1 in the Big 12.

The Buffs nearly got on the board in the 16th minute when they were awarded a corner kick. CU's Amber Bettenhausen stepped up to take the kick and junior transfer Genna Gorman was behind a shot that nearly went in the goal but was saved by the Sooner defense, forcing another corner kick for CU.

The Buffaloes and Sooners played to a scoreless first half, with Oklahoma outshooting Colorado four to two. Both CU's goalkeeper Kirstin Radlinski and OU's keeper Jennifer Nichols pulled in two saves apiece.

The Sooners came out in the second half and fired back-to-back shots at Radlinski in the 51st minute, but Radlinski was able to deny both attempts.

Oklahoma would strike again just six minutes later when Allyson Kucera sent a shot past Radlinski for the 1-0 lead in the 57th minute of the match.

Colorado wouldn't let up as junior Gianna DeSaverio took a ball down to the Sooner end line and battled with two OU defenders in the 82nd minute. DeSaverio was able to break through and play the ball to fellow junior Alex Cousins at the top of the 18. Cousins sent a high shot toward the center of the goal and OU's goalkeeper was unable to get a hand on the high shot and the ball landed in the back of the net to tie the game at 1-1 with less than nine minutes to play. The goal marked Cousins' second goal of the season and DeSaverio dished out her third assist on the year.

"You could tell that after they scored the first goal we woke up," said Cousins. "Teams can usually get down when they are losing but we turned it around and played so hard. I remember seeing four tackles in a row in the middle and I saw that everyone wanted to win and that we weren't going to give up. Once we got the goal, we were so happy to get things going and we were able to carry that momentum into overtime."

At the end of regulation Colorado and Oklahoma were tied at one apiece. The Buffs went into extra time outshooting the Sooners 11 to nine and CU's Radlinski made five saves in the match. The Buffs were led by newcomers DeSaverio and freshman Michaela DeJesus with three shots each.

Colorado came out fired up in overtime and proved that they were not going to let up in extra time. Buffalo forward Nikki Marshall would need just 27 seconds of overtime before she netted her fourth game-winning goal of the season to give Colorado the 2-1 victory over Oklahoma.

Colorado kicked off when they heard the whistle and junior Nikki Keller got behind the ball in the middle of OU's half and sent a long pass behind two OU defenders toward CU's DeSaverio. DeSaverio was unable to get a foot on the ball but Marshall sprinted on to it and carried it toward the goal. Marshall buried the ball past the extended hands of the Sooner goalkeeper to end the game in Colorado's favor.

"The game started out a little sloppy," said Marshall. "Once they scored their goal, we realized that we had to do what had to do. It was a lot like our game against Baylor. We knew that we had to play hard and once Alex scored it was clear that we could win the game, and we were able to finish things off in overtime."

Marshall's goal marks her ninth on the year and is the quickest overtime goal in program history, besting the previous mark of 91:06, set by former Buff Melissa Cartmell in 1998, by 39 seconds.

Colorado will now travel to Stillwater, Okla. where they will face the Oklahoma State Cowgirls on Sunday, Oct. 28 at noon.